General Chat

That was an interesting morning!!!


Our vicar returns to duty next week but has been attending the early service as part of the congregation. He was still around when I arrived for the next service and he said he wanted to wait to hear the 1st hymn - Angel Voices Ever Singing - because it was his ordination hymn.

He waited at the back and then crept out. A minute later, he crept back in looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.......he'd forgotten his jacket! :-D


Quite a few little ones in this morning. They come into the service at The Peace and join in with the rest of us and there are some pews reserved at the front for them. Some of the tiddlies picked up nearby hassocks and plonked themselves at the chancel steps so that they could see what was going on!

In order to help them and make sure they didn't go wandering and trip people up, I scrambled down to join them. Getting down on the floor to talk to them was one thing.......getting up was quite another!!! :-D

I think I may have to resort to wearing trousers........... :-D :-D :-D


They watched, wide-eyed, as the choir, the candles and the clergy passed by at the end and the visiting lady vicar was quite enthralled with them. It was lovely...... :-)

I may be talking to myself some days on here but, at least I can have a smile or two.....



Monday Morning prayer


Dear Lord,

Help me to relax about insignificant details, beginning tomorrow at 7:41:23 a.m. EST.

Help me to consider people's feelings, even if most of them are hypersensitive.

Help me to take responsibility for the consequences of my actions, even though they're usually not my fault.

Help me to not try to run everything - but, if you need some help, please feel free to ask me.

Help me to be more laid back, and help me to do it exactly right.

Help me to take things more seriously, especially laughter, parties, and dancing.

Give me patience, and I mean right now!

Help me not be a perfectionist. (Did I spell that correctly?)

Help me to finish everything I sta

Help me to keep my mind on one thing ... oh, look, a bird ... at a time.

Help me to do only what I can, and trust you for the rest. And would you mind putting that in writing?

Keep me open to others' ideas, misguided though they may be.

Help me follow established procedures. Hey, wait ... this is wrong ...

Help me slow down andnotrushthroughwhatido.

Thank you, Lord.

Amen


:-D :-D :-D


On a more thoughtful note.......


A Celtic prayer


There is no plant in the ground
But is full of God’s virtue.
There is no form in the strand
But it is full of God’s blessing.
There is no life in the sea,
There is not creature in the river,
There is not in the firmament
But proclaims God’s goodness.



Cx :-)

You are not talking to yourself Cynthia, I read but don't post, and I take something away with me every time I do pop in to look.
Loved reading about your service yesterday;-)
Enjoy your day - and thank you
Lyndi x

I too read but don't post. I appreciate your words. I wake up every morning to a view of the mountain in one direction and the sea in the other and I do realise how fortunate I am.

Keep posting Cynthia

Wendy x

I only post occasionally but it's the first thread I read every time I look in. Please keep posting Cynthia - it is appreciated.

Prayer for Unity (National Council of Churches in Australia - Faith and Unity Commission)

"Jesus Christ, we proclaim with joy our common identity in you, and we thank you for inviting us into a dialogue of love with you and others.

Open our hearts to share more perfectly in your prayer to the Father (the Lord's Prayer) that we may be one, so that as we journey together we may draw closer to each other.

Give us the courage to bear witness to the truth together, and may our
conversations embrace those who perpetuate disunity.

Send your Spirit to empower us to challenge situations where dignity and
compassion are lacking in our societies, nations, and the world.

God of life, lead us to justice and peace. Amen."

nb If no one minds, I will continue occasionally to post on this thread. I have informed posters that I will not post on any other threads from now on, and intend to stick with that decision.

Had a lovely day yesterday. The young preacher who I am mentoring (very badly) came to our chapel and he brought some lovely songs (old and new) and his message was about the 70 disciples who Jesus empowered to go out in twos. They went out without anything - no money, no food, no shoes even. And the 70 visited houses and built the foundations of what we now see today - 1.2 billion people belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, and nearly the same number in various Protestant and Orthodox connections.

The number 70 is so often a crucial number in the Bible, and I think the Jewish Sanhedrim had 70 members. Our young preacher delivered text after text drawing attention to the number 70. A very clever and talented young man, and everyone stayed behind chatting to him and his wife for at least half an hour (and no coffee served!!!!) :-D :-D

Cynthia same as others first stop in the morning,
don't always add to your thread but wouldn't miss it.

Emma :-)

"I may be talking to myself some days on here". The lovely responses this morning show how wrong you are, Cynthia :-D And your thoughts this morning made me chuckle a lot :-)

Reason I have changed my board name is 1. I don't like Cocoa or Horlicks really 2. Llort (pronounced thlort in Welsh) is the exact opposite of a troll - but a bit childish, I thought. So changed to current name.

And Rev John Fletcher really was a great Christian. He was born Jean Guillaume de la Flechere in Nyon, Sw itzerand in 1729. Came to Shrewsbury area to be French tutor to the Hill family. Met John and Charles Wesley about 1756 in London. Became Curate of Madely in Shropshire in 1758 and was Vicar there from 1759 till his early death (from TB) in 1785. His wife, Mary Bosanquet, continued his work and was allowed to continue in the Vicarage in Madely till 1815. Selected by John Wesley to be leader of the Methodist Society (then part of Church of England) and Wesley described him a few months after Fletcher's death in 1785 as the holiest person he had known.

So you will understand why I am really proud of my new board name :-) :-)

That was a nice surprise.........so many friends popping in.... and thank you for the kind words...............:-)


John, even if you came back with a name like 'Icky the Fire Bobby', we would still know who you were!!


Have to admit that I have never heard of Rev. John Fletcher though. Things have changed a lot since those days with regard to his wife being allowed to stay in the Vicarage for so long after his death. These days, clergy wives have to be out of the Vicarage within 3 months.......it's system I have never been happy with :-(


Just having some lunch and then it's back to the ironing board.......... :-D

Cynthia loved this mornings prayer, made me chuckle. I too pop in frequently but don't often post.

Goodness John that name is a mouthfull.

You are never talking to yourself Cynthia. I look in every day to read your prayers, but don't often post. <3

Me too, I like to read your words and prayers but don't often reply, but be assured that you are not talking to yourself Cynthia, so thank you to you and to John too.

Thank you - it's good to know that I am not alone on here............I get bored with myself after a while.... :-D


Cx <3

I was just wondering......The prayers I learned when young are the same prayers I recite before bedtime, every day. they have never changed.....does anyone else say the same prayers or do you learn new ones?.......I don't mean the prayers we read but the ones we have learned off by heart.


Here is a song I loved...one of the many we sang in the car to and from school

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mw-7CJhlbp0

and I, a-religious though I consider myself, pop in here at least every other day


so you are not alone or talking to yourself, Cyn

Good morning everyone...........I do like saying that now........everyone....I am not alone......... spins round and falls over....... :-D


Thank you for that link Susan....I know that song well.....in fact, whenever I hear it sung, it takes me back to the funeral of a Vicar's wife about 20 years ago - it was a very uplifting and fitting tribute to her.


I see that it is linked to One More Step Along The Road I Go...........that is quite often sung at services held for those leaving school.


Personally, I don't say the same prayers every day.......the only time I recite the same ones are when I'm in church when they are part of the service. My prayers tend to be more of a 'conversation' with God. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I give him earache........'cos I am a great 'natterer' - as Sylvia well knows.... :-D


So, must stop nattering .........here is this morning's prayer.. I think there is a hymn with similar words but can't, for the life of me, think what it is...


Morning Light


For this new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends.
For everything Thy goodness sends,
We thank Thee, dearest Lord. Amen.

- anon


Have a good day everyone.....


Cx :-)

Yet another wonderful day to enjoy God's glory and praise Him. Doubt this is the hymn you were thinking of, Cynthia. This hymn was written in 1931 and is very popular.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TWd3skb-Rw

And this hymn, written in 1832 by Samuel F Smith to support Protestant missions and based on "The darkness is past, and the true light now shines." (1 John 2:8)

The morning light is breaking, the darkness disappears;
The sons of earth are waking, to penitential tears;
Each breeze that sweeps the ocean brings tidings from afar
Of nations in commotion, prepared for Zion’s war.

Rich dews of grace come o’er us, in many a gentle shower,
And brighter scenes before us, are opening every hour;
Each cry to Heaven going, abundant answers brings,
And heav’nly winds are blowing, with peace upon their wings.

Blest river of salvation, pursue thy onward way;
Flow thou to every nation, nor in thy riches stay:
Stay not till all the lowly triumphant reach their home;
Stay not till all the holy proclaim, "The Lord is come."

That was the one I thought of John :-)
I remember singing that with a choir when I was about 10, we won the competition ;-)
People would run a mile if I started to sing now :-D

Have a lovely day everyone :-)

I'm another popper in Cynthia - so no, you're never talking to yourself :-)

Sandie's funeral last week and now next week I have another - the funeral of a dearly loved friend who died at 67 - I was with his wife when he passed in the early hours last Thursday - I only seem to go to funeral these days - the penalty of growing old I suppose