Catching up

Gosh, such a long time since I've written on here! I've been meaning to write all the hundred and one things I've thought of since last August but, somehow, other things take priority and time just slips away. And now, where do I start? Which of those 101 things do I begin with? Hmmm....I’ll start by giving you some very belated news.

Last July, I became a Companion of Julian of Norwich. This is a worldwide group of people, lay or clergy, who wish to follow Julian’s teachings in their lives. Companions try, as best they are able, to:

·        reflect the unconditional love of God in their response to others and to themselves

·        exercise compassionate empathy in their daily lives

·        meditate and intercede for the world for at least 30 minutes a day

·        seek spiritual nourishment from regular study of Julian’s “Revelations of Divine Love”

·        make at least one visit to the Julian Shrine in Norwich during their lifetime, if possible

We make these promises annually and, as I only live about 45 minutes away from the Shrine, I made my promises there. It was a beautiful, moving occasion with nine of us, including my Mum and Daughter, in the tiny little room. Canon Beryl, my Rector and one of my sponsors, led the short service and Daphne, the other sponsor, read the Bible reading I had chosen (1 John 4:7-12). We sang, unaccompanied, Be Thou My Vision, and Liz Thomas, a Companion, presented me with a certificate, badge and medallion. There were other Friends of Julian present too, including Sister Pamela from All Hallows Community, who provide hospitality for visitors to the Shrine. (And, indeed, tea and cakes afterwards!)

Here are some piccies:

 Me, with Canon Beryl and Daphne.

My beautiful daughter is on the left, 

and my wonderful Mum is next to me, on the right of the picture.

Incidentally, I made the purple dress I am wearing, rushing to finish it on time. Since the fabric frays easily, I later had to reinforce the seams to make up for the short cuts I had taken!

I think that will do for this post - hopefully will post another of the 100 things left soon!

Blessings to all who read this!  x x

Mon Beau Sapin...

Hi everyone! Last time I showed you the little choir people I made for our church's first Christmas tree festival. Thought you'd like to see them in place, along with some of the other trees. Local schools, churches, businesses and societies were invited to decorate a tree - 27 in all. I haven't got pictures of them all, but here's a selection....

Church choir tree.

Closer up.

Tree by a local Primary school.

Submitted by local Catholic Primary school; the tear drops have prayers on them for the healing of the world.

From a nearby church. They copied pages from a music hymn book and shrunk them - why didn't I think of that?!

Angels from the realms of glory....

A simple but effective idea from the church run playgroup - artificial flowers dipped in glitter.

Our church Prayer Shawl group meet weekly to knit, crochet, weave and sew items, praying as they are made, to bring comfort to those in need. 

Angels and stained glass biscuits from our Footsteps (Sunday School) and Messy Church groups.

Angelic close-up.

A hole was cut in the centre of the shortbread biscuits, crushed boiled sweets filled the hole and these then melted during the cooking.

The scouts made their own tree, as well as the decorations.

The body of this life sized angel (Or, rather, human sized - surely angels can be whatever size they want?) is made from lots and lots of paper bun cases. 

Another Primary school's tree. Brought back many happy memories of past Christmases in schools in which I have taught. Who can forget those happy, excited children whose faces and hands had more glitter and sequins than the things they were making...

The east end of our church. These two trees will stay up till Epiphany; the rest were taken down after the festival.

The bellringers' tree. 

And, finally, visitors were invited to write a prayer request on a star and tie it to this tree.

Patchwork church

Bleurrrgh! Don’t come too close, I’ve got the Dreaded Lurgi! Well, alright, it’s a heavy cold or hay fever or something: either way you don’t want to catch it. Consequently am off work and was unable to attend special Choral Evensong yesterday for which, as a choir member, I’d been practising for weeks. Was really disappointed as it was a sung service from the Book of Common Prayer and not a regular occurrence at my local church. (Though it may well become one.)

One thing I love about my church is the variety of ways it offers for worshipping God. Want a lively, charismatic service? Come to monthly ‘Praise God Together’! Want a Holy Communion with hymns? Come to weekly Common Worship! Want a quiet, no singing, traditional Communion? Come to early 8.00 service! Part of my Patchwork nature is that, at various times, I have found all of these helpful and the appropriate way to worship. In my journeying I have also been part of a house church, and enjoyed silent Quaker worship too, but there is something so serene about a sung choral evensong that stills my soul.  Ember, in her blog ‘Kindred of the Quiet Way’ used the phrase ‘stroking her fur the right way’ and I know just what she means!

Kindred of the Quiet Way

Church website