Tell me

What came first

Easter or the egg?

Crucifixion or daffodils?

Three days in a tomb or four days in Paris (returning Bank Holiday Monday)?

When is a door

not a door?

When it is rolled away.

When is a body

not a body?

When it is risen.

Question:

Why was it the Saviour

rode on a cross?

Answer:

To get us to the other side.

Behold I stand.

Behold I stand and what?

Behold I stand at the door and

Knock knock.

(Easter Poem by Steve Turner)

Storm and a Teacup

I once heard about someone who used to enjoy hearing the shipping forecast while snuggled up under the quilt. The knowledge of wild weather out there made the comfort of the warm bed all the more cosy!

But now, as I sit down to a cup of tea and look out of my wide window, I see a storm brewing. The chimney is rattling with hail stones and the clouds are thickening like treacle.

The resultant cosy feeling isn't working for me. The reason is I have a husband out on a motorbike, a son out rock climbing and a daughter on a long-distance drive.

My friend Anna celebrated her first anniversary of receiving a successful double lung transplant today. In her thanksgiving message she expressed gratitude to her donor, her family and friends, the church and so many others. The miracle of a threatened life now saved is amazing in itself. But this success story has a deeper meaning too. Anna became a Christian on the Alpha course last Autumn and has a different new life to celebrate too. She is an inspiration to all who know her and we rejoice to have her as our friend. God bless Anna and her lovely family.

Bags of bags

I believe in recycling, donating to charity and buying from charity shops but it has gone mad in our road. Almost everyday we get a new charity collection bag put through the door. Some are for reputable charities like British Heart Foundation. Others for more suspect groups who have never been heard of. But the thing that bothers me is the sheer quantity of them. No one would have enough clothes to fill all the bags that keep arriving.
So what do you do with them? I know you are meant to put them out and they are supposed to be collected and re-used but they never are. They just lie there getting covered in grime and dust and slug slime so I don't do that anymore. I started collecting them in a bag thinking I would use them as bin liners but I tend to use big strong black bags designed for rubbish. So I now have a huge collection of charity collection bags. What on earth can I do with them? Suggestions please.

Easter bunny gains meaning

Having taught the Easter story in all its glory over the course of the last 5 weeks, today was a more relaxed craft-based RE lesson. Card making!

We did start by discussing the very tenuous links between eggs and new life and therefore Easter. We admitted there really was no religious meaning to bunnies and chocolate but I encouraged the class to remember the real meaning of Easter while they were munching on their chocolate this year.

And so we got on with the cutting, folding and sticking as various pop-up cards and collages emerged from the busy tables covered in scraps of material, felt pens and tissue paper.

Then something happened. A girl came to me with dripping blood haivng cut her finger with scissors. Instinctively I ran it under water, gave her a paper towel and suggested she hold it tight to stop it bleeding. She seemed quite calm so I continued circulating round the class. Eventually I came back to ask how she was.

"Fine thanks. And I used the blood to add pink cheeks to my bunny. Look!!" Oh my goodness. How I laughed. She was just showing incredible resourcefulness but imagine being given an Easter card with real blood on it! .... but then a significance hit me. Blood shed on the cross! So now I know the link with bunnies and Easter!

Going against the flow

I know we are called as Christians to go against the flow but this is ridiculous. Going to church today all prim and proper in best coat and husband with big black Bible under his arm we came face to face with something like this crowd coming the other way.

It was the occasion of Ashby 20 - a very popular annual event for runners for miles around. Crowds were gathering on Bath Grounds ready for the start. The starting hooter was being tested for the big start. The little quiet lane we normally walk along was full of very fit looking people all with earnest looking faces as they stretched, took pulses, jumped about and generally prepared themselves for the big challenge. Some of them actually looked very funny with black bin liners on to maintain the correct temperature, others wore very odd looking skinny shorts and vests. But the funny thing was, because there were more of them, they were the normal ones. And here we were as 2 decent church-going citizens walking along on a Sunday morning, yet we were the ones who looked eccentric! Ah well. I guess that is the story of my life. Always the odd one out!

Evacuation

Just got to the till and loaded up my week's worth on to the conveyor belt. Potatoes and carrots got through just before the screaming fire alarm. Evacuate the supermarket. All transactions frozen. Tills locked and out we all trooped leaving our defrosting vegetables all over the shop!

Outside it bacame one of those mini-crisis situations where the normally reserved British public start talking for once and slightly infirm people are offered wheelchairs.

The talk quickly developed into a humerous consideration of the worst situation to be in when this happens in a supermarket. The loo? The last item on the conveyor belt? The changing room? No I think I agree with the man who suggested just sitting down to eat your all-day breakfast and getting the first mouthful of bacon and egg near your drooling lips!

Ten minutes later we were ushered back in. Normal service resumed as quickly as possible and nobody spoke to eachother again.

HiViz

This is part of the fetching outfit I had to wear at work today. I was put in marshalling position to ensure 300 children ran the full mile for their Sport Relief sponsored run. The temptation for them to cut corners was immense. If no one was looking, they surely would have shortened the course considerably. Being there in that jacket was enough to deter cheating.

And how many of us slow down or think twice about cutting corners on the road at the sight of a high visibility jacket or police car?

Paper doilies

When did you last have doilies on your shopping list?

I love the paper doilies we still use at church teas. An ordinary plate of sandwiches looks so much more inviting with a pretty paper doily on the plate.

The original ones were made of lace and invented by a London draper by the name of Mr Doiley!

A packet of paper ones last a lifetime as so many sheets are tightly pressed together. Just like cup cake cases, there is something very satisfying about separating the layers of paper.

And of course the doily sheets can be used in countless craft activities. Who remembers making cut out doll's clothes from doilies? Or snowflakes? Or picture frames? What else?

Mothering Sunday

Croissants for breakfast today - courtesy of my son. It must be Mother's Day. In the days when Mothering Sunday meant a day's release from work so that young men could return home to visit their mothers I don't suppose they had croissants. Just having your son home is a treat for any Mum!

We don't mention Mother's Day at school. Some children have lost their mothers through death or separation. Others have such bad experiences at home that motherhood is not something to celebrate. And then in church one needs to be careful too. Some mothers have lost children through death or broken relationships, other women long to be mothers but are not. But we can celebrate fellowship which acts as family. We can all identify someone who is like a mother to us or like a daughter to us. I always feel like a precious daughter when a certain lady at church calls me "my flower" in general conversation! And we can try to be a mother and daughter to others.

Then there is the perennial problem of where to put the apostrophe. I have opted for the one mother in honour of my one real Mum (Happy Mother's Day, Mum!) but it is open to debate.

etaoin shrdlu

ETAOIN SHRDLU

Though not actual words, these two groups of letters form the most common letters in the English language arranged in popularity order. The letters formed the first two rows of keys on a Linotype machine which was invented around 1884. This fascinating piece of printing history is then unearthed all these years later as a useful theme for the Listener crossword. And presumably the letter order of popularity remains the same. But I wonder whether the increase of textspeak and the erosion of vowels may change it oneday?

Stress Relief

This is what I was looking forward to after a long day in the classroom. So I dragged my dusty self up the wooden hill and ran the hot water. With just enough energy left to reach for the Radox Stress Relief, I was anticipating a long relaxing soak. But no. The new bottle had never been opened and the top was stuck fast. No matter what I did it would not budge. Wrapping a flannel round it didn’t help and the kitchen gadget used for such tasks was a long way away. So with feverish fury I battled on desperate to release the promised stress relief. At last, an easing of the top and it opened to exude the fruity aroma and foamy liquid. Ahh! Stress relief at last. But was the tightness of the top a deliberate marketing ploy to make me appreciate the effect of stress relief all the more, I wonder?

Spring has sprung

Saw these in a garden I pass as I walk to town. The garden belongs to a property that has changed hands since last Spring. So whose crocuses are they? Were they listed in the fixtures and fittings as part of the sale? Have the new owners noticed them and do they like them or will they pull them out and replace them? It strikes me they are like the lilies of the field and all other growing things - they belong to God. He gives them life and we enjoy them! Praise God for signs of Spring!

Sea-fever by John Masefield

Preparing to teach a topic on “The Sea” I stumbled across this old familiar poem. The rhythm of it takes you straight out onto the waves. I can’t wait to see what my class of 7 year olds make of it. Living as we do so far from the sea makes it all the more enticing. Thinking about it, when did I last see the sea?

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

A day out with a difference

 

   

Friends took us to this place for a great day out today. To say a museum would not really do it justice. It is a collection of 29 POW huts full of 1940’s interactive experiences and displays. I loved the music hall puppet show, singalong and Stanley Holloway monologues. And the prefab house where you can peer nosily into every window. Soapy smells, tunnelling Great Escape re-enactments, nostalgic sounds, and  models that seemed to breathe and move just enough to make you take a second look.

Lunch was chosen from a wartime-themed menu. I had the submariners’ feast and Graham had Churchill’s pie. Followed by big mugs of tea to wash it all down.Only in a military-themed attraction would you find this in the ladies loos! A hand dryer called Airforce!

To find out more about this amazing place click on the link below.

http://www.edencamp.co.uk/

Time warp

 

I’ve just had a scare. When I was flicking through the freeview channels tonight I came across the caption:

Yesterday will return at 6.00am tomorrow.

Yesterday was ok as far as a day goes but I don’t want to go back and re-live it. I want to move on to something new please!

I assume “Yesterday” is a tv channel but I so rarely watch tv that it is one that passed me by I’m afraid – if indeed you can be passed by, by yesterday. Oh dear, this is getting too complicated for me now. But let’s hope tomorrow arrives as something fresh and new!

All linked up

Thanks to some helpful advice from a friend, I have learnt how to make my links work better. So when I say, for example, “If you want to know more about Simon’s book Walking Home, Click here,” it should take you there as if by magic. Don’t you just  love learning new things?

Something to smile about

A fast-moving jolly presentation that will keep you gripped for the full one and a half minutes. You will not want to miss a moment. Enjoy ... and be challenged! Look out for the sticking plaster!

Book launch

A book launch is an exciting thing. We so enjoyed attending Simon's launch of "Walking Home" on Saturday. It is like a birth of a dream, a graduation of achievements, and final resting place of all the hard work that has led up to that point all rolled into one. Apart from the fantastic array of homemade cakes on offer, it was just good to meet friends old and new and celebrate something noble. I have advertised Simon's book here before: 30 Jan Walking Home. But it is worth a second mention. I picked up my signed copy and began reading it on the way home. Just as well I wasn't driving, as it had me crying with laughter. The line that rendered me helpless was: "Walsall is a place where cold rice pudding causes a stir, especially if it is free!"

But quite apart from the hilarity, the book is full of poignant observations and reflections as Simon literally walked home to Leicestershire from Paris on his pilgrimage with a difference.