During the period of Lent, Rev’d John is encouraging us to think about fellowship. You can find further information in the links below. You can watch the first of these reflections by Rev John using this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWgFJnzRiQM
Although we can’t all physically meet together currently, there will also be an opportunity on Sunday Evening at 6pm to virtually meet together on Zoom to reflect, pray, share thoughts, and ask questions. You can join via the link below:
It’s the First Sunday of Lent – a time for repentance, reflection and renewal. Join us for the #Meltham Parish Communion from 10:30am onwards or any other convenient time. The YouTube link can be found here: https://youtu.be/ak3NWm3rq5k
As we enter the season of Lent, take some time to be quiet, pause and reflect on your relationship with God. Join Rev’d John for the #Meltham Parish online Ash Wednesday service as we start the journey through Lent. The service is available from 10am but can be watched at any convenient time you might have. The service can be viewed via YouTube using this link: https://youtu.be/lPXcZOc-Wb8
This week heralds the beginning of the Season of Lent. Over the past forty-eight weeks we have journeyed together praying for the world-wide pandemic Corona virus and its effects on us all, deepening our relationship with God through many different avenues of prayer and we have prayed and meditated on Gods Word through the Scriptures and the thoughts of others.
Today Our opening Prayer starts with “Lent is a time to learn to travel”
Christine and I are going to follow “Lenten Reflections on Thirteen Lesser Reported Followers of Jesus’ Passion” By Rosemary Power – A Wild Goose publication. We invite you to join with us for seven of the Reflections as we lead up to Easter Day. www.ionabooks.com
Lent is a time to learn to travel
Light, to clear the clutter
From our crowded lives and
Find a space, a desert.
Deserts are bleak; no creature
Comforts, only a vast expanse of
Stillness, sharpening awareness of
Ourselves and God
Uncomfortable places, deserts.
Most of the time we’re tempted to
Avoid them, finding good reason to
Live lives of ease; cushioned by
Noise from self-discovery.
Clutching at world’s success
To stave off fear.
But if we dare to trust the silence
To strip away our false security,
God can begin to grow his wholeness in us,
Fill up our emptiness, destroy our fears,
Give us new vision, courage for the journey,
And make our desert blossom like a rose.
From – ‘Waiting for the Kingfisher’ – Ann Lewin
WEEK ONE: Joseph the carpenter
I come in at the start.
I didn’t hear the end.
Or say a word.
Many a man rears another’s child.
My bride told me. After the pain, the strain,
of living the best I should, and loving more than I could dream.
Called like Ruth to leave the land, my people and my home
to work in tears among the alien corn
that filled my barns with joy.
When the years turned
and we returned to milk and honey
we followed the path through the scrolls
together, in synagogue and home
in dim evenings or the hot night
under the rooftop stars. I taught him.
I told then how we’d fled
for our lives, under the dark; the stark fear and loss of leaving,
saying nothing, fearing all
on the long road to Gaza, chariots kicking dust in the face,
and us parched, but afraid of the proffered lifts and drinks
and hidden costs,
me powerless to protect: he’d seen with toddler eyes.
We reached the sea and the coast ahead – but no waves parted,
though the full boat foundered on the further shore. We lived.
Storytelling’s in the family. I taught him.
In the workshop I taught those hands
to carve and turn, bind and loosen
and work the best, for neighbour, traveller and friend,
soldier and sinner, stranger, leper, child;
then lost him to the vineyards and the hills
and that other father, and to prayer
too silent for a labouring, dreaming man.
He saw me carrying the soldier’s pack in the heat, I sensed
the quick tense anger for his dad, then
his voice soft, curious,
asking the man’s story, listening to wandering years
till the stilled thug found his mile complete.
‘Your lad’ll go far,’ he told me.
I found him talking in the temple, once,
among the men.
I saw the smiles of passing rich, the priestly youth
tolerant of a bright boy and tradesman’s accent.
Was there one
who’d listen in the years he’d come to teach?
It was clear from then
there’d be no compromise,
but love, consideration and firm purpose
that would cross the world in its strength
and cross the powerful in their pride.
He’d join and try the heart and the grain
of the wood for its place
in the workshop of the world.
My time was over and the work passed on,
so, called to other work, I said:
‘Just mind your mum’ to a strong smile, the shine of eyes
wide enough for a region.
We give thanks …
For those who hold families together, who labour that we may eat.
For those who tell stories, where God dwells in the depths.
For the gift of reading the scriptures, and for teachers.
We pray …
For children seeking an education, that their desire might be fulfilled.
For parents seeking to protect their children, through hunger, war or lack of
opportunities.
For children who head families, holding in their loss and putting their hopes
aside.
For refugees on the road and on the sea; for those who have lost loved ones on
the journey, for those prey to people-traffickers, that they may find freedom.
Join us for an online service of Holy Communion from 10:30am this morning led by Rev’d John Dracup – Vicar of the Parish of #Meltham. ALL WELCOME 🙂 https://youtu.be/7TTW2ghqpFE
Next Tuesday 16th Feb 8pm-9pm, we have a visitor from Umbrella Yoga who is giving a half hour FREE chair yoga session for us.
All you need to do is complete the health survey below to
cover their insurance. I have already done the health survey and it is very
simple. All you tell them is your name, age & any illnesses.
This year the Church Hall is one of the Community Causes being supported by the Co-Op and you can support this by logging on to: coop.co.uk/membership and when asked which cause you wish to support, opting for Meltham Parish Church Hall. In case you cannot do this online, you can call 0800 068 6727 and option 1 lets you sign up for membership and option 2 lets you speak to someone to choose your cause. Please help this important Community building recover from its closure due to the pandemic. This is in addition to the co-op dividend paid to you.
