Today the Church celebrates St Michael and all angels (Michaelmas)...

A reading, a prayer, an acclamation and a couple of hymns, as we celebrate Michaelmas today:



John 1.47-end

⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ ⁵⁰Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ ⁵¹And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you,^* you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’

Blessing and honour and thanksgiving and praise

more than we can utter, more than we can conceive,

be to you, most holy and glorious Trinity,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

from all angels, and all people, all creatures

for ever and ever. Amen.

Acclamation

The Lord commands his angels

to keep you in all your ways.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his angels, mighty in power,

who fulfil his command and heed the voice of his word.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his hosts,

his servants that do his will.

Give thanks to the Lord, all his works,

in every place where he rules,

my soul, give thanks to the Lord.

or he commands his angels,

to keep you in all your ways.

♫  Angel voices ever singing

Ye holy angels bright

[Liturgical material from The Church of England]

Monday 28th September

A new experience for us, a couple of weeks ago!

With the APCMs all completed, and the first 'round' of PCC meetings begun, we're wondering 'how can we work together to move forwards at the moment?'

Whether you're in control at the front, or perhaps nervously being carried along by the momentum (or thoroughly enjoying being able to sit back a little and just enjoy the journey, like our daughter!), that photo makes me wonder...
...how are you working with others at the moment?
...are you working together to speed along to new places, or tending to work against each other and slowing each other up? 
...do those answers change if the 'other' you're thinking about is God?



[Photo shows a tandem]

Sunday 27th September

Weekend puzzle time!

Word puzzles this weekend... can you change one word into another by changing one letter at a time, forming a new word each time as you go?

Word ladder puzzles

Saturday 26th September

As I'm officiating at a wedding and a funeral today, how about some musical suggestions that are often found at one, or both, of them?


Abide with me

Jesu, joy of man's desiring

Love divine

Nimrod - Elgar

The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended

Today the Church remembers Lancelot Andrewes...

A 16th/17th century bishop and scholar. One of the translators of the King James Bible, and masterful at preaching.

One of his prayers, for today:


Be, Lord, within me to strengthen me,
without me to preserve,
over me to shelter,
beneath me to support,
before me to direct,
behind me to bring back,
round about me to fortify.
Amen.

Thursday 24th September

A couple of weeks ago my daughter came home from school with a cough. We arranged for a covid test, and went into self-isolation until we received the result.

And with along with us, this blog seemed to enter self-isolation too.

And I'm still not entirely sure why... which is perhaps why my plans to restart the blog over the last week or so haven't quite made it to an actual post until now.
(I'll keep reflecting on it, and hopefully work out the answer soon!)

This blog... life more generally... seemed to freeze, in many ways.
Which has made me reflect on the times in my life when my faith, and relationship with God, has done similar.
About a dozen years ago I went to a service in a different place to usual (as it happens, it was the first time I ever worshipped at Westcott House), and I surprised myself by finding myself saying, as I walked home, 'I remember why I'm a Christian.' 
My relationship with God had frozen, slowly but definitely, in many ways. And that service thawed things suddenly, and completely.

It's an experience, and a feeling, that has stayed with me ever since. It showed me, powerfully, the importance of trying to keep faith 'warm'. And that is some of the prayer that I have put into the hats I've been making recently, to keep people warm more literally:

[Photos are of four crocheted woollen hats - two completed, two in the process of being made.]


...Which makes me wonder, today...

...How do you keep your faith 'warm'?
...Do you have different 'hats' to do this at different times of the year?
...What 'hat' might you like to make and/or 'put on' to warm your faith at the moment?

Friday 11th September

An exciting surprise first thing this morning!

It makes me wonder, today...

...what does that image make you wonder?




[Photo shows a hot air balloon]

Thursday 10th September

Freshly picked today, while I walked Tallis... unplanned, just too wonderful to pass up on.

They make me wonder...
...what unexpected delights have you found recently, in your journeying with God?



[Photo shows some freshly picked blackberries]

Today the Church remembers the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary...

A Collect, as the Church remembers the birth of Mary, today:

Almighty and everlasting God,

who stooped to raise fallen humanity

through the child-bearing of blessed Mary:

grant that we, who have seen your glory

revealed in our human nature

and your love made perfect in our weakness,

may daily be renewed in your image

and conformed to the pattern of your Son

Jesus Christ our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. 

Amen.

♫  Mary's Magnificat

Monday 7th September

A prayer you might like to say today (the alternative collect for this week...)

Almighty God,
you search us and know us:
may we rely on you in weakness,
now and in all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.




♫  A Clare Benediction

Sunday 6th September

The Gospel reading today has Jesus saying, 'where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.'

I always find that spending time reflecting on where God can be seen, in things that I have done and encounters I have with people, transforms my understanding of those events, and of life in general.

Along that theme, how about a 'one song to the tune of another'-type exploration today?...
♫  Postmodern Jukebox

Saturday 5th September

Weekend puzzle time!

How about a variant on a Sudoku puzzle today?

Letters instead of numbers, and a hidden word to find too: Wordoku

Friday 4th September

So often a photo doesn't quite do justice to the wonderful thing we're trying to take a photo of.

I wonder, today...

...what is it about your faith that you find incredible, and really difficult to put into words? (Or, indeed, pictures!)





[Photo shows the silhouette of a tree at sunset]

Today the Church remembers St Gregory the Great...

There is more information about St Gregory here if you'd like it, but I'll let the music speak for itself today:


One piece of Gregorian chant:

Deum verum


And a piece named after Saint Gregory:

Church Windows - Four Symphonic Impressions (4/4 - St Gregory the Great)