The Welland-Fosse Benefice: Prayers and Notices.

 Sunday 31 May 2020:  Pentecost (Whit Sunday)

 

• Please remember in your prayers those who are sick: Bishop John and his wife and Janette Saunders (all with Coronavirus), Barry Broughton and Derek Barker.
• We pray also for all those who put their lives in danger to serve others suffering from Coronavirus.
• Why not join us via Zoom for Morning Prayer each day at 8.30am – or Compline on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7.30pm? Our prayers have never been more vital!  If you wish to join, download Zoom on your computer and obtain the Daily Prayer App on your mobile phone and email Simon Aley (sialey@aol.com) who will send you an invitation to the group.
• Sunday worship is at 10am, presenting a service with music and brief address.  Join us in the usual way via Simon’s email address.

SOUTH LUFFENHAM

Janet has found a recipe for Goosenargh cakes, a shortbread traditionally made for Whitsun in the north of England. Look out for her biscuits on The Village Green on Sunday! Thank you Janet. 

Thank you, too, for ongoing Foodbank donations – another three tubs this week. Please email me if you would like me to collect anything from your doorstep – sally@saltlane.com. 

 

TODAY’S MEDITATION

Plants left on the windowsill in this hot weather are in danger of baking – as are young plants in the ground.  I have just revived some precious runner-bean plants which have been left for more than a day without water. With water they flourish!  It is a miracle how those limp specimens change their nature when given water to drink!

So God acts in our world to bring out the best in us and in his creation. He acts mostly through normal channels to provide for us.  Where would be without water?  However, water is not one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit commonly used in the bible.  The Spirit is normally depicted as breath (critical for life) or wind (with violent effects) or fire (which both warms and purifies). All of these symbols were present at that first Pentecost. But we identify water with baptism and new life because water was so scarce in the Middle East where Christianity was born. If you were close to water, then there was a chance of survival.

What aids our survival today?  We are in the middle of a drought which is not too critical for us in Rutland – unless you are a farmer.  We are also in the middle of a pandemic, so water is essential for washing our hands, as is clean air. And the air is clearer now than it has been for years everywhere in the world.  This change has come at some cost both financially and in human life.  What will we passionately wish to hang onto in the ‘new normal’ when it comes?  What vehicle brings the unifying power of God closer to us? How will your life-style change to allow God’s Holy Spirit greater access to you?

 

See wellandfosse.org for much more information, including contact details for

The Very Rev Christopher Armstrong and the churchwardens