The Chaplain’s Blog

Kathy calls herself the ‘odd  one out’ because she trained as a Methodist local preacher but has permission from the Bishop to preach in St Martins in Liskeard. Actually the is one of a merry band of us who happily straddle the divide of the Methodist and Anglican churches though my step began from the Anglican church…. 

The blog is sent out to all readers with email apart from the few who have said they don’t want emails from me and to a group of others who have an interest in seeing what Readers in the Diocese are up to. There are also some Methodist Local Preachers who I have met in my travels! 

In the next column Kathy kindly wrote in response to one of the Zoom Coffee & Conversation Monday mornings. 

Kathy puts  into words what many are feeling  with helpful links to get the little grey cells moving….. she included this poem from Jane Horton whose name appears elsewhere in today’s postings 

I joined this group at a tough time, and it has helped me a great deal. 

Refs I talked about:

1) What you are feeling is grief: https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief?fbclid=IwAR0GXmlSAduU-y3w-zFy7sC5c2kYrRhJ44OBRG3eENwgdUw7MQnosjfZyfQ 

David Kessler’s book  “Finding Meaning: the sixth stage of grief” is on Amazon. “Double whammy” – see text file attached, along with another, my latest, and I think probably last, poem on Grief. Not for the faint-hearted…

2) My all-time favourite book about courage: “Warrior Scarlet” by Rosemary Sutcliffe. Written as a novel for early-teenagers, but a book I re-read every year.

3) Jane Jedwab, Truro D FB Sharing best practice: Someone needed advice I sent this. (brokncup pic attached) If something breaks fix it .We will come through this by being renewed in our belief of being resurrected. Keep Life simple.

4) Sunday alte’s: I’ve been finding Radio 4’s 8.10am service helpful, esp Sun 10th when Rowan Williams preached about VE Day. On iPlayer. And I love Bishop Philip and Ruth’s informal service Live at 9.30: esp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRtVsTcE5M broadcast Sunday 3rd May (first 5 mins is informal chat and welcomes..)

5) Jane Horton’s wonderful prayer is at the top of this piece

6) Charlie Mackesy The boy, the fox, the mole and the horse is the most inspiring book I’ve read/seen in a long time. I’ve given about ten copies away to people who are struggling, and all say how great it is. Quite a strong Christian message, though not always obvious. Highly recommended! One pic attached: CMcarryon.jpg    FB Group has lots more: Keepers from Charlie Mackesy. Best of all, buy the book!

 See you next Monday. Blessings, Kathy 

Blog

You would think I would have plenty of time in this period of ‘locked down’ ‘social distancing’  and isolation from normal activity but for some reason I don’t!

Lez and I have both commented how quickly the weeks are passing by, marked by the fortnightly brown bin collection or our son messaging on a Monday to ask for our Tesco shopping list or Chaplains Coffee and Conversation on a Monday morning.

ZOOM Morning prayer has given a familiar pattern to the weeks: me on Monday, Caspar on Tuesday, Deb on Wednesday, Graham on Thursday, Jason on Friday and Peter on Saturday with communion service on Sunday.

Most weeks I drop into Bishop Philips chatty service on Facebook at 9:30 on a Sunday before our own. All these things have replaced the old routine of singing in nursery  and checking the diary for the next safeguarding course and of course picking up the grandchildren from school and supervising homework.

ZOOM has proved a blessing and a curse. A curse because sometimes I’d like to move away from it- sometimes I get frustrated with it and sometimes I get irritable because of the way people are using… or rather misusing it.

So far I have sat at my desk in front of the camera to:

  • Tell stories
  • Sing nursery and other school songs
  • Sing the Peruvian Gloria in a service..
  • Read and preach
  • Lead morning prayer
  • Host group chaplaincy social mornings
  • Attend meetings
  • Teach maths to the grandchildren
  • Teach story writing to grandchildren and listen to reading.
  • Spiritual direction and next week a spiritual direction supervision!

So its very early morning walks to keep fit enough for all that sitting at a desk…. I am not used it! Even back when I was teaching I was moving constantly.

So all in all I like Zoom but my pet hates are:

  • people who don’t mute themselves and allow extraneous noises to interrupt-
  • or worse still the folks who play with settings while they are listening and then suddenly share their screen with everyone.
  • Or the folks on a tablet or mobile phone who have their thumbs over the microphone making loud scraping scrunchy noises

Things I don’t mind:

*spending an hour explaining how to make the microphone

 

But don’t let that put you off….. do delve into the zoom world and chat to others- it’s better than isolation! 

 

Sunday Scribblings 6 – The 4th Sunday of Easter [11167]

Hello Friends,

This week I’m back on my imaginary VLCC super tanker.  Last week we passed Cape Town and received stores and spares by helicopter, but once again, the ships agent forgot to send us the crews mail.  It’s soul destroying when this happens; yet it seems to happen so often.  It makes me feel that I might as well have been in prison, or under lock down like my friends and family who are at home.

Last weeks sailing has been tough as we battled against the strong Agulhas current that is right on the nose. The subterranean topography causes chaos with the current and churns the seas up so that they are mountainous, short and very steep. To preserve the integrity of the vessel the Captain sets a course that is considerably further south than usual which means our mobile phones have no connectivity with the South African land based mobile towers – so still no contact with my family as we enter month two of our outward bound voyage.  

And don’t think that just because we are a VLCC we are bomb proof as far as bad weather is concerned.  The ocean bed just south of South Africa is littered with the wrecks of vessels of every size whose backs were broken in these killer seas.

Ten days after rounding The Cape of Good Hope and we are now approaching the Southern end of Madagascar.  Next we will head North with Eastings so giving the Seychelles as wide a berth to avoid the pirates.

We might all be feeling a little lonely as our lock-down constraints continue. But as tough as it is, there is always someone else who is worse off than we are.  For example, 

think of all those, like the imaginary sailor on his supertanker, who have to cope with these conditions every day of their working lives.  The soldiers on foreign postings.  The scientists in the Antarctic. The front line care providers who have chosen to move into hotels so they can keep working and keep their families safe. The list of Angels supporting us in lock down is endless and their sacrifices real and generosity real..

May God bless and keep them safe, as well as you, your families, and your friends in these difficult times.

I apologise in advance if you find this weeks Scribblings are a little dense.  Sorry, but that’s the fault of the biblical text.

Keep safe, keep smiling.

Much love,

Roy xxx

 

 

At the very bottom…. A poem for meditation and prayer by Gerard Kelly- “The Blessing”

Intercessions for Fourth Sunday of Easter 4 Year A – 3rd may 2020 (based on resource in http://costablanca-anglicanchaplaincy.org/)

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray that you will protect us from all danger, especially in this time of Lockdown, by keeping watch over us, guide us towards green pastures where we can be nourished by your word and lead us to pure still waters where  we can be refreshed by your love.

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray for our church leaders that they too may care for and lead us by following the example of love and service you demonstrated in your earthly ministry.  We especially pray today for all of our clergy and ministry teams who through the telephone, the Internet and Social Media are working hard to keep us in touch and provide for the needs of their communities.

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray for the world that was given to us as an inheritance, on the understanding that we would care for it as shepherds care for their flocks.  Teach us to look after our beautiful planet and care for it wisely, whilst sharing its gifts more fairly and working together with all of its inhabitants to ease its sufferings. Grant wisdom to the world’s leaders and enable them to work positively for their peoples.

Lord, you are our Shepherd and we pray for our families and friends who need to hear the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd; who knows every one of them by name; who offers rest to the weary, water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry and light to those who live in darkness.

Lord, you are our Shepherd who seeks out the lost and the sick.  We pray for those we know who are lost in illness in body, mind or spirit and ask you to reassure them with the knowledge that you are watching over them in their suffering and that many are praying for their recovery..

Lord, you are our Shepherd so we pray for those who have died and for those who ache with sorrow in their loss of a loved one.  May those we now name before you find rest in the Spirit’s embrace as you welcome them into the great sheepfold, safe in your keeping for ever

Lord, you are our Shepherd, and we offer our prayers now for all people and their situations. For lives that are going through upheaval or distress caused by the pandemic and in circumstances which only you can change.

Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Amen


If anyone would like a longer conversation (not in a group) send me a message and I will send you an Invitation to a meeting on Zoom to suit,

Some great FREE resources for prayer this week….

 Welcome to ROOTS at home – (FREE RESOURCES) This week’s resources for everyone linked to Luke 24.13-35

https://www.rootsontheweb.com/i-am-looking-for/public-copies/worshipathome26apr

 Church of England – Prayers in a time of pandemic

The Liturgy Committee have created the following intercessions for use during the pandemic:

Download PDF Version
Download Word Version

The Blessing – Gerard Kelly

 

May you who are restless find rest,

and in rest, restoration

and the healing of your hollow soul.

May peace be yours.

May you who are frozen find freedom,

and in freedom,

the strength to face the fire and the thawing

of your ice-gripped heart.

May peace be yours.

May you who are conflicted

find convergence,

and in convergence, confidence

to be the one new child

of your old divided self

May peace be yours.

May you who live in tension find tenderness,

and in tenderness, the tendency to kindness

and the miracle of majoring in mercy.

May peace be yours.

And you who are God-less,

may you find God,

and in God,

the grace and growth you need for

fruit and fullness and the love

that will last you through the long haul

of a lived-for-others life.

May peace be yours.

A Widows Tale – Kathy’s Website http://www.widows-tale.com/

 

Good Friday is always the hardest day of the year for me: this the worst year ever. Yesterday started well with lovely MP from St Martin’s Liskeard; after that, a long fall. But what is faith worth if one never doubts? Hard to share, but “sometimes it’s right to be vulnerable”. And even in the Pit I share the Auschwitz cell wall scrawl: “I believe in God even when He is silent”. And this morning? A song I wrote 5 years ago came to me: words and a capella song attached. Easter is nearly here.

This Blog is mined rather from the depths – Good Friday, always sombre, always a time for soul searching seems the culmination of many days of just that- of concern, frustration, uselessness, worry, grief and all manner of understandable emotions.  Amongst the anguish of the suffering of those on the front line of the virus issues whether patient or carer, politician or bureaucrat policeman or shop worker we look for sense and for positives as we clap the NHS meet on ZOOM and attempt to prepare stuff for others they might find useful.  

The pictures of rainbows have sprung up all over the place and I note these fall into two camps; rainbows of hope and support and rainbows of threat (e.g. if you can see this rainbow you should not be out-  F@@! off home – the latter trend is rather sad although understandable as fear takes over. As Christians we always have hope – we have to have hope even in the depths of desolation of Good Friday.

A little light relief in the next column….. my granddaughter  suffering the effects of lock-down and missing the rest of the family set us all a challenge to recreate a work of art- the pictures are our attempts- you will have to guess which one is me! Life has to go on. 

I am very grateful to Roy for his Sunday Scribblings which are now posted as PDF files to make them easier to read and to Tony for his Way of the Cross presentations available as a PowerPoint or a PDF file.

Last Monday some of us had an experimental Chaplains Coffee and Conversation on Zoom which I plan to have as an open session for the coming weeks. I will put the link invitation in an email rather than on this page fr obvious reasons. Please feel fee to drop in and say hello…. meet a few readers and possibly arrange your own conversations away from the crowd. 

I have been starting each day at first light with a long solitary work – often accompanied by David Suchet reading the NIV Bible – which has been useful though concentrating on rough paths and listening to Romans is interesting to say the least. 

Final thought – if you happen to listen to Radio Cornwall and you do so on Sunday afternoon at about half past three you may just hear my dulcet tones as I cat and possibly sing! 

Tony LeFevre

The Way of the Cross

Link to the PowerPoint Presentation of the whole Stations text and pictures

The Way of the Cross small

Link to the PDF File of the whole Stations text and pictures

The Way of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 16.24,25

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down
the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.
Ephesians 2.13,14

Almighty and everlasting God, who in your tender love towards the human race sent your Son
our Saviour Jesus Christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross: grant
that we may follow the example of his patience and humility, and also be made partakers of his
resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.

First Station: Jesus in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane

Second Station: Jesus betrayed by Judas and arrested

Third Station: Jesus condemned by the Sanhedrin

Fourth Station: Peter denies Jesus

Fifth Station: Jesus judged by Pilate

Sixth Station: Jesus scourged and crowned with thorns

Seventh Station: Jesus carries the cross

Eighth Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry the cross

Ninth Station: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

Tenth Station: Jesus is crucified

Eleventh Station: Jesus promises the kingdom to the penitent thief

Twelfth Station: Jesus on the cross; his mother and his friend

Thirteenth Station: Jesus dies on the cross

Fourteenth Station: Jesus laid in the tomb

Fifteenth Station: Jesus risen from the dead

Zoom – getting started / basics

April 2020

 

There are various ways to join a zoom meeting.

 

  1. The easiest method for you to use if you are only ATTENDING a meeting and not creating a meeting invite yourselves is to click on the link that will be provided for you in the meeting invitation before the meeting is due to start. Then follow the steps below:

 

  • Once you have clicked on the link, you will be taken automatically to the zoom application in order to access the meeting

 

  • There will be a pop up window on screen saying “this site is trying to open zoom meetings,” click “open”

 

  • You should then see a pop up window – click on “join with video” if your computer has a camera and another prompt to click on “join with computer audio”

 

  • You should then be in the meeting. You can choose to disable/enable your camera (you will see a camera icon at the bottom of your screen to click on.)  And there will be an icon and option at the top right hand corner to enter full screen mode, speaker mode or gallery mode (the latter shows a selection of participants – as many as can fit on the screen).

 

Mute / unmute your microphone

 

  • Muting cancels out unnecessary background noise making it easier to hear the speaker more clearly, you may be muted automatically at the beginning of meetings
  • Click or tap on the mute button to mute yourself and on the unmute button to speak when invited by the host, although the host can also control this function for everyone.

 

  • Please note, if you have a very old computer that does not have a microphone built in then it is likely you will be unable to join the meeting from your computer. If this is the case and you have a smart phone we advise you access the meeting using the same link on your phone.
  • If your Wi-Fi signal is not very strong or consistent you may find it easier to join with audio only and not video
  1. Or you can Register for a free Zoom account

 

Go to https://zoom.us/ and follow the sign-up steps (this step is only required if you need to create meetings rather than just attend)

 

 

  1. Or Download the free Zoom client/app

 

 

  • Join your meeting proper
  • A link will be emailed to you, sign-in to your account, click the link and join the meeting

 

  1. Suggestion – to familiarise yourselves with zoom if it’s new. Set-up a trial meeting with friends/family to test it out

 

  • log-in to your account, select schedule and follow the steps to generate your meeting link which you can then copy/paste and email or text to people
  • in the meeting – ensure your audio/video is working – if you get stuck, it might help to get Google to help with your issue, there is likely to be advice online and tutorials on YouTube, or you could get in touch with a more tech savvy relative
  • if you find that you have slow internet, reduce the amount of devices connected to the internet in your household temporarily and/or run as audio only, having the most up to date version of the app will help to reduce any glitches

The Way of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves
and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

Tony LeFevre has a Super Way of the Cross Journey you may like… 

Beatitudes for A Global Pandemic. (Link to Her Blog) 

Beatitudes for a global pandemic. Found on Twitter – Jayne @TheWomanfredi

Blessed are those who stay indoors for they have protected others.
Blessed are the unemployed and the self-employed, for their need of God is great.
Blessed are the corner shopkeepers, for they are the purveyors of scarce things.
Blessed are the delivery drivers and the postal workers, for they are the bringers of essential things.
Blessed are the hospital workers; the ambulance crews, the doctors, the nurses, the care assistants, and the cleaners, for they stand between us and the grave, and the Kingdom of Heaven is surely theirs.
Blessed are the checkout workers, for they have patience and fortitude in the face of overwork and frustration.
Blessed are the refuse collectors, for they will see God despite the mountains of waste.
Blessed are the teachers, for they remain steadfast and constant in disturbing times.
Blessed are the church workers; the deacons, priests and bishops, for they are a comforting presence in a hurting world as they continue to signpost towards God.
Blessed are the single parents, for they are coping alone with their responsibilities and there is no respite.
Blessed are those who are alone, for they are children of God and with Him they will never be lonely.
Blessed are the bereaved, for whom the worst has already happened. They shall be comforted.
Blessed are those who are isolated with their abusers, for one day – we pray – they will know safety.
Blessed are all during this time who have pure hearts; all who still hunger and thirst for justice; all who work for peace and who model mercy. May you know comfort. May you know calm. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all. Amen.

 

  • William’s brainstorm of ideas following the last blog……
  • How are we coping with the change in church life? Some more ideas…
  •  SPWD – Sermon Preparation WithdrawalDisorder….
  •  Technology. Meetings by Skype or Zoom…Fear or delight….How is it for you or for others…
  •  Social media…thoughts for the day…
  •  Virtual worship…its many forms…
  •  The new style of funeral…limited service…supporting families in other ways…
  •  The new funeral regime is about to come into fruition. Not sure how it will work…
  •  Pastoral work remotely…
  •  Not offering to write anything; but ideas!!!

Joy Gunter sent me this Spiritual Communion

Spiritual Communion

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Lord I cannot seek Thee on Thine altar throne

Yet may I receive Thee weary and alone; 

When before Thy altar crowds adoring kneel,

there in very essence, Thou dost come to heal.

 Far from priest and altar Christ to Thee I cry,

come to me in spirit, let me feel Thee nigh.

 In my silent worship, Let me share the feast,

Be Thy love the altar Be Thyself the priest.

 

Act of faith

O most loving Jesus I believe that Thou art really present in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar. Lord I believe, help Thou my unbelief.

Act of Hope

I hope O Jesus by the virtue of this Sacrifice to overcome all my sins to persevere in goodness, to die in Thy favour; and to rise glorious at the last day.

Act of charity

O that I could love Thee dear Lord as Thy blessed mother and all thy saints have loved Thee! O that I could praise Thee as they praised Thee on earth and now praise Thee in heaven.

 

From the Centenary Prayer Book 1948

Don McQuillen-Wright came across this interesting version of the Passion narrative.

Dear All

Below these musings there are a few possibly useful prayers!

Roy Cooper, a Reader in Training due to be licensed in October is doing some weekly Sunday Scribblings and I have made a page for his collected thoughts  – https://www.readers-chaplain.org.uk/roys-sunday-scribblings/ 

Lez and I have been socially distancing for almost a fortnight though I have braved the Co-op first thing in the morning for some essentials! Luckily our children are shopping for us in the main! I am sure many of you are in the same situation with much more serious health issues than ours but we dont want to be part of the problem for our wonderful front line key-worker staff. 

With my school work gone and grandchild contact only virtual amongst other things , I have been in a state of what I can only describe as bereavement.  So many of my ex pupils and their parents are in the thick of it at the moment that my prayer is pretty much constant as is the need to do something positive. 

The positive thing was to help those parents stuck at home and the volunteers at schools looking after key worker children doing their favourite school songs and stories. These I have published on this site… see the link in the menu to Jim’s Stories! Some things might be useful or at least give you a laugh. 

The rainbows in the picture are appearing as a symbol of hope drawn by children so that those passing can see them. 

We have hope – thank God. 

 

Keep safe – Jim

 

The Prayers we sent to our Church family  – you might find them useful (based on some in  John Pritchard Intercessions Handbook )

Here are some prayers for use tomorrow and in the coming week.  You might like to have a candle ready to light – there is one mentioned in the prayers.

Attached is the Celtic Blessing sung by Dhiworth an Gollon – our dwarves!

 

We’re most stretched in our intercessions when some terrible tragedy has occurred and it’s hard to know how to pray without sounding banal. Perhaps the most important need is to be honest; hence the response in this intercession, ‘O God, why?’

 

Our prayers today are making a time for honest emotion before God. We can’t  tidy up tragedy in neat prayers. Perhaps questioning our impotence is the most effective way of identifying with the depth of sorrow felt by so many.

Lord, we’ve seen the pictures, and felt the shock.  It seems so tragic, so pointless and so desperate. We’ve heard the stories, the little cameos of grief, and we feel so helpless. Sometimes we rage against this kind of event, and sometimes we feel a sense of dull fatalism that ‘this is the way the world is’.

And so we say, O God, why?

In the meantime our prayers seem futile, like stones in our mouths. Words of any kind seem trivial and clumsy. How can we pray in these situations? How can we frame anything worth saying? How did Mary pray at the crucifixion?

And so we say, O God, why?

We believe you’re somehow there in the mess of it all. At least that’s what our faith tells us. But just at the moment that doesn’t feel to be enough. We know you’re helping the helpless, as well as

helping the helpers, but the point is — it all seems too late.

And so we say, O God, why?

We’ll do our best to clear up the mess, and we’ll move on. But there are many who won’t be able to move on because they’ll have been too much changed by this event, and too traumatized.

We know you’ll stay with them every step of the way, and you’ll be at full stretch to bring them healing but still we say, O God, why?

All we can do is light a candle in the darkness to represent our fragile prayer and our battered faith. And as it burns, let it be for us a sign of your love and grace, shining in our present darkness.

Make us impatient for that day when the whole creation shall be renewed and we have a new heaven and a new earth, and we shall no longer say, ‘O God, why?’

Amen, Lord, so be it.

a fifteen minute story written originally for children…

A story that affirms however useless we may feel in our current state - God has a use for us.