Greetings to you all
Hello all,
Autumn is upon us, the month when our air temperatures begin to cool – we will welcome that this year for sure! And the season I remember well as children for the vegetables being brought in for storing…
I do miss not having a fruit and vegetable plot, but I have quite few apple trees and this year SO many mulberries on the mulberry tree and blackberries on the rambling bushes! So, I have plenty to keep me busy if I feel like baking and preserving in any way.
In this rural community we will have heard that whilst the farmers have got their harvest in early, and dry, the payback are the crops not being full in grain – not enough rain to swell the grain...we sing about that in our hymns. The church hymns capturing much of the joys we have in life and the difficulties. I suppose one of the reasons church was so important in years gone by, the main gathering place for us to give thanks and to ask for help, to share our joys and tribulations.
We need to always keep that balance of finding joy in amongst the need to recognise and ask for help with the difficulties. We see so much need here in the UK and across the globe, we need to hold onto what helps us to keep robust and strong in amongst it all.
So, I was delighted, no, indeed full of JOY, to hear that the major record label DECCA had signed up a Christian songwriter, Elle Limebear and her first record with them is Give me Joy – based on the well-known hymn! Give it a listen, and you will not be surprised at the great success it is having.
Do keep joy in your life, it does help to lift us and keep us going with energy to help others, and joy can be in the simplest of things…
Maybe out of season, but I remember the great joy as a child of finding the pea pods full and ripe of sweet peas to gather and munch, or more up to date, the joy of going into a cool, peaceful place to sit and take a breath - in our beautiful parish churches around our benefice.
And the great joy of seeing the great kindness many of you show to your neighbours, as well as the great need to find out who our neighbours are – we have so many new neighbours across the benefice - WELCOME!
Ring me for a chat if you would like to, I always welcome a chat,
All blessings to you all,
Revd Paula
Reverend Paula Smith 01280 701631
