The Weaver, the Word and Wisdom

Okay - before you stop buying things for Lent 08, how about splashing out on a new book? My latest has just been released. 'The Weaver, the Word and Wisdom' is a collection of prayers, reflections, poems and resources for use in public worship or private reflection.
£12.99 from www.mph.org.uk

Getting ready.... for Lent!!

Lent 08 starts really early, in fact on February 6th. So amidst the Christmas carols, tinsel and parties some of us at Methodist Church House are getting ready for Lent! One season of preparation and penitence clearly isn't enough!

The Methodist Church was so impressed the No New Shoes campaign last Lent that we are following it up with a campaign called 'Buy Less : Live More'.

During Lent people who sign up will receive a daily email with 2 challenges/ideas one about buying less and one about 'living more'. So as well as reducing your carbon footprint by getting off the consumer treadmill, you can live life in all its fullness.

We are producing Buy Less: Live More 'credit cards', which you can put in your wallet to remind you to think twice before shopping. These will be available from www.mph.org.uk free (plus postage) in the New Year. We will have some pages on the Methodist Church Website and a Facebook site, where you can sign up for email updates - and we'll keep posting on No New Shoes. Watch this space for more details.

Bags of Fun

Okay, I don't always remember to take non-plastic bags with me to the supermarket, but mostly I do. Or I take the old plastic bags from the cupboard under the stairs (or the European used plastic bag mountain as it is also known), so they get used a few times before their 400 year wait until nature finally wins.

'Bag for Life' offers at our supermarche are a good idea - but much, much, much better is to use fairly traded jute bags, available from Traidcraft, New Internationlist and other such wonderful places.

I support the campaign to emulate Ireland and begin charging for plaggy bags - we'll soon start to remember to take our trendy fair trade environmentally friendly bags with us. And anyway - your wine bottle's much less likely to fall out of a sturdy jute bag than a thin, poorly made, environmentally disastrous carrier.

visit www.green-england.co.uk/plasticbagpetition to add your name to those who support 'old bags' (you know what I mean) or visit www.mrdf.org.uk for more ideas about tackling climate change.

Tremendous Truro

I had a great time at Truro Methodist Church over the weekend of 16th - 17th June.

they had a flower festival and concerts, craft fair etc.

They have a great choir, praise band, African drum band and a fabulous director of music.

Most importantly though was the sense of people gathering to worship God with joy, love, care and enthusiasm.

Wonderful and uplifting.

Blogging blues

I think blogging is a great idea - there are just a few draw backs.

One is that my life is too full to find enough time telling the world what I'm up to or what I think about all sorts of things.

BUT the blogging thing that really gets my goat is how rude people feel they can be about other people. I'm lucky - I don't get people saying rude things on my little blogs. But I read other blogs where people are mean and disrespectful about other people and other people's ideas, work, looks - you name it.

So I'm pledging to try and be nice on this blog - does that mean no one will read it? Maybe.

But as wiser people have said - if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

What do you think? (Be nice - but disagree if you like!!)

HAPPY EASTER!

A PRAYER
When everything was dark
and it seemed that the sun would never shine again,
your love broke through.
Your love was too strong, too wide, too deep for death to hold.
The sparks cast by your love dance and spread
and burst forth with resurrection light.

Gracious God, we praise you for the light of new life
made possible through Jesus.
We praise you for the light of new life
that shone on the first witnesses of resurrection.
We praise you for the light of new life
that continues in our hearts today.
We pray that the Easter light of life, hope and joy
will live in us each day;
and that we will be bearers of that light into the lives of others. Amen.

School Concerts

It seems two minutes since I was happy that Half Term was here and now it's time for the Easter break. Yippee! Hurray! Thank goodness.

This week's not been too bad though - work's been a bit rough but the extra curricular things have made it bearable. Both my children had school concerts to appear in. My daughter was a georgeous ladybird in a comical version of Little Red Riding Hood and was word perfect and had a very red face. My son was in the choir and the samba band in his school concert and both were wonderful.

What was great was the amount of work put in by the young people and the teachers. As well as huge quanitities of natural talent there was enthusiasm, commitment, team work and a lot of fun. At a time when young people get a slamming in the press and certain newspapers would have us think that no teacher ever does anything beyond the call of duty, it is great to remember the thousands of kids and staff in schools making an effort and having a great time.

It gives me hope!