Sharing some thoughts

From Helen  Well here we are just in to a New Year. We will have had chance to think about the events of the past year, maybe with happiness maybe with sadness. We may even have made resolutions for how we will do things differently this year. I never make resolutions as the one time I did make a resolution it all went wrong for me. I was 9 years old and I had received a girl guide diary for Christmas. It was only a little diary but it had a pencil with it that fitted in to the side of the diary. I really thought that I was quite something with this diary and so I resolved to write in it every day, which I did. However, in February I made a new friend who was such a good friend that we decided we were best friends. In my diary I saw all the lovely things one would write about their absolute best friend but then I noticed a piece of paper stapled in on which I had written, “ She is no longer my best friend look at 17 th Feb.” On the 17 th Feb I had explained how I couldn...

The collegiate and Parish Church of St Mary, Swansea HAPPY NEW YEAR Isaiah 40:31 : But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. 60 years since the reconsecration of the church 2019 marks the 60th anniversary of the reconsecration of St Mary’s following the destruction during the Second World War. It’s rebuilding was a massive effort and must have been driven by a vision to see a building in the centre of the city standing as a witness to the glory and power of God. It must also have been inspired by a hope to reach out in love and hospitality to the community being served by the church.  Today that vision and inspiration must continue to encourage us to move forward as we seek to share the gospel in a city that is very different from even 60 years ago. As we begin a new year we have a good chance to reflect on the past, be thankful for the pres...

The comments of children sometimes are wonderful. We can all probably think of a funny story to do with something a child has said – a while ago I remember a 3 year old telling Helen that she looked a mess in the morning !! Something I would obviously have disagreed with………  There’s also the great children’s letters to God – I’m a bit sad perhaps but I never tire of hearing things like, ‘Dear God, Did you mean to make giraffes look like that, or was it an accident ?’ or ‘Dear God, I keep waiting for a nice summer day, but it hasn’t come – did you forget ?’ or just one more, ‘Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms – it works for me and my brother.’ Children's words are often profound and today in the gospel reading we hear the only recorded words of Jesus as a child (Luke 2:41-52). As a 12 year old after his parents had visited Jerusalem for the Passover festival Jesus was lost in the convoy back home – panicking they returned...

If you listen to music at this time of year one of the songs you will hear played quite a lot is the Band Aid song ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’. And many of you will know the first line of that song, ‘It’s Christmas time and there’s no need to be afraid…’ Of course we know that for many people Christmas is a time of feeling afraid and it has, it seems, always been so – When Isaiah foretold the birth of Jesus he described Him as light coming into darkness, and perhaps most famously of all as the Angel appeared to Mary she was told ‘do not be afraid’ – after all she was a young unmarried virgin engaged to a carpenter who wasn’t the father of the baby and getting pregnant in those circumstances was reason for being stoned to death at the time… why should she worry !!! And then there is the angel who appeared to the shepherds and again offered the words, ‘Do not be afraid…’ I wonder how many of us on a dark mountain top wouldn’t be afraid if we heard an angel speaking to us !!! ...