Sharing some thoughts

I’m sure we’ve all had the experience at some time of giving something to someone and watching with joy at how much it means to them… I’m a little biased but my grandchildren are wonderful at receiving gifts and showing how excited they are – one time Helen had wrapped up some presents in the same paper and when we gave a present to our youngest grandson we realised it had got confused with a present for our niece – now there’s quite a lot of difference in the type of presents a 25 year old young lady might like and what an 8 year old boy might like – but Ryan opened it and gave a big smile and a big thank you before looking to his mum for some sort of advice as to what this might be ! The first response was to appreciate what had been given and it’s always good to see that look of excitement or surprise when you give something to someone. Of course, we may well get a similar response from someone who is desperate for food or a drink and we are able to provide it…. Another gi

from Helen Have you ever had the experience of something good happening and then it getting better and better ? We once went to a wedding where the reception was a Chinese buffet. I apologise if I have told you this story but it is a very important one and is close to my heart. I say a Chinese buffet. This was no ordinary buffet, it was in the St.Davids hotel and spa in Cardiff bay. We were all invited table by table to a room where there was food galore. It was very good but the best bit is yet to come… when dessert came we were taken back into this room and there were loads of mini desserts and we were offered each one. Well, I knew that 7 desserts was greedy but they were mini and it would be rude not to…. That reception was bigger, better and greater than all I could have imagined. This is certainly an experience and emotion which we have heard about in our readings this morning. In the reading from 2 Kings (4: 42-44) Elisha trusted God and the result was even bigger, better

Today is the Feast Day of St Mary Magdalene – a character who has been the subject of huge debate and intrigue within the Church and outside for centuries… But above all Mary Magdalene was a lady who, inspired by her relationship with Jesus, sought to live out his message of love and compassion, and who seems to have followed him wherever it led her. Today I want to think about Mary Magdalene’s example and lesson for the wider Church today, and for the wider Church of tomorrow. Mary Magdalene it seems never fitted in with the idea that many people had of what a disciple of Jesus should be like or even look like. We start with the obvious fact that she was a woman, and in the time of Jesus the fact that he treated her so well, and on an equal par with men, was enough to cause a good deal of anger from some and even a touch of scandal… And then there is of course this suggestion that Mary Magdalene had had some kind of a shady past. Again, this has caused some sort of debate as it did

From Helen There are some names  in life that we hear and  have an immediate response. For  example  if I said Eddie the Eagle, the Queen, Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, Sam Warburton, Lily Savage, Mary Magdalene… We all have views of people  that are  sometimes  based  on personal experience of meeting th em, sometimes on news articles or  other people’s stories. We all have a view of different people. Today in the Church we are celebrating a person who is infamous and that person is Mary Magdalene. Over the  years  lots of different stories have been made up about Mary. They all paint her in a very bad light.  There is one  story that she was a bit of a scarlet woman and so was portrayed as a red head  ..  I personally find this a bit  offensive !!   All we know for sure about Mary Magdalene is that she was a follower of Jesus.  In our gospel reading (John 20:11-18) this morning we heard what is one of the most important points about Mary Magdalene and that is that

This week all the diocesan clergy have been away on our tri-annual clergy conference. A frustration was that one of the speakers raised some points but didn't really answer them. Sometimes however there is a need to just ask questions and reflect on the answers….  Some time back I was reading a book I have got, called ‘Gumpisms’. It’s a book of sayings from Forrest Gump. For those who don’t know, Forrest was a young man considered a little backward by many people, but who managed to make a tremendous success of everything that he tried. In this book Forrest is quoted as saying, ‘Some people like me are born idiots, but many more become stupider as they go along’. I was thinking about this statement and I think there may well be an element of truth in it ! Many of us for example end up doing things which have gone wrong before, or failing to do something again when we know from past experience, we should have done that thing ! Children, for example, will often say and do thin