Dear Friends,
The reflections today will, we hope, make you smile! There is an additional one focused on Mary Magdalene whose feast day is on 22nd. There are quite a number of attachments to keep you going for a couple of weeks! Next week, 27th, there won’t be a Saturday Reflection as we will be in Rwanda! No, not sent there by the Conservative Party(!), but we are visiting our sisters there and attending a Spirituality Conference. Keep us in your prayers – whatever the politicians tell us, it is not ‘a safe country’ but we will be well looked after by our Rwandan & Congolese sisters!
‘My Peace’ from Sacred Dance is our blessing this week. May God’s peace be with you through the next two weeks.
With our love
Laughter liberates and laughter uplifts. When laughter comes into a life, nothing is too difficult, nothing can defeat us. We can survive the noonday sun and the darkness of death and the grinding boredom of dailiness and still find life exhilarating. Other things in life change colour like chameleons on plaid, but laughter is always ornament, always grace.
Joan Chittister
Certainly! Laughter is a wonderful thing, and it has been celebrated by many famous minds throughout history. Here are a few quotes that capture the essence of laughter:
Charles Chaplin: “A day without laughter is a day wasted.”
E E Cummings: “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”
Mark Twain: “The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.”
William James: “We don’t laugh because we’re happy – we’re happy because we laugh.”
Herman Melville: “A good laugh is a mighty good thing, a rather too scarce a good thing.”
Remember, laughter not only brings joy but also has positive effects on our health and well-being. So keep laughing!
An amalgam of reflections on humour, laughter, joy.
So often we hear about the struggles and the difficulties that we face as Christians. However, God created joy and humour. Think of the most joyful person that you know. What makes them smile or laugh? How does their attitude affect their days and your own? I can think of three very joyful people in my life. Their smile and sense of humour literally cause happiness to fill my heart. Their lives release the aroma of Christ. I feel refreshed just being around them.
Christ-followers will have challenges, but we also have been given a powerful gift of the fullness of joy in the Lord. What does the Bible say about laughter and its importance?
There are many bible passages that speak of joy, humour, laughter.
“A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” A cheerful heart can include laughter. When we think about the heart being merry that is the inward working of the joy of Christ. Then, laughter is a physical sign of the inward working of God. Our speech reflects our hearts, our laughter comes from a heart of happiness.
If you are feeling more of a crushed spirit that is said to dry up the bones, turn to the Lord and ask him to refresh you. Scripture says the Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). Ask God to rescue you from the crushed spirit and renew your heart to cheerfulness again. This does not mean that circumstances change, but our perspective of thankfulness can help us through the most difficult of times.
- Psalms 126:2 – Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD has done great things for them.
- Job 8:21 – …….. till he fill your mouth with laughing, and your lips with rejoicing.
- Luke 6:21 – Blessed are you that hunger now: for you shall be filled. Blessed are you that weep now: for you shall laugh.
- Psalm 126:2-3 – Then our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with joyful songs. Then the nations said, “The LORD has done spectacular things for them.”
If the Table Could Speak
Joyce Rupp
what would the tables where we dine
tell us if they were able to speak,
what tall tales would they reveal—
whispered secrets, gossipy truths,
stories easily sprouted and morphed
troubles told with anguished worry,
pain laid bare with hope of easement,
tears flowing like puddles of rain,
salty sorrow from grieving hearts
giggles, chuckles, and sassy sniggers,
resurrected recalls of previous pranks,
laughter so brassy and raucous
the table’s legs rattled with glee
and, oh, the kinds of food and drink
laid upon the welcoming space,
lavish festivities, cauldrons of joy,
and, yes, the days fraught with paucity,
those grim remnants of greenish leftovers
if the table were allowed to speak,
listeners would most certainly learn
of treasured delights and savoured fun—
assorted pets circling the table to beg,
small children hiding out beneath
to seek their solitude and play
and, yes, the table would have complaints,
tired of pastry crumbs and coffee splotches,
sticky fingerprints, torn-off bread crusts,
emptied cans, foul-smelling beer bottles,
dying tea bags left to gasp alone in their cups
how strange it must seem to a faithful table
when folks gather for a celebration meal
to never consider a pause to be grateful
for that flattened ledge they name as table—
the silent, inert gift that never stops listening,
the one willing to bear what’s placed upon it,
always available for another hearty laugh
or one more telling of a lengthy tale
Excerpts from parish newsletters. One or other of these might make you laugh! You may have seen them before………………….
- Don’t let worry kill you – let the church help.
- Thursday Night: Pot-Luck supper. Prayer & medication to follow.
- Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church & community.
- For those of you who have children & don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
- This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs Lewis to come up & lay an egg on the altar.
- The ladies of the church have cast-off clothing of every kind. They can be seen in the church basement, Saturday.
- At the Evening Service tonight, the sermon topic will be ‘What is Hell?’ Come early & listen to choir practice.
Sunday Morning
She went alone
in the cool, still, dark of morning.
She went because she loved him,
and she loved him because he first loved her.
But when that love in human form was killed,
a piece of herself died as well.
Perhaps that’s what she was looking for on that Sunday morning:
that piece of herself that had died with him,
that had been buried with him.
And when she saw that he was gone,
she knew that part of herself was gone as well
never to be seen again
never to be touched again
never to be loved again.
And she wept.
She wept with grief
she wept with mourning
she wept tears of loss
not only for the one who loved her
but for her own self, too
for her wholeness
her holiness
her worthiness
her belovedness
gone with him.
Where is my Lord? she wailed,
her cheeks wet with tears,
her hands shaking with despair.
For in his empty tomb
she saw her own
empty body
empty heart empty soul.
Until,
“Mary.”
With one word, she knew
the truth, her truth
came flooding back.
Anointed by his voice,
confirmed in her name,
sent with his grace
whole
holy
worthy
beloved.
Never to be empty again.
Written by Annie Hayes, M.Div.