Candescent May

Saturday 27th May 2017

Contrasts

Friday 26th May 2017

It was one of those days with pressure of time which may be difficult for other people to imagine.  Get up, take the dog out, drive to the fell to check the horse and give her a morning feed, come back to my own breakfast and be in church in time for Morning Prayer at 8 o'clock.

 

Then dress in hiking gear before driving the five miles to Greenhaugh School for a 9 o'clock assembly on pilgrimage, telling them a little about St Cuthbert's Way and preparing them for their own local "St Aidan's pilgrimage" next month.

     Drive to Thorneyburn and change in St Aidan's vestry into more formal dress (black cassock and proper shoes) ready to conduct a funeral, which was attended by 120 people, and then the burial.

     I can't remember what happened next; but people always get the impression that the clergy only exist when they are visible  --  rather like people's sceptical impression of God!  

Ascension Day

Thursday 26th May 2017

The distinctive tower of the Cathedral church of St Nicholas (from the Tyne railway bridge) where I attended the Sung Eucharist for Ascension Day

after St Cuthbert's Way

Saturday 20th May 2017

 Six days of walking St Cuthbert's Way from Melrose...


...to Lindisfarne...


 

...via the wilds of the borders...

 

 

...have left me busily catching up.  Today there have been Christian Aid envelope collecting, school governors' business, wedding and baptism preparation and numerous other things.

 [Look out for the full illustrated story in a couple of weeks' time!]

A contented flock

Sunday 7th May 2017

Today's reading about Jesus as the Good Shepherd is well illustrated by this topical scene.  Whilst I hope that the Christian "flock" feels as secure and as well provided for as these North Tyne sheep, I also hope that they are energised and outward-looking enough to work for the benefit of people in all kinds of need nearby and further afield.

Polling day

Thursday 4th May 2017

The local people running the polling station believe so deeply in elections that they always reward voters for exercising their democratic responsibility: we are always offered sweets after we have voted; but today early voters also received a small Easter Egg!
     In contrast to this location, my last engagement of the day was at the cathedral in Newcastle where we had an evening session on Prayer Spaces in Schools.

Three of the Tyne bridges from the train

Spring is in the air

Wednesday 3rd May 2017

The swallows are back: two have been flying in and out of the stable since yesterday, alternating with the parent robins bringing food for the chicks floundering around in the deep bed of straw.  (I liaised with three schools, chaired a PCC meeting and answered the telephone for much of the day.)

On the road

Tuesday 2nd May 2017

A day of driving around visiting parishioners and organising things

No room in the ...stable

Monday 1st May 2017

Sorry, Molly, but you can't come in: the stable is not available.  Just as I was trying to decide if the weather was right to make this Molly's first night out for the summer, I found a baby robin in the stable waiting on the straw to be fed.