Friday growth

There's lot's of new growth in our garden and the church garden. It was still very cold and grey yesterday afternoon.

 

The Trees

 

The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.

Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

 

Philip Larkin

Reflected Peace

You can find out more about this art installation on Jonathan Evans blog

Dunwich Heath plants

A variety of soggy plants from Dunwich Heath.

 

The Epistle from the lectionary today was from 1 Corinthians 3 and included verses 5-9

 

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.

Beach Sculpture

Some people pay a fortune for sculptures. It's amazing what turns up on the beach free of charge; some totally natural, some made by humans and other a bit of a combination.

Dunwich Heath

It was grey but dry when we walked along the beach at Dunwich Heath yesterday, at least it wasn't windy. The sun tried to come out but didn't succeed.

 

The sun came out just in time for us to be driving back to London so it was in our eyes as we came down the A12.

Treasure in clay jars

For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness', who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 2 Corinthians 4.6-7

Burns Supper

Last night we had our annual Burns Supper at St Michael's. It has now become a tradition firmly fixed in our Church social calander. I always think a tradition is something that you do once and like so do again!

 

I didn't take many photos - I was too busy eating and chatting, but did manage one of a traditional Scottish drink.

 

Thanks to Richard (our chief cook) and to Calum and Gemma (chief mashers and waiters)

Aldeburgh

A walk along the beach at Aldeburgh is great for blowing away the cobwebs. It was shorter than I had intended because I couldn't remember locking the car, I returned to find it was locked. It made me think about how many things you do so automatically that you have no conscious memory of doing them.

I was very good and resisted the temptation of having chips from the Aldeburgh chip shop despite the queue and wonderful aroma!

Random Album

If you’ve got a few minutes to while away, try creating a random album.

1 - Go to Wikipedia & hit random. The first article you get is the name of your band. 2 - Go to quotationspage.com & hit random quotes. The last 4 or 5 words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your album. 3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”. The 3rd picture no matter what it is, will be your album cover. 4 - Use photoshop or similar (picnik.com is a free online photo editor) to put it all together. 5 - Post it with this text in the "caption" and share with your friends

I’d never have come up with anything so creative myself, I love the album title. Thanks Hannah for the idea.

Spring flowers

When we were out buying food today I bought some flowers. They really brighten up the corner of my desk, even better they were reduced from £4.99 to 89p.

Any one for tennis?

Perhaps not...

Water like a stone

This year it felt appropriate to sing "In the bleak midwinter" at carol services; it felt as though it really was!

In the bleak midwinter – Christina Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

 

I think the birds in Raphael Park would also agree. It was fun on several occasions watching them slipping around on the snow and struggling to get out the water.

Snow

Snow Glazed – Raymond A Foss

The world, the grass, the roads
the woods, were all
snow glazed
trimming, coated, in white
a bit cleaner, more pure
in the patina of white
covering the world
with a thin film
in the first snow of the year

Lucy

Lucy having fun in the snow before Christmas