Author: Sharon

Message from Cathy about her greetings cards, helping to raise money for the Friends of St Marys Last year, during the first lockdown, I took my camera with me on my daily walk around the village and collected a series of images of Long Crendon. I was also asked to take photographs of the Open Gardens as part of a project for The National Garden Scheme to help the NGS continue fund-raising during financially challenging times. It occurred to me that I could produce a set of hand made greetings cards using some of the images, particularly since work opportunities were uncertain, and so Flashcat Cards was born! There are a couple of images in the range featuring St Mary’s Church - one of the church itself and another of the wonderful church door. The cards are £2.50 each or 4 for £8.00 and for each card sold featuring the church I will be making a donation to the Friends of St Mary’s....

Musing on John 6, 1 to 21 Is this just about showing through miracles that Jesus is divine? In contrast to the records of these events in other Gospel, John’s retelling is after a lifetimes reflection. Are there any significant differences? Observations: So the wind must have been against the disciples as they crossed the lake because the crowd could keep up. Mountains around the Sea of Galilee are more like an average hill. A days wages was one dinari, the Greek has Philip saying food would cost more than 200 dinari. The Greek doesn’t say ‘so they sat down’ but ‘the men sat down, so 5000 men, plus women and children (so more like 5000 dinari needed!) Bread was such an essential it was considered ‘sacred’ in the Middle East (still is), so it was unheard of not to pick up the pieces. They collected one basket full for each of the disciples -but no basket for Jesus. Jesus provides a meal - women’s work in his day. He...

Musing on Mark 6,30 to 34 and 53 to the end.4 The costs of following Jesus Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand 30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. You may find this weeks Gospel reading somewhat curious as it seems to miss out the best bits – no feeding of 5000, no walking on water. Instead we get what at first sight might seem to be...

Musing on Mark 6, 14 to 29 One question comes to mind when we read this passage – why did Mark, who is very selective in what he writes in his short Gospel, want to find space for this story? Why do you think it is important. What does he want us to learn from it? Herod Antipas, one of the 3 sons of Herod the Great (of ‘killing Bethlehem babies’ fame) was ‘king’, aka in charge, of the Roman administrative region of Galilee. He’d married his brother Philips ex-wife, Herodias, and John the Baptist had called him out on it in his preaching sessions in the wilderness (see Lev.18:15-16). Antipas couldn’t have his name disrespected like that so he had John arrested and brought to Machaerus, his hilltop fortress, presumably to ‘deal with him’. But then Antipas found that he liked listening to John. What he said coupled with his righteousness and holiness perplexed Antipas. Now I suspect that it was...

Musing on Mark 6, 1 to 13.           Do you believe and trust……..? Jesus returned to Nazareth, where he was brought up and worked, only to find that there was some truth in the saying ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. What’s your experience of ‘going back’ - to a school reunion, a former workplace, a ‘home town’? Was the expectation that you/people would still be exactly the same? Did you feel people didn’t want you to have ‘moved on’? As a good Jew Jesus went to the synagogue on the sabbath. Everyone went as it was a social time, a place to discuss civic matters as well as the scriptures and to share the gossip. There could be up to six readings, the leader of the synagogue picking the scroll to be read from and inviting people who could to read from it. As it was written in Hebrew there was also someone who translated it into Aramaic as it was read. Visitors were sometimes...

Musing on Mark 5, we to the end Shame overcome = faith? As a trustee of Thame Foodbank I’ve learnt that the main obstacle that people in need have to overcome in order to ask for help is shame - shame that they have failed to provide for their family, shame that they have to admit to it to strangers, shame that they have to admit to it to their children. Shame is a powerful force affecting our behaviour in society and it’s shame that the two people in our reading have to overcome to ask Jesus for help. Jairus was the leader of a synagogue, a public position of great honour and social standing. Synagogues we’re not necessarily buildings but could be just the village meeting place. Here people would discuss both scripture and village life – the blessings and difficulties of both. Social and religious life was inseparable. The leader of the synagogue would supervise public works, local laws,  the schooling...

...

Musing on Mark 4, 26 to 34 This week we have 2 of Jesus parables of the Kingdom. What do you make of the first (26-29)? Is God the sower and reaper? Is the ground us? What represents the kingdom of God? Or is it simple illustrating that the kingdom of God is about the mysterious power of the seed itself, germinating in the ground and growing away all by itself?   The parable of the mustard seed is familiar enough but what is it telling us about the kingdom of God? Mustard had to be carefully controlled. From small seeds it grew wild and invasive and could take over your garden! A good image of the kingdom of God? It’s black seeds are popular with the birds! (An image of the kingdom of God providing for its populations, and for all birds, the clean and the unclean scavengers? (no scarecrows in Gods kingdom!) Left alone it can grow to around 3m high – modest but everywhere!...

Musing on Mark 3, 20 to the end family matters When I told my mum that I was giving up my architectural practice and entering the ministry full time, she thought I was mad to give up  the ‘safety’ of a profession (this quite overlooked that this ‘safe’ profession had been through a period of over 50% unemployment less than 10 years previously from which I had been extremely fortunate to survive with only small debt). ‘Can’t you do it in your spare time like you are now?’ (I was a reader) she asked. But as some of you will know, when God calls you, there’s little choice but to follow your vocation. Has your family ever told you that they think you’re crazy, an extremist, taking things to far as you try to live as a follower of Jesus? In the first couple of chapters of Mark we see Jesus response to his vocation. He tours through Galilee healing the sick, driving out...

This Sunday Messy Church will be back at Chearsley Village Hall (outside).  We still can’t offer you food, but if you bring a picnic and blanket, we would love to sit and eat “together” at the end. Our theme is “Toilet Twinning” so we will be doing lots of crafts and games based on toilets! Can you lob a loo roll into a loo? Throw a dice and race to build a compost loo Make poo out of Weetabix, then plop it into the compost loo, adding sawdust to stop the smell Play a memory game with all the bathroom items we take for granted Get messy with toilet paper and glue as we make a collage together Hear the story of Rachel, a schoolgirl from Africa, whose life was transformed by a toilet. Write your prayers graffiti style on the back of a toilet door Spend  a penny – can you get your pennies into the glass jar We would love...