The Revd Canon Roger Smith
150 Southwood Drive
Accrington
BB5 2TU
October 2020
Dear Friends
We are in the Harvest Season and it has been somewhat strange to not have a big service with the church full of harvest gifts.
However, it did have PEOPLE in it and perhaps the more stark surroundings gave us the opportunity to consider another type of Harvest...the Harvest of our own lives.....and furthermore how to nurture our wills and actions so that in what time we have left we may live so that love flourishes from the people we are, and the things we say and do.
I read some words by Frank Topping a religious broadcaster and they ended with this prayer, which I think is worth taking to heart and living out in the day to day.
Lord, your harvest is the harvest of love.
love sown in the hearts of people;
love that spreads out
like the branches of a great tree
covering all that seek its shelter;
love that inspires and recreates;
love that is planted
in the weak and weary,
the sick and the dying.
The harvest of your love
is the life that reaches
through the weeds of sin and death
to the sunlight of resurrection.
Lord, nurture my days with your love,
water my soul with the dew of forgiveness,
that the harvest of my life
might be your joy.
Amen
Yours in the love of Christ
Roger
Readings for October
11th....18th after Trinity.
Philippians 4 vv1-9
25th.....Last in Trinity
1 Thessalonians 2 vv1-8
Lots of Little Summers
Periods of good autumn weather used to be known as gossamer, a joining together of “goose and summer”. This was because geese were eaten, having been fattened up in the months before.....You may remember we had some seasonal goose at Michaelmas...29th September.
These spells were notable for gossamer threads, the mass of fine spider webs which catch the sun in stubble fields on a bright autumn morning. We still use the word gossamer. In fact this morning, before writing this, I opened the conservatory door and walked right into a web of gossamer spun by a busy spider
In days gone by it was thought that there could be several distinct spells of good weather in autumn. The tradition was to name the spell after the saint’s day it came closest to. St Luke's Little Summer was said to last from 18 October to 28 October, and later on it might be followed by All Hallows Summer around 31 October and then St Martin's Little Summer around the saint’s day on 11 November.
October 18th is St Luke's Day
St. Luke is believed to be the author of the Gospel that bears his name as well as of the Acts of the Apostles, He was probably born in Antioch Syria of a prosperous Greek family, and was trained as a physician.
His gospel is considered the most poetic and beautiful of all. He shows Jesus not as the Jewish Messiah, but as the world’s Saviour and Lord, and he is considered to be a great man of prayer.
Luke went with Paul on his second missionary journey and probably looked to Paul's health whilst they travelled
Towards the end of his life he wrote to Timothy saying, “the time of my dissolution is at hand, I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course, I have kept the faith….and later on he says, only Luke is with me.
It is thought that Luke was unmarried and wrote his Gospel in Greece , where he died aged 84.
Because Luke's Gospel is thought to be the most accurate story of the life of Jesus, especially of his birth, Luke was taken as one of the patrons of lawyers and he is also patron of doctors. As he was also thought to be a good painter he became patron of artists, painters, sculptors, craft workers and even lacemakers.
Luke's symbol is the ox, perhaps that is why he is also patron of butchers.
In many paintings, Luke is represented by a winged ox. The ox represents the sacrificial aspect of Jesus’ ministry and the wings remind us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to travel throughout the world.
Luke is often called the beloved physician and so on his day the Church especially intercedes for those who are ill and those who work to bring healing......During this time of pandemic on this day especially we should all remember them and those who have suffered and are still suffering form the Corona Virus.
“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”
Oscar Wilde
Keep us, good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy
in this time of uncertainty and distress.
Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may rejoice in your comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord
Robert Frost................October..
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
When I must go...Anon
When I must go, dear God, please let me go
As silently as autumn rain,
As still as lacy shadows 'neath the willow trees,
As calm as is the moon above the hill.
“No man goes before his time – unless the boss leaves early”
Groucho Marx
Burial of Ashes
We buried Pam Potter’s Ashes in the Churchyard on Harvest Sunday. We pray that she will Rest in Peace.
Hodder Valley Show – Hodder Pot
On behalf of the HVS committee and directors I hope that you and your families are safe and well.
As you are probably already aware, we have had to cancel our 2020 Hodder Valley Show and all of our fundraising activities for the year. Our team of volunteers are committed to providing a sustainable future for our Hodder Valley Show but despite being unable to hold any events this year we still have a number of costs including insurance and other administration costs. This year, more than ever, we need your very kind support to help pay for these and secure our future.
We have decided that we could continue to run our 100 Club, known as “The Hodder Pot” which some of you have kindly supported in recent years and we very much hope that you are willing to continue to do so as well as recruiting new participants.
We are making some changes to how we run the Hodder Pot. You would normally be contacted by your usual committee member for your £10 donation for each number you have entered into the Hodder Pot. The draws will remain the same, but we are asking where at all possible, you could transfer your usual donation directly into the show’s bank account. If for ease in future years you wish to set this up as a repeating annual payment that would also be very much appreciated.
Please could you reference your payment with HP and then your surname and send Rachel Mason a text or an email with the names you would like putting on the draw numbers. email is richardjmason@btinternet.com and mobile is 07794953348.
Alternatively, you can pay cash by placing the money in an envelope with who you are paying for written on the front and post through the letterbox of 8 The Crescent
Bank Details are as follow:
Account Name: Hodder Valley Agricultural and Horticultural Show Society Ltd (or just Hodder Valley Show)
Account No: 83859231
Sort Code: 20-09-72
All the winning draw numbers are on the show website at www.hoddervalleyshow.co.uk, along with details about the draw. If you have any questions feel free to contact Rachel on 01200 446670 or myself.
We thank you for your help and look forward to seeing you all at our 2021 Show.
Kindest regards
Julie Bennett
“A lot of people quit looking for work as soon as they find a job”
Zig Zigla
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
St Michael Whitewell
To download Stewardship Questionnaire please CLICK HERE
To download Bankers Order Form please CLICK HERE
