Virtual Prayer Space

Words of Light and Hope and Light from Tony Hawes.            Safeguarding Sunday.                                                                                                    In Matthews’s Gospel Jesus tells his followers, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5.14). Christians are called to be a transformative presence in society bringing light and…

Words of Light and Hope                   By Sue Page LLM                                                                                   …

Words of Light and Hope  By Fran Neale AWA We're in the season of  Hallowe'en, All Saints' Day, All Souls' Day and our In Memory services, which leads to thoughts about death. With Halloween it's rather caricatured with jangling skeletons and white-sheeted ghouls! But, as has often been said, death…

Words of Light and Hope 27 th October 2024 Helena Crockford LLM                     This Sunday is Bible Sunday, ‘a day set aside in the church calendar to celebrate the  continuing  impact the Bible has on individuals and communities through which God speaks so powerfully into our lives. The Bible makes…

Words of Light and Hope Jane McLarty   Yesterday, Saturday 19 th October, was the festival of Henry Martyn (1781-1812), translator of the Scriptures and missionary. Henry left England in 1805 to go to   Calcutta as a chaplain to the East India company. He was    expected to minister only to the…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes.            Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name,  you are mine.    Isaiah 43.1.        In all the world there is nobody like you. Since the beginning of time there has never been another person like you. Nobody has…

Words of Light and Hope October 6th 2024   Trinity 19   Sue Page LLM Prayer for October 6th     O God, forasmuch as without you We are not able to please you, Mercifully grant that Your Holy Spirit May in all things direct and rule our hearts; Through Jesus Christ our Lord…

Words of Light and Hope by Fran Neale AWA I encountered this poem, by Elizabeth Craven two years ago - I hope it resounds with you too.                                                 …

Words of Light and Hope  22 nd September 2024  Helena Crockford LLM This Sunday is Peace Sunday, the closest to the UN International Day of Peace (21st September). Peace Sunday is a chance for the church to pause and reflect on what it means to follow the Prince of Peace…

 Words of Light and Hope Jane McLarty LLM This is the middle Sunday of Fair Trade fortnight, marking 30 years of the Fair Trade movement in the UK. The theme is ‘Be the Change!’               Mahatma Gandhi in Indian Opinion, 1913                     …

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes.         Stop, Look and Listen.       A few years ago, during the Summer Months, and before Covid, we held  Quiet Days (Day Retreats) in our Secret Garden. Each Day followed the     Benedictine Rule of prayer, teaching, silence and hospitality. Participants were given the opportunity…

Words of Light and Hope Sunday September 1st 2024         Trinity  14                                                Sue Page LLM God of golden fields and blue skies   THANK YOU FOR SUMMER                                                 …

Words of Light and Hope Fran Neale AWA I've been thinking recently about Jesus feeding the five thousand. It is described in all four gospels. One comment I read suggested the lad who offered his picnic lunch may have been a rather pushy young chap. Perhaps. Some people think his…

Words of Light and Hope 18th August 2024  Helena Crockford LLM Bread of Life The Gospel readings for the last two Sundays have included verses from John’s Gospel on the theme of bread:  Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be…

Words of Light and Hope   Jane McLarty The news has been very much taken up with scenes of violence from around the country in recent days. We see expressions of anger towards people who have come to this   country essentially as refugees, from people who feel marginalised and sidelined  themselves.…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. Transfiguration. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.…

Words of Light and Hope Sunday July 28th 2024  Trinity 9  Today’s Thought from Iona                                                                       …

Words of Light and Hope 14th July 2024  Helena Crockford LLM     Today is Sea Sunday. It is a day of remembrance, prayer and celebration, and an opportunity to think about and thank those seafarers who work tirelessly throughout the year bringing us goods we often take for granted.…

Words of Light & Hope for 7th July 2024 By Jane McLarty LLM By the time you read this we will have voted and the result of the election will be known. As we look to this fresh start, for whoever wins, we might think of Solomon’s words to God…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…...If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.             1 John 4.11-12. The tipping point of faith is the threshold of spiritual energy,…

WORDS OF LIGHT AND HOPE   Sunday June 23 rd 2024    Trinity 4    Sue Page LLM A Prayer for those who are ‘Older’                                                         …

Words of Light and Hope  16th June 2024 The hymn "Lead kindly Light" always makes me think of my maths teacher. Not that he was especially pious, but he would often quote the line "one step enough for me" as an important principle to follow in maths. Here is the rest of…

Words of Light and Hope   9th June 2024 Helena Crockford LLM Today the church celebrates St Columba who lived from 7th December, 521 to 9th June 597. After a feud and battle in his native Ireland in which 3000 lives were lost, said to have arisen after he copied a…

Words of Light and Hope Sunday 2 nd June 2024 I write this while the rain relentlessly pours down… the Bible, with its origins in a land more likely to suffer drought than flood, generally sees rain as good and life-bringing; it comes from God: He covers the heavens with…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes,  for Trinity Sunday. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. God makes for us a place to live and move and be;…

Words of Light and Hope by  Sue Page,  Pentecost May 19th 2024                                                                              People must know that God wants them to KNOW him God has more patience with us than we have with ourselves               Brother Paolo Taize                                                                                       Pentecost                         …

Words of Light and Hope – Easter 7         Fran Neale AWA Here are some words of Mother Julian of Norwich. Ideally her words should be read in their context, but I think each of these thoughts does stand in its own right. "He did not say, 'You…

Words of Light and Hope – Easter 6               Helena Crockford LLM As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. John 15:9-17 The lectionary readings in this Easter-tide place Love at the heart of life and faith. Here are two meditations on…

Words of Light and Hope by Jane McLarty Easter hope is more important than ever at times like these. The news is so full of disaster we feel we cannot bear to helplessly read or watch the same human pain unfolding again and again. In our communities we or people…

WORDS OF LIGHT AND HOPE, Sunday April 14th 2024      Easter 3                                                                           …

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale AWA We've probably heard in church or read again recently about "Doubting Thomas". I think Thomas gets an unfair press! In Luke's account of events, and one version of Mark's account, none of the disciples believed the women who said they had…

Words of Light and Hope from Joy Kiddell     On the third day after being crucified, Jesus' tomb was found to be empty. He had risen from the dead. Life triumphs over death! The joy of resurrection is possible only because Christ endured death and conquered it.   What Easter…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. Passiontide. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies,…

Words of Light and Hope                                                                                           …

Words of Light and Hope 3rd March 2024 Fran Neale AWA  What a lot of signs of Spring there are, in gardens, hedges and churchyards! I love that line from a hymn : "Praise him who by a simple flower lifts up our hearts to things above." Actually any flower,…

Words of Light and Hope 25 th February 2024 Helena Crockford LLM Yesterday, 24 th February marked the two year point since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. With this and other brutal and bitter conflicts around the world, especially in the Middle East, we can feel paralysed with…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty LLM Lent is the season when traditionally we give something up – meat, or chocolate, or alcohol for instance. Here are two views on fasting, the first asking us to consider what God might actually be calling us to give up: Even…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. And a cloud over-shadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”                                           …

Words of Light and Hope Sunday February 4th 2024 2nd before Lent Preparing for Lent Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of…

Words of Light and Hope 28 th January 2024 Fran Neale AWA The following is a verse from a book of songs we had at home - I don't know who wrote it, but I like it. "A smile is a funny thing, it wrinkles up your face, But when…

Words of Light and Hope 21 St January 2024 Helena Crockford LLM This Sunday falls in the middle of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This comes every year between 18 th and 25 th January, between the feast days of St Peter and St Paul, the patronal…

Words of Light and Hope Sunday 14 th January Jane McLarty These days of January can be difficult; we have just packed away all the lights and decorations of Christmas, and it is a long time perhaps before the next holiday or festival. Yet even as the days get colder,…

Words of Light and Hope 7th January 2023 From Tony Hawes            Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.                       Isaiah 60.1. As with gladness men of…

Words of Light and Hope 21st December 2023  The World Made New Uniting things earthly and things heavenly: Christ’s life, death, and resurrection have the effect of clearing our inner imaginative space, freeing us from the myths in which we have imprisoned ourselves, enlarging the boundaries of what is open…

Words of Light and Hope 24th December 2023    A thought by Kahil Gibran, "That which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space." seems to link in with a line from a Graham Kendrick hymn "hands…

Words of Light and Hope 17th December 2023  Helena Crockford LLM John the Baptist cried out: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’. John 1.22 This third Sunday of Advent is called Rose or Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday.  The pink…

WORDS OF LIGHT AND HOPE Sunday 10th December  2023                                                                                   …

WORDS OF LIGHT AND HOPE Sunday 3rd December  2023 First Sunday of Advent Tony Hawes Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes, This is Advent, season of promise. In our worship we prepare for the birth of a baby in a dusty stable in Bethlehem. We remind ourselves that…

WORDS OF LIGHT AND HOPE Sunday November 26th h 2023 Christ the King 1 before Advent Sue Page LLM It is the ending of the Gospel year; We have walked with Jesus, As baby, child and carpenter; As teacher and storyteller;                   …

Words of Light and Hope – Sunday 19 th November 2023 Fran Neale AWA As the days get shorter, here are some thoughts about darkness and light. First, from the collect for Advent Sunday "Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour…

Words of Light and Hope – Remembrance Sunday 12 th November 2023 Helena Crockford LLM Remembrance Sunday gives us an opportunity to remember those who have given their lives in war and conflict. This continues to be heart-breakingly poignant as conflicts rage in the Holy Land, Ukraine, and many other…

Words of Light and Hope Jane McLarty At this time of year with the clocks just having gone back we are all the more conscious of the limited hours of light we have, and of dusk falling earlier and earlier. It’s a time of year when we are surrounded by…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. Bible Sunday. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.                              John 1.1. Your Word is a lamp to guide…

Words of Light and Hope October 22 2023 Trinity 19th Good Leadership Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow; Don't walk behind me, I may not lead; Just walk beside me, and be my friend."                         Albert…

Words of Light and Hope 8th October 2023 Helena Crockford LLM This Sunday is Homelessness Sunday, held every year on the Sunday before World Homeless Day. The theme in 2023 is “Love and Justice” with churches encouraged to bring our call for love and justice before God in worship, praying…

Words of Light and Hope  Jane McLarty This coming week in the Church of England is rich with festivals celebrating the lives of holy people of the past – who no doubt did not think of themselves as particularly saintly, but are remembered now because of the life they lived,…

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may…

Sometimes a light surprises The Christian while He sings; It is the Lord who rises With healing in his wings; When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again A season of clear shining To cheer it after rain William Cowper The Search We came; And waiting in the welcome,…

There are often more weddings during the summer months, so here are some thoughts on Marriage from Kahil Gibran. "You were born together, and together you shall be for evermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in…

In the NT reading for today, St Paul wrote to encourage the Christian community in Rome: …the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. Romans 8.26  How often have…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty Yesterday (Saturday 22nd July) was the festival of Mary Magdalene. We know little about her, although she is mentioned more often than many of the twelve apostles: we hear of her towards the end of Mark’s gospel (15:40) as one of the…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes Be silent, be still. Alone. Empty before your God. Say nothing. Ask nothing. Be silent. Be still. Let your God look upon you. That is all. God knows. God understands. God loves you with an enormous love. God only wants to look upon…

I remind myself that, as I sit here now, God is gazing on me with love and holding me in being. I pause for a moment and think of this.   Prayer A time of disengagement From routine. Desert. Emptiness. Wordless, waiting before The mystery. Nothing much happens: No flash of…

This prayer was attributed to Sir Francis Drake but seems just as appropriate now as it was in the 16th Century.   Disturb us, Lord, when We are too pleased with ourselves, When our dreams have come true Because we have dreamed too little, When we arrived safely Because we sailed too…

Today is Sanctuary Sunday, the close of Refugee Week. An old Celtic proverb reads: ‘It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.’ Human warmth, welcome and friendship are all forms of sanctuary, something we can all work to offer to those we encounter. The Bible has…

Yesterday (Saturday 17 th June) was the Commemoration Day in the Church of England of Samuel and Henrietta Barnett, social reformers. Born into a Bristol manufacturing family in 1844, Samuel Barnett was ordained in 1867 to a curacy at St Mary’s, Bryanston Square in Marylebone where he met, and in…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth – Epilogue My Grandad and I went for many walks after that one. I often listened for the prayers of the earth, but was never sure that I heard them...... Then, one day, my Grandad was gone......…

Words of Light & Hope from Sue Page LLM The God who is Trinity in  Relationship With Me  (A Truth for all Christians) When pondering about God in three persons….Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I have come to realise that when each day I settle down to ‘spend time’ with God,…

As we celebrate Pentecost today, I though it would be interesting to focus on wind and fire and some of the pictures they conjure up for us. Both are forces which can do great positive things, but can also be hugely destructive. First wind   The big, old four masted schooners, with their many sails…

Words of Light and Hope from Helena Crockford LLM We journey now through the season of Thy Kingdom Come, an ecumenical “worldwide wave of prayer”. These are 11 days of prayer for five people who we wish might feel closer to God. During this time, which began on Thursday with Ascension…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. Grandad’s Prayers continued...... Then we were quiet, my Grandad and I. He was watching something far away, and I was thinking about all he had said, about rocks and trees and grass and birds and flowers. Finally, I asked him to tell…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. Grandad’s Prayers by Douglas Wood. Pt 1.  When I was little, Grandad was my best friend. Being with him always made the world seem just right. Grandad and I liked to go for walks in the woods together.  We didn’t walk very…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page LLM  Preparing to celebrate over the next months 650 years since Julian of Norwich had her showings we pray God of your goodness, give us Yourself! For if we ask for anything, which is less We shall always be in want. Only in You…

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale I know this from my Grandmother's collection of prayers, poems etc. There are updated versions and some extra verses, but this is the version she had written out. The Divine Office of the Kitchen (by Klara Munkres) Lord of the pots and…

Words of Light and Hope Easter Day Jane McLarty On this Easter Day… some poems about love and joy! e.e. cummings i thank you god i thank You God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes Holy Week During Holy Week, in my youth, our church choir often performed Stainer’s “Crucifixion”. Our Vicar, Aubrey Aitken (later to become Bishop of Lynn) had a beautiful bass voice and always sang the part of Jesus. I have never forgotten the…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page, LLM Prayer God of Your goodness, give us Yourself! For if we ask for anything, which is less We shall always be in want.  Only in You we have all. Amen Julian of Norwich Whoever enters discipleship enters  Jesus’ death, and puts his or her…

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale AWA On Mothering Sunday it may be appropriate to mull over part of what Kahlil Gibran wrote "On Children"   "You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backwards nor tarries with yesterday.…

Words of Light and Hope from Helena Crockford LLM In journeying through the weeks of Lent we walk with Jesus’ on his forty days in the dry and thirsty desert wilderness. In the Gospel reading this Sunday, Jesus sits dusty and thirsty at a well, and tells the Samaritan woman…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty Lent is a time when traditionally we ‘give something up’ – but also when many of us try to do something more. Often that ‘something more’ has to do with our spiritual life with God, and particularly with our life of prayer. The…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. Lent is often called a journey. That means, that at the end of Lent we should expect to find ourselves somewhere different from where we started. Our destination is Easter, promised land and homeland. Peter Mazar – A Lent Sourcebook. When you…

Words of Light and Hope from  Sue Page, LLM Sunday 19th February, Sunday next before Lent Preparing for Lent   The Violence of Love We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to…

Words of Light and Hope from Helena Crockford   The shock and sudden tragedy which has afflicted so many people in Turkey and Syria is overwhelming in its scale.   In 1 Kings 19.11-13, the prophet Elijah faced an earthquake. He found God was in the a gentle whisper “the…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty, LLM Towards the end of Martin Laird’s guide to Christian contemplation, Into the Silent Land, he tells a parable about a young man seeking to enter a religious community. The man is accepted as a novice, and after a year he feels he…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes  Candlemas Arise, shine, for your light has come: the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Though night still covers the earth: and darkness the peoples, Above you the Lord now rises: and above you his glory appears. The nations will…

Words of Light and Hope, Epiphany 3 (22nd January 2023) Love & Anxiety We come with our own passions and areas of expertise. We come filled with hope - and maybe sadness and anguish too. We come with hearts full, wanting to facilitate change. This reflection is based on the…

Words of Light and Hope from  Fran Neale, AWA I read this poem over fifty years ago in the Parish magazine of the church I belonged to then, in Worthing. I don't know who wrote it but think it says something important, though not necessarily comfortable. God is true. I asked…

Words of Light and Hope for 8 th January 2023 - Epiphany Helena Crockford LLM January 6th was the Feast of The Epiphany, celebrating when the Magi arrived to honour the baby Jesus. The bible does not say, but it is traditionally considered that there were three Magi, or Wise…

Words of Light and Hope from  Jane McLarty   With Christmas day behind us (however we might feel about that) we enter the months that can be the worst, in terms of weather: ‘as the days lengthen, so the cold strengthens’ as the somewhat sinister proverb has it.  Yet in…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes  To you is born this day a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2.11   While all things were in quiet silence, and night was in the midst of her swift course, thine Almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down out of…

Words of Light and Hope for the 4th Sunday in Advent from Sue Page LLM Celebrating Advent means learning how to wait.… Not all can wait – certainly not those who are satisfied, contented, and feel that they live in the best of all possible worlds! Those who learn to wait…

Words of Light and Hope  from Fran Neale, AWA  Lo, how a rose is blooming from ancient stem re-sprung. Amid the chaos looming as bards of old have sung. It comes a flow’ret bright with fragrance full of music when half spent is our fright. How can this rose now blooming,…

Words of Light and Hope from Helena Crockford LLM   David Hoyle talks about the season of Advent in his book A Year of Grace: “Advent brings us face to face with our limits, it plunges us into uncertainty. The word ‘Advent’ comes from the same root as the word adventure. These weeks before…

Words of Light and Hope by Jane McLarty  Happy new year! This Sunday we begin our church year again as we turn our thoughts during the season of Advent to the birth of Jesus. The Gospel readings for this year will come from Matthew – the Gospel that begins by…

Christ the King. When I was confirmed in 1953 I was given a small book of prayers entitled, “Before the Throne.” It was quite helpful, but for me, too many words. When praying, I  appreciate silence and stillness. Just sitting in an empty church, or kneeling at the altar rail…

Remembrance Sunday Prayer On this Remembrance Sunday, let us bring before the God of peace our prayers for the world, the church and all His people. Merciful God, we pray for peace in our hearts and homes, In our nations and our world, The peace which is your will, The…

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale AWA   Some of you will remember Rev Percy Gandon, who lived in Hindleveston quite a few years ago. One year he wrote some prayers for November 5th and I have chosen two of them.   The Jumping Jack Dear Lord, I never…

Words of Light and Hope for 30 th October 2022 Helena Crockford LLM This week will see the start of the COP27 climate conference on 6 th November. From Glasgow last year, to Egypt this year, it will be “the African COP”. The “Green Christian” offers this: “Do not be…

Words of Light and Hope for Sunday 23 rd October This Sunday 23 rd October is Bible Sunday – and so for this week’s ‘words’, some passages on the Word… In truth, before Jesus, Scripture was like water, but since Jesus it has become for us the wine into which…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes.   In quietness and trust shall be your strength. Isaiah 30.15.   Let us take into the silence the glow of autumn days, let them become the spark that burns within each one of us. Let that spark grow into a flame…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page LLM  TRANSFORMED BY CHRIST: PASTORAL Vision Hymn John 21 The charcoal fire, alight with love and welcome, burned by his risen master on the beach; and then three times, the soft, heart-stopping question, “O Peter, do you love me more than these?”…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page, LLM The Vessel of Emptiness God’s love for us does not depend on how we present ourselves, morally or otherwise. In fact, the whole life of Jesus indicates that God does not attach conditions to his love. In this light, our emptiness is…

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale, AWA   First, a verse from a card a friend sent me many years ago as I was setting out on a big adventure.   Before we think to ask, he gives, Before we cry, he hears, Before our feet began to…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty For many of us autumn is our favourite season – the hedgerows seem fuller of fruit than ever this year: blackberries, rosehips, hazelnuts, sloes. Windfall apples are everywhere. It’s a season when we can see around us evidence of all that God…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”  Matthew 6.28-29.   I will thank Him…

Words of Light and Hope Sunday 21st August from Rev’d Helen  As the tamed horses still hear the call of her wild brothers And as the goose flaps hopeful wings as his sisters fly overhead, So too perhaps, the wild ones amongst us are our only hope in calling us…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page LLM   Seeing God in our World and Through Our Days You sing, of course you sing, I can hear you But make sure that your life sings the same tune as your mouth. Sing with your voices! Sing with your lips! Sing…

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale AWA Some thoughts on prayer. When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them to pray, "Jesus response is brief and clear. He teaches them a prayer. [the Lord's prayer] He does not teach them about the importance of stillness, or correct posture,…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page LLM We are what we do with Our activity, acumen or achievement Let us learn We are what we do with our silence   When the world tells us We are what we do with our spending power, selling power, Or our…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty Back in 2019 I was in Cambridge cycling home from work at midday. I stopped at a crossroads to wait for the traffic lights to change and became conscious of the sun’s rays beating down, like an assault! That was the day…

Words of Light and Hope from Helena Crockford LLM This week we have had St. Swithun’s Day (15th July).  Did it rain or shine? St. Swithun was Bishop of Winchester in the 9th Century. The miracle he is said to have done seems humble – to mend a box of…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. Sea Sunday. Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4.39. O Saviour, whose almighty word the winds and waves submissive heard, who walkedst on…

Words of Light and Hope from   Rev’d Judith Sweetman   At the joyful occasion of our curate Richard’s ordination as priest last   Saturday, a key theme of the sermon was that, since we are blessed by God in so many ways, above all by his unconditional love, we are all called to…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page LLM “A Christian is one who points at Christ and says, " I  can't prove a thing, but there's something about his eyes and his voice. There's something about the way he carries his head, his hands, the way he carries his…

Words of Hope and Light from Jane McLarty How fragile our world seems at times!  We see the reality of climate change playing out around us, we see the destruction caused by war in Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan. But we also see constancy and stability, brought home to us recently by…

Words of Light and Hope from Fran Neale As we continue to pray for Ukraine and, somehow, a peaceful solution, the people of  Russia need our prayers too - for more truthful information for a start. Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote this prayer in 1994 but it seems just as appropriate now.…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes   The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Gal. 5.22,23.   From the beginning, the Spirit of God has been understood as God in the midst of men, God present and active in…

Words of Light and Hope from Rev’d Judith Sweetman Blessed are those whose strength is in you, In whose heart are your ways, Who, trudging through the plains of  misery, Find in them an unexpected spring, A well from deep below the barren ground, And the pools are filled with…

Words of Light and Hope  from Sue Page, LLM All life becomes prayer Only in as much as we learn To set aside special moments And special places for regular prayer. The one creates And shapes the other                                            BRF Mysterious God Whose silence speaks louder than words and whose darkness…

Words of Light and Hope  from Jane McLarty This morning I saw a red kite wheeling over the farm track where Poppy the Jack Russell and I take our morning walk. The forked tail that twists and turns like a    rudder to help the bird manoeuvre in the wind makes…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue  Page LLM Last night, as I was sleeping Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt -- blessed vision! -- that a fountain flowed here in my heart. I said: Why, O water, have you come along this secret waterway, spring of new life,…

Words of Light and Hope from  Tony Hawes. From Cross Purposes by Eddie Askew.  “When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread”   John 21.9. There’s something very earthy and real about Jesus in the Gospels.  Whenever I look at old…

Words of Light and Hope from Rev'd Judith Sweetman Visiting Burgh next Aylsham church and churchyard recently, I came across an interesting, fairly modern, gravestone commemorating someone who had been an artist. On the front, above the name, was small drawing of an artist’s palette and brushes. On the reverse,…

Words of Light and Hope from Bishop Tony Foottit There have been a lot of primroses along the church path this year.  Their pale flowers reflect the first sunshine of spring. The deeper yellow at the centre reminds us of summer to come. The resurrection of Jesus was discovered at…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty Eamon Duffy describes the pre-Reformation celebration of Palm Sunday in his book ‘The  Stripping of the Altars’: the people heard the   story of Christ’s entry to Jerusalem read from John’s gospel. Flowers and green branches of yew, box or willow (but called…

Words of Light and Hope for  Passion Sunday Servant King, Help us to worship you in the way that You served us; By doing the work of a slave, by offering a welcome to strangers, By coming alongside those who suffer And by sharing the burdens of those who struggle. May…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes.   Step outside, and taste the air after rain. Try to see beyond the town and city smoke, and see the colours as they really are. Listen to the river, the breeze caught in the trees. Feel the weather on your skin,…

Words of Light and Hope from Rev’d Judith Sweetman   From: Befriending the Stranger, by Jean Vanier In the midst of all the violence and  corruption of the world, God invites us to create new places of belonging, places of sharing, of peace and of  kindness; places where no-one needs…

Edward King On 8 March the Church commemorated one of my heroes - Edward King of      Lincoln. Edward King was born in 1829. Although a frail child, he grew up strong in mind and spirit. He was ordained, and at the age of only 34 was appointed Principal of Cuddesdon,…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty In the light of the events within Ukraine, we put our trust in the God who in Jesus was born into an occupied land. Through the Devil’s temptations Jesus was offered world domination, but replied, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page, LLM Quote “Prayer is a mystery! But that does not mean it is beyond us!   Lord, We confess that at times our awareness of you is faint; Our experience of You is too often shallow; Our commitment to You can be…

We all know what it’s like to fall…things go wrong. Bad things happen. Tragedies come our way…This is part of what it means to be human. Descent is one of the realities of existence. But it contains within its harshness the possibility of our flourishing…falling to the dark ground and…

Racial Justice Sunday  On August 28, 1963, some 100 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves, a young man named Martin Luther King described his vision. What follows are excerpts from his speech which are still relevant for our cities, towns and countries today. “Let us not wallow in the valley…

Words of Light and Hope from Bishop Tony Foottit Snowdrops have the lovely name of Candlemas Bells, appearing as they do for Candlemas (on 2 Feb). On this day two old pensioners, Simeon and Anna, received Mary and Joseph and their baby son in the temple at Jerusalem. Simeon and…

Words of Light and Hope from Jane McLarty God is closer to us than our own soul, for he is the foundation on which our soul stands…for our soul sits in God in true rest, and our soul stands in God in sure strength, and our soul is naturally rooted…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page Humility The theme of Humility is one that is taken up by Jesus on many occasions….those who ‘exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted! Awareness of our own poverty, inadequacy, need and therefore dependence on God…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes. The Wedding at Cana. Those who are tempted to criticise or caricature reverent devotion to the other of our Lord should recall Christ's first miracle - the turning of water into wine at Cana – when Jesus acted to spare the embarrassment…

When sorting out some box files recently, I came across a card which my mother had written out beautifully, in calligraphy, for my husband Rufus, when he was very ill with depression some years ago (my mother sadly died in 2010). Rufus is happy for me to share this with…

On 1 January we celebrate Our Lord being given his name, Jesus, which means Saviour. Names mark the fact that everyone is different, each with their own gifts and character. Often a surname is the name of a place, or a profession, or a nickname like mine. Foottit may have…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page, Licensed Lay Minister   Prayer Come, O Lover of the undeserving! Who welcomes home The foolish, the fearful and the failure With extravagant celebration!   Come, O healer of the diseased, Who mends the broken, sets free the imprisoned Who soothes the…

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. For he has looked with favour on his lowly servant, From this day all generations will call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.   There were…

Many Advent wreaths have a fifth and final white candle, which is lit on Christmas Day and which symbolizes Jesus Christ, the one for whom Abraham and Sarah, the prophets, John the Baptist and indeed ourselves have been waiting for so long. It is in Jesus Christ that we discover…

Words of Light and Hope from Bishop Tony Foottit On 30 November, St. Andrew’s Day, our thoughts turn to Scotland, and so to heather. It is heather that clothes the mountains and moors in purple and makes Scotland so memorable a place. Purple or blue is the colour for Advent,…

Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page “A Christian is one who points at Christ and says, 'I can't prove a thing, but there's something about his eyes and his voice. There's something about the way he carries his head, his hands, the way he carries his cross-the way…

Christ the King.  You are the King of Glory, O Christ, you are the everlasting Son of the Father. Come, Lord, and rule in our hearts, until your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Come, Christ our King, and reign over us......   The Kingdom of God…

Joseph of Arimathea took down the body of Jesus, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb. The women who had come with him from Galilee saw how his body was laid. And on the Sabbath, they rested. Luke 23. 53-56 Stunned, numb, Yet strangely…

Words of Light and Hope from Bishop Tony Foottit Hero worship is a natural part of our human nature. The modern media have carried hero worship to great lengths in the cult of celebrities: stars of screen, radio, sport and fashion. Not every celebrity is a good role-model. Popular celebrities…

Dying is not the end,  it is just the beginning. Death is a continuation of life. This is the meaning of eternal life; it is where our soul goes to God, to be in the presence of God, to see God, to speak to God, to continue loving Him with…

Words of Light and Hope from Tony Hawes for Bible Sunday For the Christian, the 'Hope' that the Bible speaks of is something in the future, but in order to understand and live more fully in the future, we really need to attend to the here and now, and live…

As the leaves begin to turn to reds and golds, some late autumn reflections: From Ronald Blythe’s contribution to: England the Four Seasons, by Michael Busselle Autumn is for…having the beach to yourself, for clearing up the summer residue, for re-reading favourite books or starting to write a new one,…

On Thursday, October 4th, in the year 1226, a man died. He was only 44. Just before he died he asked to be laid on the ground to be close to his sister, the earth. His name was Francis. His life is a great example of what it means to…

Words of Light and Hope From Sue Page, Licensed Lay Minister Prayer God of new beginnings In many and varied ways You call each one of us, No matter who we are or where we are on life’s journey. May we listen expectantly, our hearts open to whatever You may be…

Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you: pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself, and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face; through Jesus Christ…

I still remember clearly my very first hymn book, from infants’ school – as it was then called. It contained about half a dozen simple hymns and had a grey sugar-paper cover which we each decorated. The simplicity and directness of these hymns give a depth of meaning, a truthfulness,…

September 8 is one of the four special days when the Church honours the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our mediaeval ancestors had no pictures, no books, no newspapers and no television. Instead, they used their imagination far more than we do and found, for example, signs of their faith in the…

Words of Light and Hope for Trinity 14, Sunday 5th September  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36 26 Eternal God. In your Son Jesus…

Sheila Cassidy, born 18th August 1937 (a good year!), is an English doctor, known for her work in the hospice movement, as a writer and as someone who, by publicising her history as a torture survivor, drew attention to human rights abuse in Chile in the 1970's. Sheila writes: The…

  On 13 August the Church remembers Octavia Hill who died on this day in 1912. She was born in Wisbech - the eighth and last of her father’s children. Her great work was to tackle slum dwellings and transform them into decent homes. She was one of founders of…

Words of Light and Hope From Sue Page, Licensed Lay Minister Jesus, You are always there waiting for me. Sometimes I get bogged down with the concerns of this life. Grant that I may be still more often. To know Your peace, Your calm. But the silence in the mind  …

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6.35. Be gentle when you touch Bread. Let it not lie uncared for.....unwanted. So often Bread is taken for granted. There is…

Jesus said to his followers: “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.” David Runcorn, writes: “Every day each of us experiences a few little moments that have just a bit more resonance than other moments – we hear a word that sticks in our mind…

SOME MIDSUMMER THOUGHTS St. John Baptist’s birthday coincides with midsummer, six months before Christmas. John Baptist has a whole genus of plants named in his honour. They are called St. John’s Worts. Botanists and gardeners call them Hypericums (health plants). They are called St. John’s Worts because many of them…

A new book has been written by Michael Battle entitled “Desmond Tutu: A spiritual biography of South Africa's confessor.” What follows are a selection of Words from Archbishop Desmond :- We were made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness.…

On 9th June the Church remembers St. Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary (521-597). He was a brilliant organiser, poet, song-writer and prophet, spreading the Gospel to Scotland and beyond. The following words are attributed to Columba: Alone with none but you, my God, I journey on my way. What need…

As Jesus rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power they had seen.  Luke…

A very challenging Litany from 'My God and My Glory' by E. Milner White Keep me, O Lord from the little, the interfering, and the stupid; from the infection of irritation and anger over nothings; Deliver me, and keep me, O my Lord from all the promptings to decry the person or work…

Beyond the darkness, there is light. Beyond the griefs and pains of the moment is the promise of freedom for all. Beyond our current distress is the dream of a tapestry through which is woven the rainbow colours of  truth, freedom, peace and love. And in the centre of this…

Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. …He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray…

Jesus said  “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for my sheep.” John 10:14-15  Prayer ”Lord, May I See You more clearly, Follow You more nearly, and…

Come now, put aside your busyness for a while, take refuge for a time from your troublesome thoughts; throw away your cares, and let your burdensome worries wait... Take some time off for God; rest for a while in Him. Enter the secret room of your mind, put out everything…

When I was in my parishes and taking assembly for various schools I thought it would be helpful for the children to learn a prayer they could perhaps remember and use. Many knew the Lord's prayer but I am not sure today how many children (or adults) do. As a simple…

It will be St. Valentine’s Day next Sunday. It’s good to remind ourselves of the actual story of Valentine, which is about far more than sending someone a card. Valentine is not just a saint. He is also a martyr. In the third century AD the Roman Emperor Claudius persecuted…

Words from Psalm 42 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul, And why are you so disquieted within me? O put your trust in God; For I will yet give him thanks, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God. An expression of faith Lord,…

[Try saying these words with pauses and silence between the sections once or twice a day]  Words from Philippians 4 4-6 & 8  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,…

[Try saying these words with pauses and silence between the sections once or twice a day]  Words from Psalm 31 In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be…

In the darkness of this winter season and through the ongoing pandemic,  Lord we thank you for the light within all our carers, teachers, nurses, doctors, support workers, parents and all key workers. May this light shine so brightly, even when we are overwhelmed with tiredness and our bodies ache.…

A prayer for all those affected by Coronavirus Keep us, good lord, under the shadow of your mercy. Sustain and support the anxious, be with those who care for the sick, and lift up all who are brought low; that we may find comfort knowing that nothing can separate us from…