Category: Uncategorized

We drove up to Cwm Bychan on a steep narrow road out of Harlech. At the end of the blunt valley is the path called Roman Steps. It is this path I am thinking of this evening.

Chant
Lead me Lord,
Lead me in your righteousness.
Make your way straight before my face.

Reflection
Mossy places, fungi too,
Sheep nibbling, lichens spreading,
And then the steps,
Dark grey slabs mostly,
Stretching up into the hillside.
One or two are differently patterned;
An orange banded one caught my eye.
Then the small bridges:
Some made of flat slabs,
Others small humped stone structures.
We ascended to just before the lip of the pass
And the returned, tired but wiser.

Remembered bible
There are many references to the Roman Empire in the Bible. Think of some of your favourites.
Here are some of mine from chapter 8 of the letter to the Romans. I say it at every funeral service I lead. I like to think of those early Christians in Rome hearing it read to them for the first time. Amazing stuff!

What, then, shall we say in response to all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or the sword?

No, in all these things we are always victorious through him who loved us.  I remain completely convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

At the end of the day

We pray for those who long for the day to end, for something unjust to end, for something hurtful to end.
May peace and hope be shared amongst us.

Nunc dimitiss
Holy God, now let your weary servant go in peace.
Your promise to see the hope and love you have prepared for us has been kept.
It is wonderful indeed. Like a light: glorious in every way to those who embrace your kindom.

Glory, Glory, Glory
Creator, Son and Spirit,
Amen, Amen, Amen.

JAL 02.03.2019

It is not clear if the Roman Steps at the end of Cwm Bychan are really Roman, or just old. There’s a description here

https://www.cantab.net/users/michael.behrend/aw_cuttings/ocr/p_042.html

I particularly like the comparison to a Japanese landscape.
Bob may write about the same walk here

http://bobjanet.org.uk/bobsblog/

Inspiring landscapes
Smoke rises, clouds fall;
Yesterday’s sun replaced by mist and rain;
Damp ground, decaying leaves;
A river snakes through sandbanks,
Reaching out to the sea.

Remembered bible
They that go down to the sea in ships,
There’s stuff to do by the waters.
Look at what the Creator has made:
Deep and wonderful things.
The wind changes direction, the sea responds,
Clouds gather, waves rise.

We pray for the oceans, our misuse and abuse of the waters:
Change us God of all, make us responsible creatures.

Magnificat
God grows bigger, greater, more awesome
As the months go by:
All of this makes me happy. I bubble up with joy.
The rich and proud are caste down,
The poor and humble lifted up.
This is God’s plan, revealed to me and those like me
Who say yes to God and mean it.

Glory Creator, Glory Son,
Glory Spirit, Three yet One.

JAL 28.02.2019

Portmeirion, Wales

Reflection
And my cup overflows:
The Cork pops from the bottle
The fizz surges up
And the table you prepared
Is blessed with it.

Remembered bible
The fish, the lake, the breakfast:
Jesus meets them again,
Sends them out, sends them onwards.
The horizon is far away, the sky is blue:
God is there too.

Prayers for the world and for its people
In silence we bring concerns from today to God.

Nunc dimitiss
Holy One, now let your servant go in peace
According to your promise.
I have seen it all, everything you have readied:
Lighting the lives of all who live in darkness,
To the glory of those who know and love you.
Glory to you, Three yet One.

Amen, Amen, Amen.

JAL 27.02.2019

Coed-y-Bleiddiau, Wales.

The Lord is my Shepherd
There’s nothing else I need.
Led beside still waters and in green pastures:
I am restored to life.

Reflecting on the reflections
In the morning light and the clear air,
The green pastures
And the Welsh mountain sheep.
Coming over the high pass
Into the safe valley:
This landscape speaks in Psalms.

And I will stay in God’s engine shed forever.
Amen

JAL 27.02.2019

On the Bala Lake Railway

Why not try Anna’s Song as part of your evening prayer. Anna stood alongside Simeon when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple. Simeon’s song, the Nunc dimitiss, is often sung in the evening, so why not have a song for Anna too?

Look there he is,
See where I am pointing:
The one to liberate us all,
To set the world free to spin
And wheel across the universe.
Don’t miss this, see there:
Just look where I am pointing.
Glorious is the Creator,
Glorious is the Companion,
Glorious in the Spirit:
Holy Three, Holy One, now and forever.
Amen, Amen, Amen.

JAL 26.02.2019

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Those who feel downhearted, for whom joy is hard to find:
Spring will come for them too.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
In the pure air they will see with clarity
All the Creator’s work.

Blessed are those that mourn,
They with find comfort in remembering.

Blessed are the peacemakers, God’s true children, they shall skip in peaceful paths and inherit the kindom.

JAL
Midday prayers 26.02.2019

Reflection
The walk began in the dusk,
A pinky purple fringe still lit the horizon.
A small bat blazed the trail ahead,
As we wound our way along a track.
Littered with twigs and stones,
The uneven ground kept us guessing.
A stream, a wooden bridge, a path uphill;
The station nestles beside the line.
Later the stars said it all:
You are wonderfully made,
An integral part of this enormous universe.

Remembered Bible
Look at the stars:
Can you count them?
Lift your eyes to the skies.
Look at the skyline,
The purple headed mountains:
Lift your eyes to the hills.
Be still and know God.

We give thanks
For the pattern of our days;
For the relationships that mend and sustain us;
For our memories of those who have died;
For the hope that is in us.
Holy One, hear us.

Nunc Dimitiss 
Now let your servant go in peace
According to your Word,
For I have seen the lifeline you have prepared for me and for all people,
To be a light to outsiders and a challenge to insiders.
And a glory to you forever Creator, Companion and Spirit,
As the universe spins on and on.

Amen, Amen, Amen.

JAL 25.02.2019

Inspired at Coed-y-Bleiddiau, North Wales.
Being the anniversary of the birthday of my late Mother, Anne Lees.

Will it be like this every day when we retire?
Will we sit reminiscing round the fire,
After walking in the woods
And eating several puds:
Will it be like this every day when we retire?

Will it be like this every day when we retire?
Will there be subjects about which we enquire?
Will we lay here all day
Having such a lot to say
Will it be like this every day when we retire?

Will it be like this every day when we retire?
When at last we cease to perspire
After moving things around
To unite the lost and found.
Will it be like this every day when we retire?

JAL 01.11.2018 / 01.01.2019/25.02.2019

We have dismantled our bed. We shall sleep on the mattresses for our last week here, just as we did when we moved in. It’s difficult to know what was holding the bed together: fluff and hope perhaps.
Under the bed, I found £2.41 in change, only £1.41 of which is still legal tender. We’ve made a temporary bed out of 3 old mattresses. It’s like indoor camping.
We’re now into the last week of clearing up. Yesterday’s find included a quote from 1992. A notice seen in a hospital: ‘Due to funding problems the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched off‘. Maybe things didn’t seem that different in 1992.
Ten years in in this house, and nearly 28 years of marriage we’ve got through a couple of beds at least. There’s been a lot of fluff but also a lot of hope.
Remembering beds in the Bible I recall Jesus saying to one person he met, who’s friends had taken the roof off: ‘Take up your bed and move on‘. And so we do, leaving fluff behind, but travelling in hope.

In our life and our believing
The love of God

JAL 17.02.2019

Thank you for seeing Sally. She responds well to your style.
Thirty years later, having re-read many letters dating back thirty years, I’m still puzzling about what my style was or is.

Let me put you in the pitcher
The words of a Yorkshire woman who was bringing me up to date with her family. Like many the complexity of family life it looks sparse on the written page. We catch a glimpse of survival.
Other similar letters updated me about young people who would now be in their 40s and who would be living with the impairments and challenges of their history and health like ripples from their personal big bang.

Thank you for your help
And many thanks for asking me and for the encouragement I got from all of you.

We would like to invite you to take part…
From weddings to conferences to gatherings of all shades, shapes and sizes.

Guess what? First conker!
That one from mum. She knew just what to send. Much missed.

Lots of thanks, love, best wishes for birthdays, Christmas and other occasions.

I’m sorry I’ve not written recently
I’m sure I must have sent this phrase as often as I received it. Unfortunately it remains true. There seems to be a common feeling that we don’t spend enough time and effort on keeping in touch with each other.

Reading all of these again has filled out the gaps, plumped up the personal connections and bought back a rich tapestry of relationships that thankfully has sustained me over these four decades or more (I’ve not yet found anything from before my 20th year). So much for tidying up. As for what to throw away, I’m honestly no nearer knowing.

In our life and our believing

The love of God

JAL 14.02.2019