He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8
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“Laughter is the language of the soul.” Pablo Neruda
“In the joy of the Lord is my strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
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| Dear Friends,
 Did you know that July is national Ice Cream month? I have to admit that this is a tradition from over the pond, but it’s one I’m quite happy to adopt!
Wolfgang was a great fan of ice-cream, especially a mini magnum (after I’d eaten off the chocolate of course!). You can buy special dog ice cream which no doubt is much healthier for our furry friends.
There are some folk who can’t be doing with ice cream as they claim it’s too messy. Japanese scientists have created an ice cream that doesn’t melt to solve the problem. I’m not sure about that myself, because as Christians we shouldn’t be afraid of mess. It’s where God does his best work after all!
On the 22nd of this month the church celebrates Mary Magdalene. St Luke tells us that she was among of Jesus’ early followers, and that she’d had “seven demons” cast out from her. We don’t know what they were, but we do know Mary was a person who’d undergone great suffering. Yet it was to this broken, busted individual that the risen Lord made his first appearance (John 20). And when this happened Mary wasn’t choc full of faith and trust – far from it. She was weeping her heart out at the tomb, because she believed that everything she’d loved had gone for ever.
It reminds me of the disappearing lake on Mount Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania. It is not easily found – there are no signs, and only keen bushwalkers can readily spot it. Indeed, some have dismissed it as mere ‘bush folklore’. Yet last year heavy rainfall filled it with clear blue green water, akin to a tropical lagoon. One of the hikers who saw it wrote of her experience. When she encountered it, life had given her a bruising, feeling like the lake might have when it was simply a cavernous hole of nothing. When she reached it, she spent a long time gazing into its depths. “The lake is here because the water found an empty space” she reflected in her journal. “Last year it was just a barren hole. Now it brims over with life and joy. Could it be so with the human heart?
Could the flow of grace seek out the empty spaces in my life? Could the deep, dark hollow of my loss and disappointment become the very space where new life finds entry?
The hiker went on her way with a new possibility in her heart and a lighter spring in her step. Just like Mary Magdalene. Just like us?
As St Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans; “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Rev. Esther |
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Revd. Esther Foss
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Morning Prayer is back at 10.00 am every Wednesday – a Book of Common Prayer Said Service in the Lady Chapel.
If you have a prayer request or would like more information, please do get in touch with Esther at St. Andrew’s Vicar or call 0203 620 1885.
Prayer for the Community – 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 your love in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” ― G.K. Chesterton |
| The Church Hall
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The Church Hall is open for bookings, subject to latest government guidelines. Covid19 safety measures are in place.
Contact our Hall administrator on hall.lettings@standrews.coulsdon.net. |