Hi,
Hope this finds you well.
It was good to be back at church for at least one of the services last weekend and to enjoy again the amazing hope that Jesus' resurrection gives us. My favourite tweet from last week was: 'Eschatology for Duffers: What happened to Jesus on Easter Sunday will happen to you, and creation, one day.' There is a great poem from John Updike to remind us of the wonder of this event below.
Spring is definitely with us and Sam Nugent has been out in his garden and he has sent in some thoughts in on that - thanks Sam.
This weekend we look forward to Daniel preaching so keep him in your prayers as we head out of Jerusalem with the two on the road to Emmaus.
Enjoy the Mag.
MB
Art Competition
Try and imagine what Cora's reaction would have been if she had actually won 1st prize!!
You can still see this year's entries to the Playgroup's Art Competition along with those who won prizes on their page
here.
Registering for Worship in April
There are spaces for the Sunday services in April. (If services are oversubscribed, places will be allocated as fairly as possible on a rota basis, and you do not need to worry that you are taking a place away from someone else.)
The cut-off for registering for places on Eventbrite for Sunday worship each week is 11pm on the Thursday before
If there is space for you to attend in person, you will receive an email from Eventbrite on the Friday morning immediately prior to the Sunday (this is in addition to the original Eventbrite confirmation email that you have registered for places).
Please do not attend if you have not received this second email.
The services will continue to be live-streamed - click here for the church page on YouTube.
If you have any difficulties with the booking process or have any questions, please contact Lorna Hamilton on 07736 420564 or the Church office.
Imagine being born in 1900
When you’re 14 years old World War I begins and ends when you are 18 with 22 million dead. Shortly after the “Spanish Flu" kills 50 million.
Then at the age of 29 you survive the global economic crisis that started with the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange causing inflation, unemployment and hunger.
You're 39 when World War 2 begins and it ends when you are 45 with around 75 million dead in total.
There will be more than 150 million people dead before your 52th birthday when the Korean war begins. When you’re 64, the Vietnam war begins and ends when you are 75.
A child born after 1985 believes his grandparents have no idea how hard life is. A child born in 1995 and 25 today believes that the end of the world is when their Amazon package takes more than three days to arrive or when they don’t exceed 15 likes on Facebook or Instagram.
In 2021, many of us live in comfort, have access to various sources of entertainment at home and often have more than needed. But people complain about everything. They have electricity, phone, food, hot water and a roof over their heads. Maybe it's time to be less selfish.
Anonymous
When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold.
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your Lord on high.
So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1926)
Nearer God’s heart in a garden?
Now that Spring has arrived I am so happy to be able to get back into my garden, feel the sun on my face, see the growing evidence of God’s providence and am reminded of an excerpt from a poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney which says “One is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth”
I am sure that not everyone will agree with this sentiment but, having visited and been “disturbed” by the opulence of places like St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City I find it difficult to reconcile the man made demonstration of these golden temples with the God made beauty of a simple daffodil or bluebell. Perhaps this reflects my Presbyterian upbringing.
By comparison Muriel was most impressed by a simple shell covered “Fisherman’s” Church on an islet in the middle of Lake Maggiore.
It is my understanding that the magnificence of these structures is intended to demonstrate man’s effort to glorify God but would question at what point they do that as compared with merely exampling man’s power and ego. I recollect a comment by a tour guide in Florence comparing the dimensions of the Duomo with St Peter’s in Rome and St Paul’s in London as if it was a competition to see which congregation could claim the largest dome. Whilst these dome structures are indeed awesome sights they cannot be compared with the God made intricacy of a Primula Denticulata or Pom Pom Dahlia.
I have copied the poem as under noted for your pleasure.
Happy Gardening.
Sam Nugent
“THE Lord God planted a garden
In the first white days of the world,
And He set there an angel warden
In a garment of light enfurled.
So near to the peace of Heaven,
That the hawk might nest with the wren,
For there in the cool of the even
God walked with the first of men.
And I dream that these garden-closes
With their shade and their sun-flecked sod
And their lilies and bowers of roses,
Were laid by the hand of God.
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,--
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.
For He broke it for us in a garden
Under the olive-trees
Where the angel of strength was the warden
And the soul of the world found ease”
Ladybird Book of Maxwell
MAKE NO MISTAKE
Make no mistake: if he rose at all
It was as His body;
If the cell’s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit,
The amino acids rekindle,
The Church will fall.
It was not as the flowers,
Each soft spring recurrent;
It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the
Eleven apostles;
It was as His flesh; ours.
The same hinged thumbs and toes
The same valved heart
That—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then regathered
Out of enduring Might
New strength to enclose.
Let us not mock God with metaphor,
Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence,
Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded
Credulity of earlier ages:
Let us walk through the door.
The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache,
Not a stone in a story,
But the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of
Time will eclipse for each of us
The wide light of day.
And if we have an angel at the tomb,
Make it a real angel,
Weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in
The dawn light, robed in real linen
Spun on a definite loom.
Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
For our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
Lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are embarrassed
By the miracle,
And crushed by remonstrance.
—John Updike, “Seven Stanzas as Easter” (1960)
If you were thinking about making a donation to Glasgow City Mission anytime soon, this may be the time!
Those taking part in the Virtual Kiltwalk will see all donations augmented by a HUGE 50% from the Tom Hunter Foundation.
If this interests you please follow the link to one of our volunteer's pages - and donate HERE
Glasgow City Mission are one of the charities who will benefit from the Virtual Kiltwalk on 23-25 April. As this is a virtual event you can tailor your challenge, or activity, to you or your family and friends as long as it’s within the Covid guidelines. As this is 2021, one of our volunteers is walking 21 miles, cycling 21 miles and then swimming 21 lengths of his local baths. If this doesn’t suit you why not climb a mountain, trampoline, walk, jog, run, have a family treasure hunt or play 21 games of chess. Whatever suits you.
If you have any questions please contact Jack Geddes 07714 983075.
Wednesday at 7.15pm - 8.30pm
Look out for the Zoom link in your email inbox for this meeting.