Warm Greetings in this cold damp time! I hope you are managing to keep warm and free from bugs. I have to admit I don’t like this cold and wet weather – maybe we should hibernate! However one of the places where there is warmth for the body and the soul is St Andrew’s on a Sunday morning.
Our ancestors often used this time of the year to “catch up” with family and friends by having meals together or going to concerts or dances – remember those Winter Balls with all the preparations of more formal clothing; dining out; mulled wine; and lots of laughter?
Nowadays we seem to be too busy for such activities. Or maybe its easier to just stay at home and watch television.
Winter is a particular time for us to look after ourselves. In older times Winter was a time for feasting and big fires! Shorter days and longer nights meant less daylight to work in and more time for leisure. But we can have “daylight” at the flick of a switch – so it becomes easier to work and harder to have leisure time.
We need to watch the balance in our lives.
Joy Cowley in her lovely poem “Sacrament of the Seasons” concludes with these words:
Jesus comes to me as a winter tree
and I receive him as a winter tree.
Gentle the cross and gentle the snow,
gentle the path where he and I go,
carrying the buds of spring.
It’s a reminder to us to be gentle with ourselves and with each other in these cold and sometimes anxious days – and to take time to let the buds of spring form in us.
Michael Leunig wrote the following :”Hymn”:
Care is the cure
It is slow
It is raw
It is pure
It is simple and bare
It is real
It is bold
It is there
Nothing is newer
Or older
Or wiser
Or truer
Care is the cure
Jesus reminds us to “Love one another”
Have a good weekend. If you are travelling – travel safely and CAREfully.
Shalom
Jim Cunningham
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/f2658874b198/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-10135119
