E-NEWS FRIDAY 1ST May 2026
Its Friday morning – 1st May – May Day. I remember when I lived in Lochgelly in Scotland how May Day was an important time of the year. We lived in a coal mining area and the closest Monday to the 1st of May was a holiday for the miners. On the Sunday, my grandmother and her sisters took their grandchildren to St Andrews. We went by bus, leaving at 9-30am and arriving in St Andrews at 11-30am. We were met by another sister and her family who lived in that ancient town. A walk under the trees along the banks of a small river was first on the list – then back to Auntie Annie’s for lunch (3 courses!). This was followed by another walk round the edge of that ‘holy ground’ known as the Royal and Ancient Golf Course! The kids then had some free time – to get into mischief. At 5-30pm we had “high tea” – (3 courses) and then got ready to go home. One last ritual – each of the aunties and grandmothers gave each of the children a half crown coin. I came home quite rich! I still have one of those coins – it has Queen Victoria of the face and is said to be made of silver. The bus left at 7-30pm and we arrived back in Lochgelly at 9-30pm. A twenty minute walk got us home – weighed down by a pocketful of half crowns!! I slept well that night.
I have been thinking about this as I prepare my Reflection for this Sunday. I could just have said – On the Sunday of May Day weekend my grandmother took me to St Andrews for the day. But that would have left out some important detail. On the other hand I could have gone into more detail about the lovely food that had been prepared for us; or what we discovered on our walks; or the giggles from the back seat of the bus as the five grandkids talked and whispered.
There are hidden “gems” in the stories we share but we sometimes skim over them. The same applies to some of the Biblical stories. Sometimes we need to stop and look a little closer at some of the details we skim over in the stories we hear on a Sunday morning. So this Sunday I want to look at a couple of details from the Good Friday and Easter Sunday stories. I am still working on them – it might be interesting to see what happens to them by Sunday.
I hope you have had a good week and enjoyed the sunshine that we have had.
Kind Regards
Jim Cunningham
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