‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.’ Luke 18:16.
This is part of the Gospel reading set out for today.
It is a timely reminder of the care we give our children and young people and the nurturing we do of them and their faith.
I don’t know whether you had picked up yet that I have a real thing about JOY.
Joy is not about excited, exuberant, ecstatic moments with fireworks being let off and million-pound mansions being won in prize draws.
Joy is not about belly laughing all the time, crying tears of laughter and doubled up with the pain of it.
It’s the little things in life sometimes that bring the most joy.
It happens every year and it comes with some excitement.
And the excitement comes in different parts.
As we near the summer, so the time has come to look for the summer hats.
We have a selection of large straw ones, some caps that have fabric that covers your neck, and a few that look like you should be found fishing.
Alongside those people being coached by personal trainers in the park, there are lots and lots of dogs being walked.
The occasional huge hound surrounded by small yappy type dogs, sometimes several on the same lead.
Slow plodders being overtaken by quick young things.
And even the smallest, cutest puppies – excited and overwhelmed by their surrounding in equal measure.
As I walked through the park this morning, I noticed two things:
The amount of dogs being walked and the easy way people with dogs talk to other people with dogs;
And the amount of people who were doing their morning workout with a personal trainer.
It is a favourite subject of mine.
Testing rather than talking about it is obviously better.
If there’s a selection then I try and make sure that I leave no one out.
Even as a breakfast option - I have done it.
And most lessons in life can either be taught with or improved by: CAKE.
My wife and I were having a conversation the other day about previous schools our children had been to when they were younger.
We thought of the uniforms and the teachers all the school fairs and nativity plays we had been to over the years.
It is that time again. The week has rolled around and we find ourselves at Friday.
And then we are faced with the Weekend – typically it has been for some a time of rest, space to slow down.
For some it includes a time of Sabbath rest.
I worry that we have lost the meaning of Sabbath and forgotten all our ways of resting.
It feels like we live in a world where everything gets shortened.
Tender loving care becomes TLC.
Laugh Out Loud becomes LOL.
I still think BTW means Best Wishes but apparently it means By The Way.
My phone sometimes reminds me what I was doing last year.
Today it greeted me with today’s picture.
It was a super-hot day, everything was prepared.
The registers were completed, the Groom and guests were waiting and I was in about 5 layers of clothing including a cope
(which is like a heavy tog duvet made into a cape only heavier).
But the Bride was running late…so we had to wait.
I went to a training day about social media a few years ago.
It was about ‘How to get the best out of social media for your charity’.
But the first question threw me: How many different social media platforms are there?
Well I sat and thought…Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp…and felt fairly confident that I’d got most of them. The answer was: Lots, dozens in fact!
And the following questions were: How many do you use and Do they work for you?
And the answer that kept coming through the day was ‘If it works for you then great, but when the fun stops – stop!’