Pentecost

 

Hello everyone. I hope you are ok. We are well here. Like most people, our demeanour is improved by some sunshine. I'm sorry if you don't live in this country and are having horrible weather but Brits are so shocked by the ongoing sun, that it needs to be over-celebrated. My daughter hates hot weather - she always has and is taking Global Warming as a personal affront. I'm ok with it. It can make me a bit mazy if it's too full on but that is more my age than anything else I suppose. The terrible photo above is of Plymouth's Flavour Fest. That's a food festival we have here every year. There is some lovely stuff. Obviously, if you have seen any headlines about Plymouth recently, you will know that this year's festival took place among a ton of felled trees and a few birds' nests manned (birded?) by plucky birds who are looking at everyone with beady eyes and daring them to decimate any more of their habitat. So the festival was much reduced but we still managed to come home with two artisan sausage rolls which gave us indigestion for the rest of the day. It was totally worth it. 

Pentecost Sunday this morning. In my youth, at a different church, that would mean an extra long service where the preacher would more or less say that we would not be finishing until we had had Signs and Wonders, several Baptisms in the Spirit, a Word from old Mrs Sketchley and three people lying on the floor. Sometimes that meant every long service because it rarely happened like that - apart from Mrs Sketchley - she had a word every week. If you sneaked a look at the back, you could see the Brew Team openly pursing their lips at the Pastor because they had no idea when to peg it to the kitchen to flick the kettle switch and get the Bourbons plated up. Maybe God didn't know it was Pentecost Sunday. Maybe he cares about Calendar Days even less. Who knows? This was a bit different. There was a preach about John Wesley - feeling his heart strangely warmed as per - and Communion and Thank you for coming. I was slightly surprised but not unpleasantly so. There are opportunities in the evening service to push on in a bit further should you so desire but I found this a bit refreshing. I was never the most Pente Pentecostal - although I had my moments but I did sometimes think that we didn't talk enough about the Spirit's role outside of making you want to dance like you were shaking off a dose of cramp. If we are weak, he helps us... 

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God."

If we need wisdom...

The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it

I feel we may be missing out on important stuff and I'll be honest, I'd rather hear a bit more about this than hearing a querulous voice at the back say "There's someone in this room..."

BUT call off the search - The Sewing Bee is back. I LOVE the Sewing Bee. I love how, if someone cries everybody runs and helps and how Esme manages to tell them it's a bit rubbish without making them run for the hills. It's an hour of goodness in a world where Phillip Schofield has been the top item on the news for two days. Seriously? (What I don't understand is - sexuality apart, why was it ok for him to be dishonest with his wife for twenty-odd years, but the minute he tells fibs to Holly - he's out on his ear? Pah!)

Just before I go - can I ask - does anyone use the Lectio 365 app on their phone? I've been using it and it's really good - it helps me with consistency, especially in the mornings. I have noticed that they also do an Inner Room App which is a photo based prayer app. It looks very good but I'm loath to put too much on my phone. I'm too vulnerable to distraction on Instagram when I catch sight of a lady rocking an attractive pair of orange trews. 

Anyway - have a good week. I may be a bit late next week. FOW2 and I are off to Paris for a few days. Mum and daughter and the bright lights. I'm a bit concerned about what we are going to eat. When I asked her what she ate when she went with her friend - she replied "Crisps mainly". No worries at all.

Off to watch Midsommer Murders - it's on tonight - providing Prince Harry doesn't have any family traumas that leads to it getting pulled again.