Thanks Very Much

Good afternoon, all. I come to you today from the Telly, watching the Charity Shield football. It looks hot. It's hot in Plymouth, so I expect running around on a football field in London is very hot indeed.

As an aside, can I tell you my Crystal Palace joke? Well, it's not my joke. It's very old, but it still makes me laugh. Crystal Palace's fan song is the old Sixties hit "I'm Feeling Glad All Over." And, as I explained to FOW2, history does not record how Glad felt about this. Ha ha. Thank you. Thank you for listening to my joke. (FOW2 just said Get Lost when she heard it, but she laughed despite herself, as they say.)

August is a bit of a funny month. Lots of people are on holiday, so work and church are a bit weird. We are not due any time off in August, so I am ploughing on regardless. Obviously, I am part-time now, and the most up-to-date heatwave is due Monday and Tuesday, so we shall probably pop our heads outside the door at some point 

 We did do a bit of visiting over the weekend. FOW2 and her inamorato have a new kitten who is absolutely as cute as a button, so we went over to make its life a misery for half an hour. He is called Rigatoni (after the cartoon, I think). At the moment, they are finding his habit of waking them at 3am by biting their toes because he would like to play, endearing. I'm not sure how long that will last. Also, how do you actually stop a cat from doing stuff like that? Don't cats just do what they want? With a dog, you can put it back in its box and say, "NO! Go to sleep," and then, about six years later, it gets the hang of it. How do you discipline or train a cat? Anyway, look at him. At the moment, they are putty in his hands. 

We can't stay too long at FOW2's place now because HOH can be quite allergic to cats. He stroked a cat once, and a blister came up on his eyeball that was so horrible that it made me feel quite faint. I don't really do eyes. It's not like I am a nurse or anything. Although my dad went to the casualty once after some grit got into his eye, he couldn't get it out, and it was really badly bloodshot. He was met in the cubicle by a nurse who, took one look at it, shuddered theatrically, made a vomiting noise into the bin and said "I don't do eyes, Ugh!" and went to get someone else. We can't all be good at everything, I suppose.

Sorry - I'm wanging on. I just wanted to briefly tell you about the Thank-you we received from the Messy Church leaders today. How lovely is that? A couple of things. HOH only actually helped once, in an emergency situation, and it was definitely under protest. He sometimes does the door on Messy Saturdays, but that is more to do with the free croissants, and he quite enjoys mixing it with people trying to park in our Car Park while they "pop" to the shops. So I don't really see why he got included. 

Also, I don't know who has been turning up impersonating us and showing wisdom and a gentle, welcoming spirit. I am not known for any of those things. They may well be mistaking how tired I am on a Saturday morning for gentleness. 

But, the power of a Thank-you, eh? I was brought up on the story of the Ten Lepers who were healed, and one came back to say Thank you. When I was young, I used to wonder why Jesus had been so impressed by what was basically a show of good manners. Manners to me were when my Mum would say, "Don't talk to your Nana like that" (she was rubbing butter on my head when I banged it. Just weird. She needed to be told.) Or "What do you say?" When you had been given something you were not that bothered about, frankly. Or "Close your mouth when you are eating. It looks awful," and then I would say. "Don't look then," and that would get me a smack as well. Happy times.

Anyway, it's not the manners, is it? Well, it is a bit - no one wants to see anyone's cheesy beans while they are chewing them. But it's really about the gratitude. If you are one of those people who keep beautiful gratitude journals, I am so jealous of you. I am notoriously cack-handed and have only a minimal amount of artistic talent. Also, I get quite embarrassed about writing down things that I am grateful for. And gratitude is vital. It makes us think about what we have and the hope within us. But also, saying thank you lands well with the other person. It's good to hear when you have done something ok. Is it me, or did Jesus seem a bit chuffed when the man came back to say thanks?  

Weren't ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

Have a good week.