The Burbage & Aston Flamville Parish Chronicle - March 2021

The Burbage &
 Aston Flamville
Parish Chronicle

March 2021   50p

Sunday, 7th March
The Third Sunday of Lent
10.00 am The Parish Eucharist - Zoom
6.00 pm Evensong - Facebook live
Sunday, 14th March
Mothering Sunday
10.00 am The Parish Eucharist - Zoom
6.00 pm Evensong - Facebook live
Sunday, 21st March
The Fifth Sunday of Lent – Passion Sunday
10.00 am “Fresh Ground – A new Family Worship Service –
Facebook Live.
10.00 am The Parish Eucharist - Zoom
6.00 pm Evensong - Facebook live
Sunday, 28th March
Palm Sunday
10.00 am The Parish Eucharist - Zoom
6.00 pm Evensong - Facebook live
Monday, 29th March
7.30pm Holy Communion – Facebook live
Tuesday, 30th March
7.30pm Holy Communion with Taize – Facebook Live
Wednesday, 31st March
7.30pm Spy Wednesday Holy Communion – Facebook Live
Maundy Thursday, 1st April
7.30pm Eucharist of the Last Supper - Zoom
Good Friday, 2nd April
11.00am Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion - Zoom
Holy Saturday, 3rd April
9.00pm The Vigil and first Mass of Easter – Zoom

Evensong         Evensong 6.00 pm via Burbage Parish Facebook
                  page
 Zoom             Morning Prayer: Monday to Friday
 Meetings:        Zoom Coffee Morning Tuesday 10.30 am
                  Holy Communion: Wednesday 10:30am
                  Evening Prayer: Thursday 6.30 pm
 Live Streaming Compline Service 9.00 pm Monday to Friday
 via Burbage
 Parish
 Facebook page
 Church           Monday mornings 11.30 am – 1.30 pm and
 Opening Times    Foodbank drop off
 for Private      Thursday evenings 6.00 pm – 8.00 pm and
 Prayer           Foodbank drop off

Please do continue your usual weekly offering to the Church or
post it to The Rectory, New Road, Burbage LE10 2AW
If you wish to make a BACS transfer the Church Bank details are
below:
A/C No. 20174748       Sort Code 60-11-06
Website - http://parishofburbageandastonflamville.co.uk/
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St Catherine’s Parish Burbage QR Code. Please Scan
and Give Generously.
Our Services are now being recorded and are being edited and will be
sent out to those who request them. Please contact Christine
Greenway.

Coronavirus near Easter: still a good time to pause, pray and
remember
When the UK death toll for coronavirus recently reached 100,000,
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York issued a call to the nation.
They asked everyone to pause and remember the victims of Covid-
19. The victims and their families were ‘known to God and
cherished by God’.
Perhaps, as we approach Easter, we should consider stopping again
and remembering again the terrible cost of the pandemic.
In their open letter, Archbishops Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell
had insisted that death does not have “the last word”, and the
Christian faith promises that one day “every tear will be wiped
away”.
God, they wrote, knows grief and suffering and “shares in the weight
of our sadness”.
Turning to the wider impact of the pandemic, the loneliness, anxiety
and economic hardship, they then invited people to “cast their fears
on God”.
The archbishops said: “We write to you in consolation, but also in
encouragement, and ultimately in the hope of Jesus Christ. The God
who comes to us in Jesus knew grief and suffering Himself. On the
cross, Jesus shares the weight of our sadness.”
“Most of all, we have hope because God raised Jesus from the dead.
This is the Christian hope that we will be celebrating at Easter.
We live in the hope that we will share in His resurrection. Death
doesn’t have the last word. In God’s kingdom, every tear will be
wiped away.
“Please be assured of our prayers. Please join us.”
It is expected that the Church of England will hold services of
remembrance for those who have died and thanksgiving for all
those who have cared for them when it is possible to do so.

The Revd Canon Paul Hardingham looks back on the year that
changed the world.
‘One Year On’
It was just over a year ago that the WHO discussed the coronavirus
that was starting to spread around the world. None of us could have
foreseen the devastating effect on our world, with over 80 million
people infected and nearly two million deaths. How has the
pandemic challenged our faith, as we look back over the last year?
Firstly, it has forced us to face up to the reality of our situation. We
cannot underestimate the health, social and economic effects of the
virus on our lives, churches and communities. We have learned how
to do church online, but the future shape of church life is uncertain!
As the apostle Paul writes: ‘We are hard pressed on every side, but
not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not
abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry
around in our body the death of Jesus’ (2 Cor 4:8-10).
The pandemic has challenged so much of what we take for granted,
but also demonstrated that God is alongside to help us in these
circumstances.
Secondly, alongside the fear and uncertainty of this year, we have
also learned to find new faith and hope in Jesus. The experience of
Jesus’ death and His resurrection provides a pattern for us in facing
the future: ‘so that His life may also be revealed in our mortal body.
So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.’ (2 Cor
4:10-12).
During the season of Lent, as we anticipate the events at Easter, it’s
good to focus on the promise of sharing in the death and
resurrection of Jesus. As we consider our present struggles, are we
ready to surrender them to Jesus? May the hope of Easter Day take
us forward into the coming year.

David Pickup, a solicitor, considers the laws on growing up.
The rites of growing up
Now every year His parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the
Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up as
usual... When the festival was ended …the boy Jesus stayed behind in
Jerusalem …After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting
among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. From
Luke 2
This familiar story is the only account of Jesus in His boyhood years.
Because of her fright, it would have been one family story that Mary
never forgot. At the age of 12, in that culture, Jesus would be just
about to become a young man, and therefore have been eager to begin
adulthood. Jesus knew He was not lost but in the right place. He said,
“Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Children grow up by enormous leaps and bounds. Turn your back for
a minute and they have aged years. In Britain, the law does not fix any
one age for when a child is suddenly a grown up. Instead, it is a
gradual process.
From age 13 you can work part-time. I remember getting a card from
a doctor to show I could legally work. I carried it around with me on
my milk round and was slightly disappointed the police never asked
for it!
At 14 you can enter a pub, but only if the landlord allows it. You
cannot buy or drink alcohol, only soft drinks.
At 16 you can marry, with your parents’ consent. You can also ride a
moped, and drink alcohol in a restaurant with a meal. You can open a
bank current account and get a debit card.
Once you are 17, you can hold a driver’s licence.
At 18 you can vote, get a tattoo, bet, and buy and drink alcohol in a
pub.
At 21 you can apply to adopt a child, become a driving instructor and
apply for a licence to fly commercial transport aeroplanes and
helicopters.

CHRONICLE
 Copy for the April issue of the
       Parish Chronicle
should be sent to Martin Mellor
    by: Monday 22nd March

Observations on modern life
Common sense is not a gift. It's a punishment because you have to deal
with everyone who doesn't have it.
Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk I have a workstation.
The darkest hour is just before dawn. So, if you're going to steal your
neighbour's milk, that's the time to do it.
Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.
A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
The most welcome guest is the one who knows when to go home.
A filing cabinet is a place where you can lose things systematically.

The Revd Michael Burgess celebrates a special building.
150 years of the Royal Albert Hall
Joyce Grenfell wrote a wonderful song, Joyful Noise, about three lady
choristers: Miss Clissold, Miss Truss and Ivy Trembley. Their greatest
delight was to sing in an oratorio at the Royal Albert Hall. ‘It may be
like a gasworks with a green-house roof above it, and it may lack
convenience, but all the same we love it.’ That love has marked the life
of the Royal Albert Hall over 150 years as this month we celebrate its
opening on 29th March 1871.
After the success of the Great Exhibition, Prince Albert dreamed of
creating a more permanent cultural area in London to promote and
popularise the arts and sciences. On his death in 1861 at just 42 years, it
was decided to erect a memorial and a ‘Central Hall.’ And so the Royal
Albert Hall was built. At heart it is an impressive concert hall promoting
classical music with an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah from
1876, and from 1941 the BBC Proms: 8 weeks of concerts in the
summer welcoming musicians from all over the world and culminating
in the memorable Last Night. Composers from Wagner and Verdi to
Bernstein and Britten have conducted and had works performed there.
But the Royal Albert Hall has also hosted an amazingly wide variety of
events through its life: the Beatles in 1963, Ella Fitzgerald in 1990,
poetry evenings, sport (boxing, tennis and basketball), the Cirque de
Soleil, Teenage Cancer Trust concerts, and the 25th anniversary
performance of The Phantom of the Opera in 2011. It has provided a
platform for Winston Churchill, Einstein and the Dalai Lama. Many of
us will have poignant memories of the annual RBL Festival of
Remembrance held every November since 1923: a moving occasion that
culminates with the shower of poppy petals.
Sadly, because of the restrictions with the pandemic, the Hall’s
programme of events has had to be limited in scope since last year, but
the frieze on the outside of the building remains to inspire. There we see
a celebration of the rich variety of arts and sciences that include music,
sculpture, painting, astronomy and navigation, and the words Thine O
Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty - a

reminder that all our creative work here is a reflection of the wonder of
God the Creator.
‘He will never forget at all The day he played at Albert Hall’. That line
from the Kinks’ song Session Man invites us all to celebrate and give
thanks for the richness of the life and work of the Royal Albert Hall as
we look back over its 150 years and as we look ahead with hope and
faith to a richer future.

Prayer for Families
Dear Father God,
In this month, when we especially think about mothers, we thank you
for the families and friends you have given us. You know how hard it
has been to have been separated over these past months, how much we
have missed and longed for their hugs, their physical presence and
fellowship.
As we hold on to the hope of overcoming the pandemic, help us to be
strengthened by the power of the love we receive - and to strengthen
others by the love we give. May we know that, wherever we are,
whatever our circumstances, we and our loved ones are held safe and
connected by your unfailing love for us, revealed in Jesus – who is alive
- and from whom nothing, no pandemic, no man-made turmoil,
absolutely nothing and no-one can separate us, when we put our trust in
Him.
Thank you, Father, that we belong to your family. Thank you for the
love and security we have in you.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
By Daphne Kitching

5th March:    Eusebius, friend of St Jerome
Eusebius is the saint for you if you believe in the Bible, and also in
providing hospitality. He was born of a good family in Cremona, Italy,
in the fourth century, and felt called to become a monk. As Eusebius
was ascetic by nature, he sought out St Jerome in Rome, who
advocated an austere lifestyle for monks. They became life-long
friends. At that time, Jerome was secretary to Pope Damasus, who
commissioned him to produce for the Western church a translation of
the Bible in Latin.
It was a time when Christian theologians were defending the faith
from various heresies which had arisen concerning the nature of God.
Eusebius was a loyal friend of Jerome, and so became involved in
Jerome’s theological disputes against various heresies.
When the Pope died in 384, Jerome decided to leave for the Holy
Land. Eusebius begged to accompany him. At Antioch, they were
joined by two female friends of Jerome’s and together they made a
pilgrimage to all the places connected with the earthly life of Jesus.
Later, they decided to make their home in Bethlehem, where Jerome
continued with writing, studying, and overseeing a monastery.
Jerome noticed that the vast number of pilgrims to Bethlehem were
extremely poor, so he decided to build a hostel for them. Eusebius
was sent to Croatia and Italy to raise money for the building project.
He even sold his own property at Cremona to help with finances.
Meanwhile, the theological disputes continued, and it seems that
Jerome next sent Eusebius to Rome, to support Pope Anastasius I.
In 400AD, Eusebius may have returned to his native Cremona, or else
to Bethlehem to become the abbot of the church there. One
(unproven) tradition credits him with founding the abbey of
Guadalupe in Spain. Another late tradition credits him with raising
three men from the dead - an event painted twice by Italian
Renaissance painter Raphael Sanzio.
Wherever Eusebius spent his last years, he continued to support
Jerome’s interests, and they regularly corresponded on theology.
Eusebius died in 423 and it is thought he is buried alongside Jerome
in Bethlehem.

Fairtrade Fortnight
                      (22 February – 7 March)

                          Choose the world you want:
                          Fairtrade, climate and you

                     Join a free virtual festival to hear
                     why winning a fairer deal for
farmers and workers is critical in tackling the climate
crisis. Throughout Fairtrade Fortnight the festival will
feature:
• Farmers and workers from around the world
explaining why they need to earn more to survive a
climate crisis that is already hurting their
communities
• Discussions between farmers, other experts and
famous faces about what we need to do to choose a
better future
• Music, art and entertainment, from all corners of
our passionate and talented global Fairtrade
community
• Fun interactive workshops on sustainable living here
in the UK
Sign up today to join the festival
https://action.fairtrade.org.uk/page/73941/subscr
ibe/1?ea.tracking.id=blog

Eco Church approves 1000th award for environmental
responsibility
Conservation charity, A Rocha UK has announced that Hereford
Cathedral is the recipient of its Eco Church scheme’s 1,000th award
for creation care.
A spokeswoman for A Rocha UK said: “Hereford Cathedral
demonstrates that even historical buildings can make great progress
towards being more sustainable. The Cathedral land includes both
gardens within the cathedral complex and some farms in the local
area which are managed in a sustainable way.”
Hereford Cathedral, one of over 3000 churches to register for Eco
Church, shares eco-lifestyle tips during school visits and in its
weekly church notices, including suggestions on personal
consumption and carbon footprint reduction. They have made
alterations to the heating and lighting across the church buildings to
improve efficiency and are actively researching how best to install
water harvesting systems in the future.
This is a critical year for the climate, ahead of the UN COP26 climate
negotiations scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November.
Eco Church is a free online award scheme and is an A Rocha UK
project. Churches can join the Eco church community by registering
at https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk/ and completing a simple
survey.
New lead bishop for housing
Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has become the Church of England’s Lead
Bishop for Housing, to spearhead the Church’s efforts to help ease
the UK’s crippling housing crisis.
Bishop Guli, currently the Bishop of Loughborough, will take up the
new role later this year when she becomes Bishop of Chelmsford.
The new post will involve leading efforts to implement the
recommendations of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission
on Housing, Church and Community, which was published in late
February.

The Revd Canon Paul Hardingham offers the following for Lent...
Finding God in Each Moment of the Day
Do you know the popular series of books entitled Where’s Wally?
These books are filled with very detailed cartoon drawings in each
of which is hidden Wally. He is dressed in a red and white striped ski
cap and glasses and the challenge is to find Wally. You have to search
for some time to pick him out of the crowd, but Wally is always
there!
In many ways, like finding Wally, we need to develop the skill of
identifying God’s presence in our daily lives. One approach that can
help us to find God throughout the day is to do a daily review of our
day with God. It can provide us with a means of seeing where God
has been at work during our day. It’s an opportunity of
remembering how God has been at work and how we have
responded to Him. As the psalmist says, ‘On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night’ (Ps 63:6).
What does this look like in practice? Here is a step by step guide:
1. Be still for a moment, and quiet your mind.
2. Acknowledge that Jesus is present. Invite Him to guide you.
3. Recall the beginning of the day, when you first woke up. Watch
that scene, as if on film. What is your reaction to what you see? Talk
to God about it.
4. Continue through the film of your day, going from scene to scene.
As you reflect on each one, some scenes may fill you with gratitude,
others with regret. Speak directly to God about this. You may also
want to pray for those you encountered during the day.
5. End your review with a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s mercy
and love. Ask him to refresh you as you sleep.
As you begin reviewing your day with God regularly, you can expect
to see two things beginning to happen:
Firstly, you will become more aware of recurring negative patterns
in your life, which will challenge these wrong attitudes and habits
and increase your desire to grow and change.

Secondly, you will become more aware of God’s presence in the
ordinary moments of your life. And when you start experiencing the
reality of God’s presence with you every day, it’s not ordinary any
more!
The Revd Peter Crumpler, a Church of England priest in St Albans,
Herts, and a former communications director for the CofE, considers
all that mothers have done for us this past year.

Let’s clap for mothers!
As Mothering Sunday approaches, let’s hear it for all the mothers
who have been on the frontline of helping our country survive the
Covid pandemic!
Just as we’ve clapped on our doorsteps for the NHS and other
heroes, let’s applaud all that mothers have done – often balancing
home and employment – during these long lockdown months.
Research shows that mums have carried out most of the home
schooling and household tasks – with many also holding down
important frontline roles in the NHS and other essential services.
Women spent more than twice as much time as men on their
children’s home schooling and development during the lockdown,
according to a study by University College London. It measured how
parents responded while schools and nurseries were closed to most
families.
The survey, reported by the Guardian newspaper, found that women
across several age groups took the major share of childcare and
home schooling. Those with primary school-aged children “were
considerably more likely” to have given up working than fathers
with children of the same age.
The pressure on families was further increased as many
grandparents and other carers were unable to help. Family and
friendship networks were put under strain with contacts restricted
to online Zoom or Facetime calls that are often difficult with
younger children.

Launching a Children’s Society report into children’s welfare during
the lockdown, chief executive Mark Russell said: “We are living in
unprecedented times. Months of national lockdown, only small
numbers of children in school, and many families experiencing real
crisis. Coronavirus has impacted every area of our lives and The
Children’s Society has been deeply concerned about the impact of
this crisis on children, especially the most disadvantaged.”
He added: “Our survey found a higher proportion of young people
experiencing low well-being than we are used to seeing. Whilst we
know that most children’s well-being will ‘bounce-back’, there will
be some who do not.” Mothers are at the frontline of helping our
children cope with – and then recover from – the effects of the Covid
pandemic and the extended lockdowns.
Many working mothers lost their jobs because of the pandemic, and
families will be hard-pressed to make up for the income lost. Food
bank provider, the Trussell Trust has warned churches to prepare
for a ‘tidal wave’ of poverty and to be ready to help their local
communities.
This Mothering Sunday, daffodils and chocolate may seem very thin
reward for the major contribution of mums across our nation.
In normal times, they have a challenging and demanding job to do.
Through the pandemic, they have risen to the challenges and sought
to ensure children thrive despite the lockdowns.
As we celebrate Mothering Sunday, let’s recognise the amazing
efforts made by mothers in the home with their children.
Let’s also celebrate the vital roles many also play – as do those
without children – in the NHS, in education, in the government and
civil service, in keeping vital supplies flowing – and in our pulpits
and across our churches.

£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£
                   100 Club
        The Winning numbers are as follows:
     January number 51 held by Sonja Edwards
     February number 12 held by Christine Aird
              £$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£
2nd March:    Chad, the recycled bishop
Chad should be the patron saint of any modern bishop whose
             £$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£
consecration is questioned by another bishop. Chad was
consecrated a bishop, then deposed - and then re-consecrated!
It all began about the middle of the 7th century, when Oswiu, King of
Northumbria, made Chad the bishop of the Northumbrian see. But
due to a scarcity of appropriate bishops, two dubious bishops did
the job of consecrating him. This led to Theodore, Archbishop of
Canterbury, deciding to depose him about three years later.
Chad took his dismissal with good heart, and peacefully retired. But
then Theodore had second thoughts: Chad was of excellent
character: humble, devout, and zealous. So, Theodore
re-consecrated him – to be the first bishop of the Mercians. Second
time around, Chad was a great success - again.
When Chad died in about 672AD, he was quickly venerated as a
saint. People took a great fancy to his bones, believing that they
would bring healing. Even today, four large bones, dating from the
7th century, and believed to be Chad’s, are in the R.C. cathedral in
Birmingham.
Bishops today may still argue about consecration, but they are
unlikely to have their bones disturbed.

This month sees the 35th anniversary of the Great Daffodil Appeal.
Wear your daffodil and unite in memory
Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end-of-life care charity will this year
celebrate their 35th annual Great Daffodil Appeal, which is held
every March across the UK. The money raised from this appeal
enables the charity to continue their vital work providing care and
support to people living with a terminal illness and their families.
The coronavirus continues to have a devastating effect on Marie
Curie’s fundraising, as activities up and down the country have had
to be cancelled. However, there’s still lots of ways people can get
involved, with things like the Step into Spring Challenge in March
where people walk 10,000 steps a day, they can host a virtual
collection or buy and wear one of the charity’s iconic daffodils in
memory of a loved one.
This year will be even more special as the charity encourages the
nation to come together to reflect, grieve and remember for a
National Day of Reflection. Tuesday 23rd March 2021 will mark one
year since the UK first went into a nationwide lockdown and Marie
Curie is inviting the nation to unite and remember those who died
and show support and solidarity for those who have been bereaved.
The charity knows how important it is for people to grieve and the
emotional and psychological impact of not being able to say
goodbye properly and grieving in isolation can have.
Due to the pandemic, Marie Curie won’t have their normal
collections on the street, so donations are more important than ever.
To support the Great Daffodil Appeal, you can donate at
www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil or you can buy your daffodil pin in
store at a number of high street stores including Superdrug or
Savers.

The Ven John Barton considers the sorrows of the past year.
A year of coronavirus
The Queen recently spoke for the whole country when she said that
many are, “tinged with sadness. Some (are) mourning the loss of
those dear to them and other missing friends and family members,
distanced for safety. When all they really want … is a simple hug or a
squeeze of the hand.”
We may have become accustomed to wearing face masks in public,
keeping our distance from others, cutting out social gatherings, and
attending church services online, but ‘no touching’ seems the
cruellest of punishments.
As one vicar friend of mine said, the Church has had to learn a lot
from lockdown:
“That Zoom is no substitute for meeting together, sharing warmth,
laughter, tears – and drinking from the same cup. We have a
commonality in Christ, whoever we are. Christianity is more ‘us’
than ‘me’.
“Also, we cannot ignore those who will bear considerable cost
arising from the pandemic. People have lost loved ones, businesses,
confidence, jobs. It is vital that the church becomes a place of hope –
not glib, cliched words – but solid hope drawn from Scripture and
made real in action. The church could become a real hub of the local
community.
“But we have to rethink much of what we do and how we say things.
The money has all but gone now and the church has to refocus on
how it attracts people, what it says in plain English, how it presents
itself and provides a warm welcome to those who haven’t a clue
what Christianity is.... and all this on a very tight budget!”
He’s got to be right. And some of us could begin to apply some of his
ideas right now, even before the pandemic is under control.
As a direct consequence of lockdown, many of us have much more
money in the bank than we bargained for. We could send a
substantial sum to our local church, and some to an overseas

charity, to make some of those ambitions come true. With time on
our hands, we could earmark an hour or two for emailing or
phoning those in our address book who live alone. We could buy
extra supplies for a food bank on our next visit to the supermarket.
And we must ask God to make our church more comprehensible to
those who consider themselves outsiders.

                                                        Here is the
                                                        answer to this
                                                        month’s
                                                        Suduko

Little old lady seeks handsome young man
An advert appeared in a student newspaper of a university: “Sweet
little old lady wishes to correspond with good-looking university
student – especially a six-footer with brown eyes, answering to
initials J.A.D.” It was signed: “his mother.”

Switched on
A housewife was helping her aged mother get up the stairs on their
brand-new stair lift when the minister telephoned her. He was
horrified to hear her say: “I’m so sorry, but I’ll have to ring you back.
I can’t talk right now because I’ve finally got Mother in the electric
chair and I’m eager to press the switch and see if it works!

On why On how to deflect those staff appraisals
The Rectory
St James the Least of All
My dear Nephew Darren
So, your vicar has introduced staff appraisal for all the officers who
work for your church, including yourself. It seems a very dangerous
innovation; as far as I am concerned, ministry is only successful
when parishioners have no idea what the clergy get up to.
I imagine that he will look at the number of services you take in a
year. Funerals can only be increased if you resort to murder, which is
likely to be frowned on – although I have been sorely tempted
during endless church council meetings. Perhaps if you take a flask
of water wherever you go and if you find a baby unattended, you
could resort to a spontaneous baptism. That would get your
numbers up, even if returning mothers may marvel at the highly
localised and brief shower that seemed to have taken place over the
pram.
Visiting targets are easily increased. Compile a list of when
parishioners will be out and call on those days; a card through their
letterbox will prove to your vicar that you were there. Should they
happen to be in, mention that you are collecting for the organ fund
and they will immediately excuse themselves for an important
appointment. You are then free to move on to clock another visit.
Your vicar is also bound to want to see the congregation increasing.
This is not sustainable, and you should put a stop to such ambitions
at once. It is easily done. All you have to do is to approach your
friends at the local football club and bribe them with your
homemade beer to come along to church several Sunday mornings
in a row. If you give them enough beer BEFORE the service, they will
be likely to make just enough muted disruption as to leave your
vicar a bit rattled, and thinking that perhaps after all, ‘less’ is ‘more’
when it comes to the congregation.

But whatever you do, make sure that you never preach a better
sermon than he does. You don’t want anyone thanking you at the
door for your ‘so interesting sermon’ in front of him, when they have
been sleeping through his sermons for years. If you offend the vicar
this way, he will take swift revenge, and ask you to organise the
parish summer fete.

Your loving uncle,
Eustace

In praise of Mothers
A mother’s love endures through all. - Washington Irving
Life doesn’t come with a manual. It comes with a mother. - Anon
Mothers are like buttons. They hold everything together. – Anon
A mother understands what a child does not say. - Jewish Proverb
All I am I owe to my mother. - George Washington
I can imagine no heroism greater than motherhood. - Lance Conran
A mother is the one who fills your heart in the first place. - Amy Tan
A mother’s hug lasts long after she lets go. – Anon
Sooner or later, we all quote our mothers. - Bern Williams

All in the month of March
It was:
1700 years ago, on 7th March 321, that the Roman Emperor
Constantine 1 (Constantine the Great) decreed that Sunday should
be a day of rest throughout the Empire.
1600 years ago, on 25th March 421, that the city of Venice was
officially founded when its first church was dedicated at noon.
300 years ago, on 24th March 1721, that Johann Sebastian Bach
dedicated six of his concertos to Christian Ludwig Margrave of
Brandenburg-Schwedt. They are now commonly known as the
Brandenburg Concertos.
200 years ago, on 19th March 1821, that Sir Richard Burton, British
explorer, writer and translator, was born. He was noted for his
translations of The Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra.
150 years ago, on 27th March 1871, that the first international rugby
union football match was held in Edinburgh. Scotland beat England
1 – 0.
Also 150 years ago, on 29th March 1871, that the Royal Albert Hall in
London was officially opened by Queen Victoria.
80 years ago, on 28th March 1941, that Virginia Woolf committed
suicide, aged 59. Author of To The Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway,
Orlando, and A Room of One’s Own, among others, she was one of the
leading modernist writers of the 20th century.
75 years ago, on 5th March 1946, that Winston Churchill gave his
famous ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in Fulton, Missouri. He used the term
to describe the separation between Soviet and Western countries.
Also 75 years ago, on 25th March 1946, that London’s Heathrow
Airport was opened, as London Airport. It was renamed Heathrow
in 1966.
65 years ago, on 23rd March 1956, that Pakistan became the world’s
first Islamic Republic.

60 years ago, on 6th March 1961, that George Formby, the ‘ukulele
king’ died. A British comedian, singer and actor, he was best known
for his comic songs, including ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’.
Also 60 years ago, on 8th March 1961, that Sir Thomas Beecham,
British conductor and impresario died. He founded several major
orchestras and transformed the operatic and orchestral scene in
Britain.
50 years ago, on 8th March 1971, that the ‘Fight of the Century’ took
place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Two undefeated
heavyweight boxers fought each other for the world title, with Joe
Frazier defeating Muhammed Ali.
40 years ago, on 1st March 1981, that IRA member Bobby Sands
began a hunger strike at Maze Prison, Northern Ireland. He was
elected as an MP to the British parliament on 10th April, and died on
5th May.
Also 40 years ago, on 29th March 1981, that the first London
Marathon was held.
30 years ago, on 3rd March 1991, that American construction worker
Rodney King was beaten by officers from the Los Angeles Police
Department following a car chase. The beating was captured on
amateur video. When the four officers were later acquitted in April
1992, it triggered the Los Angeles riots in which 53 people died and
around $1billion worth of damage was caused.
Also 30 years ago, on 14th March 1991, that the convictions of the
Birmingham Six were quashed by Britain’s Court of Appeal and they
were released from prison after 16 years. They had been convicted
of carrying out pub bombings in Birmingham in 1974.
Also 30 years ago, on 21st March 1991, that the British Government
announced that the controversial poll tax (officially called the
community charge), which had sparked riots, was to be scrapped
and replaced by a new property tax (council tax) from April 1993.

25 years ago, on 13th March 1996, that the Dunblane Massacre took
place in Scotland. A gunman killed 16 children and a teacher at a
primary school and wounded several others before taking his own
life.
Also 25 years ago, on 20th March 1996, that the British Government
reported that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans was linked
to BSE (mad cow disease) and could be transmitted to humans who
ate infected beef. On 25th March the European Union banned the
export of British beef (until 2006).
20 years ago, on 8th March 2001, that British racing driver Donald
Campbell’s speedboat Bluebird was recovered from the bottom of
Coniston Water in Cumbria. (It had crashed and sank during a
record attempt in January 1967 in which he was killed.)
15 years ago, on 1st March 2006, that the Senedd, the National
Assembly for Wales’s debating chamber, was officially opened by
Queen Elizabeth II in Cardiff.
10 years ago, on 11th March 2011, that the great Tohoku earthquake
and tsunami of Japan took place. It shifted Japan’s main island,
Honshu, 2.4 metres to the east. 15,897 people were killed, 2,533
went missing, and nearly a quarter of a million were made
homeless. Three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Plant went into meltdown, leading to the second-largest nuclear
accident in history.
Also 10 years ago, on 15th March 2011, the Syrian Civil War began. It
still continues today.

Spring is Sprung.
After the recent Arctic blast it is starting to feel decidedly spring like at
the moment. It has been lovely this week to wander out into the garden,
making the most of the sunshine, and see what is growing. The daffodils
are coming up and there is a solitary brave crocus growing in the middle
of the front lawn. A pair of blue tits were having a good look at an old
nest in the cherry tree, I do hope they decide to stay. Our rabbits are
enjoying being back on the lawn in a new run after a long winter.
The garden is full of green shoots and the promise of reawakening life.
The news also is beginning to look more hopeful with the vaccine
rollout continuing on apace and plans for the gradual easing of
lockdown revealed. We find ourselves in a very different position to this
time last year when the first lockdown began amidst so much fear and
uncertainty when nobody knew what lay ahead. Of course so much has
happened since then. We face the promise of Spring and a return to a
more normal way of life carrying the burdens of what has gone before,
the grief, loss, isolation and anxiety that so many have experienced.
We and the world we live in have been irreversibly changed by all that
has happened.
But I take comfort in the secure rhythm of the seasons, the ongoing
cycle of life that has continued throughout the pandemic.
Warm Summer days, gentle Autumn breezes, crisp white snow and
beautiful sunsets. There is a beauty and timelessness in nature that
soothes our souls and reminds us that all creation is held in the hand of
our loving Father. And if we make space to stop and to listen God can
speak to us through his good creation. Revealing himself through the
colours of the rising sun, the caress of a gentle breeze, the merry
chirruping of the birds and the new shoots bursting through the warming
ground.
As we slowly emerge from the latest lockdown, blinking into the
brightness of the spring sunshine, finding our way to live in this
changed world we have an opportunity to slow down, to look again and
to spend time with God resting in his good creation. Casting on him the
burdens we cannot carry and seeing in the annual renewal of life the
promise of hope and life we have through Jesus.

With the rising of the sun,
Let us seek to know God,
Whose coming is as sure as the dawn.
Whose grace is like the rain,
Renewing the face of the earth.         based on Hosea 6:3

We give you thanks
Because earth’s life and fruitfulness flow from you
And all times and seasons belong to you.
We give you thanks
Because you created the world in love
You redeemed the world through love
You maintain the world by your love.
Draw us near to that love we pray
Take from us burdens we cannot carry
And keep us always in your loving embrace.
Amen.

Rev Ros