I learnt a new word last week: ‘conjobbling’. According to word guru Susie Dent its 19^th-century English dialect for getting together for a good natter (or gossip), usually with a bite to eat.

Last Tuesday it was great to conjobble over an al fresco lunch (which was very good) at the Ebdon Arms (in Wick St. Lawrence) with old school and youth group friends who’d escaped over the border from Wales. We looked at old photos and reminisced a lot about ‘the old days’. It felt so good.

On Sunday we caught up with our two youngest sons and daughter-in-law in Exeter. It began with a pleasant stroll and chat along the front in Sidmouth and ended with a (shivering) al fresco meal at a pub on the banks of the Exeter canal.

Both sets of conjobbling reminded that, while grateful for Zoom, Whats App videos etc. etc. there’s nothing quite like an actual, real … well, conjobble!
And as Lockdown continues to ease, I’m up for some real pastoral conjobbling as well!

As I sign off, may I say ‘God bless all your conjobbling’ in the weeks ahead!

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus  –  Happy St.David’s Day

Most people reading this will be familiar with both the Daffodil and the Leek being symbols of Welshness.

But Kellogg’s?

The story goes that while touring the USA in the 1920s, Welsh harpist Nansi Richards, visited the (Michigan) home of the American industrialist and inventor William Kellogg. Together with his brother John, William had recently made their fortune promoting their own brand of healthy breakfast cereals, but were struggling to come up with a new marketing idea. Nansi Richards pointed out their surname, Kellogg, was remarkably similar to the Welsh word for ‘cockerel’, ceiliog. This was immediately seized upon by the brothers and the brand’s now long-lived logo was born. And his official name is ‘Cornelius Rooster’.

So, today is the day for Welsh men and women to eat Kellogg’s cereals for breakfast! And what about the French?

I’ve no idea why a cockerel is a symbol of France, but the affinity may have something to do with the decisions of a certain French referee?

Yesterday Helen & I broke with tradition and instead of pancakes we had Welsh cakes. Delicious! Hot off the griddle and, unlike pancakes, what we didn’t eat went into the freezer so that tasty treats would be available in Lent – which is yet another break with tradition. During Lent the tradition is to give up tasty treats and embrace a season of introspective austerity – which explains ‘Pancake Day’. The day before the start of the forty days of Lent (beginning today, Ash Wednesday) was the day to use up all the ingredients (e.g. butter, eggs, fat) that you’d be abstaining from until Easter. And one way of doing that was to binge out on pancakes.

But the proper name for ‘Pancake Day’ is Shrove Tuesday. So what’s that about? Okay, here comes some English grammar: shrove is the past tense of the verb shrive (past participle shriven). Stay with me. It means ‘to be forgiven or absolved’ of sin and guilt. On Shrove Tuesday people used to confess their sins of the previous year to their priest who then declared them shriven. It’s not a tradition that I, as a Baptist, take any notice of. We go straight to the Great High Priest (Jesus) and are shriven every time we confess our sins. So, yes, I was shriven yesterday!

By the way, in France, Shrove Tuesday is known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. You might feel that this is a more appropriate name if you ate too many pancakes yesterday!
And while we’re at it, where does Lent gets its name from? It comes from an old English word used to refer to Spring: lengten (lengthen in modern English), i.e. the season when the daylight hours are beginning to get longer.

Happy Ash Wednesday! (You can google AW for yourself!)

It’s happened again! A news item telling us that something happened 50 years ago which I remember very clearly and which, therefore, makes me feel older than I want to. Not so long ago it was the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Severn Bridge. Pontypridd Urban District Council decided to run bus excursions just to go over the bridge, stop at the Severn Bridge Services and then return home to Pontypridd. I remember it for the sense of occasion – the awe at the sight of such a bridge and the seeming vastness of the river below. I also remember it because I was sick on the return journey, but that did at least get me a front seat for the rest of the way where the air was fresher than in the rest of the smokey interior.

And today? Well, it’s the fiftieth anniversary of decimalisation when we said goodbye to £.s.d., exchanging them for £.p. So it was Goodbye to my ‘Saturday sixpence’ (my weekly allowance of pocket money) and Hello to my ‘Saturday two and a half pence’. Doesn’t have the same ring does it?

My father was a Decimal Currency Trainer who was tasked with training people with understanding the switch. He did one session at home for my grandmother and aunt, which I helped with. My aunt was all but blind and had to get used to how the new coins felt. It was an especially difficult switch for her, but she still managed to buy me, my sister and brother, a bar of chocolate every Wednesday when she came to visit us.

Who else has memories of the switch? Any stories you’d like to share?

One last thing. As a boy I always wondered why a penny was represented by a d (as in £2, 10s, 6d). It’s only recently I discovered that it stood for denarius, a throw-back to the Roman roots of the old currency.

Take care everyone!

Last Thursday Helen had a scan at the RD&E in Exeter and her Consultant phoned this morning describing the results as “excellent” and adding “there is no visible evidence of cancer”. He went on to say that there may still be individual cancer cells remaining (or there may not be) which would grow without treatment, so the chemotherapy continues as usual.

Soooo grateful for everyone’s thoughts and prayers!

May you know God’s blessing in 2021! As I was preparing prayers for Sunday’s service at Worle Baptist Church I thought that a wider audience might appreciate this simple prayerful reflection. It’s less than five minutes, but by hitting PAUSE you can take as much time as you need. I hope you find it helpful. 🙂

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “Let it be to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her. (Luke 1:38)

Mary was chosen for the greatest privilege God could surely have bestowed upon a young woman. Hers was an unrepeatable ‘one of a kind’ part in the eternal purposes of God for our salvation. But while her privilege can in no way be ours, we must be sure not to put her on a pedestal, placing her out of reach and a million miles away from our experience. She was an ordinary girl, chosen to play her part according to the will of God.

We too have our parts to play. We are all “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” which God has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). At the start of 2020, no way had I anticipated some of what was lined up for me in the plans and purposes of God. Nor, probably did you! And as 2020 draws to a close and 2021 beckons, the uncertainty remains. But whatever it is that God will require of us, let’s make Mary’s words our own as we surrender ourselves to the will of our Lord.

May God bless you this Christmas and in the year that lies ahead!

Prayer We draw our Advent reflections to a close with a longer prayer than usual:

Sovereign Lord, like Mary, we too are your servants. Give us ears to hear your living word, and hearing, help us to say ‘Yes’.
When you ask me to venture into the unknown – to be strong, courageous, obedient and faithful, then may it be to me according to your word.
When you ask me to reach out in love – to the indifferent, hostile, unlovely and unacceptable – then may it be to me according to your word.
When you ask me to let go of self – to share, care, give and to sacrifice – then may it be to me according to your word.
When you ask me to go out in your name – to speak, work, love and live for you – then may it be to me according to your word.
Like Mary, may we find favour in your eyes as we surrender our all to you. Amen

“… so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Luke 2:35)

Christmas without Easter has little or no meaning. The whole point of the incarnation (God taking on human flesh) was so that there could be atonement. This was achieved through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary.

I wonder how often Mary pondered the words in our verse for today? As Jesus grew up and life was pretty much ‘normal’, they may have faded from her consciousness. And even after Jesus had commenced his public ministry, there was initially nothing to have brought these words to the fore. Jesus, after all, was riding a wave of considerable public acclaim and popularity. But as time went by, a looming dark cloud crept ever closer and the storm eventually broke big time. The prophesied sword pierced her soul and she remembered the words she had from time to time pondered in her heart. And it hurt.

Jesus forewarned his disciples that following him would be no bed of roses. And the apostles warned the first generation of Christians not to expect an easy time. Suffering goes with the territory that is discipleship and perhaps Luke wanted Theophilus to understand this as he navigated his faith in a very Roman world.

I’ve been reading Revelation recently. I have commentaries that help me ponder what it all means. I must admit, however, that the Covid pandemic has brought an edge to my pondering …

Prayer: Lord of history, as time unravels and your purposes move forward, grant that we, whatever the pain, may remain faithful to you. Amen.

Yesterday (Monday 21 December) turned out to be unexpected in a number of ways. For one thing Helen was offered an afternoon dental appointment (in Exeter) to check out the toothache she’d experienced at the back end of last week. To say I was surprised at such a quick result is an understatement! Anyway, she had a filling and has been given something to treat the (slight) infection.

Secondly, our son and daughter-in-law, on learning that we were heading for Exeter booked a table for four to enjoy a meal together al fresco. It wasn’t too cold and the heater in the open-sided marquis was quite toasty. So that was nice.

If these two events weren’t in my diary at the start of the day, the third certainly wasn’t! Driving home on the M5 a car that had just overtaken us lost control, skidded and spun in front of us and ended up overturned on the hard shoulder. I managed to brake in time and pulled up behind, jumped out (Helen dialing 999) and rushed to see what I might do to help. But the driver managed to get herself out, and having ascertained that there was no-one else in the car, we backed off to a safe distance. She was shaken, but relatively unscathed. The car behind me also pulled up on the hard shoulder and a couple of others also stopped. After a while all traffic stopped – the police must have closed the motorway – and then we could see the flashing of blue lights, diffused in the rain. The paramedic was first on the scene, followed by a police car and I counted three fire engines (which weren’t needed, so having assessed the situation they were stood down and moved off). Having given my details and a statement, we were given the okay to leave the scene.

It could have been a lot worse and we’re really grateful it wasn’t! And, as a friend commented on WhatsApp “Phew, just an ordinary day then!”

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. (Luke 2:51)

What memories of your walk with God do you treasure in your heart? Some things are still as clear in my mind’s eye as the day they happened. Like when God’s Spirit moved on me when I was eleven during the last hymn of the Sunday evening service. Then, a few months later, my baptism (the water was cold!) I remember the clear, audible voice I heard which triggered a sequence of events that led to my call to full-time Christian ministry. God’s anointing of me in the moment of ordination was tangible … and so I could go on and on (but this is not a sermon so I won’t).

Why not take some time out today to ponder treasured memories, doing so prayerfully, entering the presence of God and then reminisce with him.
Prayer Thank you Lord for treasured memories. Bless them to us that they may strengthen us today and in all our tomorrows. Amen