“The vicar only works one day a week!”

It’s an old joke. I much prefer the new ones that Paul, the manager of our shop, comes up with every time I walk in. His jokes on my lack of activity are excellent and I love our banter. Much less funny is when people say, ‘I know how busy you are.’ Even less funny when they say, ‘I didn’t ring you because I know how busy you are.’ Somebody once said that the phrase ‘a busy pastor’ should shock us as much as ‘an adulterous wife’ or ‘an embezzling banker’. So how do you work a 50-60 hour week, as most vicars do, and not be ‘busy’? And, of course, it’s not just vicars. Everyone is busy today. If we had to choose an adjective to characterize 21st century life, I think ‘busy’ would top the list. Is there anything we can do about it? I’ve come across two things recently: one practical and one much more fundamental.

A practical thing. C.S. Lewis used to say that only lazy people work hard. If we let others decide what we will do instead of resolutely deciding for ourselves what it is right for us to do, we will be rushed off our feet.

A more fundamental thing. We can pray. If we pray, it won’t necessarily transform the number of hours we put in, but it will transform us. Being ‘busy’ doesn’t have much correlation with how much we do. Being ‘busy’ is about being inwardly rushed. We can be inwardly rushed and not have much to do at all but still seem ‘busy’. But when we pray we create space within, space in which to become aware of the rhythms that God intends for our life; space in which to begin to move in time with those rhythms. It may not change the hours we put in but it will change what God puts into us during those hours. Somebody once said, ‘I pray for fifteen minutes every day, except when I know I’ve got a lot to do; then I pray for an hour.’ I’ve not yet come across a labour-saving device that really does; I wonder if this might be it?

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The Village Barbeque was a great success. The sun shone (until it started raining again), the food was delicious, and it was lovely to see people from every part of our community enjoying spending time together. Thank you to all those from St. Swithun’s who worked so hard, and provided such wonderful food, to give the village such a great afternoon.

Amazingly, the sun shone throughout the Village Service on the Green. This was because we told the story of Noah and the Flood and built an ‘ark’ out of umbrellas. Guaranteed it would stay dry! Again, it was great to see well over 150 people celebrating the life of our village and, in particular this year, giving thanks to God for Iqbal and Masuma and their wonderful service of our community in the Post Office over 25 years.

Tim

Churchyard

The mowing is going very well this year, probably the best for 20 years, with all areas being cut regularly. But there are a few months left and we are a man down due to illness. The holiday period is about to start so we may be stretched to keep the churchyard looking tidy. If you would like to join the team please have a word with Martin. Thanks.

Sunday 4th August

The service at 6.30pm will not be Holy Communion but a service of Evensong

A change to our services from September

We are delighted to say that from September our ‘Rock Solid’ young people’s group (11-14 yr olds) will be with us in church at the beginning of each service along with our other children’s groups. We would like to make the most of having the children and young people with us and so we are going to try and make the first part of our services more suitable for them. We’ll try various things over the coming months and see what sort of things is most helpful. We would value your feedback as we go along.