Contact: Corinne
email: corinne@peddies.com
or telephone (01333) 311408
KILRENNY CHURCH CHRONICLE
ISSUE 11 Sunday 31st May 2020.
Kilrenny Church website
https://e-voice.org.uk/kilrenny/
EMERGENCY HELP:
East Neuk Covid19 Emergency help numbers:
0800 999 6543 - 07818 414178.
"Life's Manuscript"
"You are writing a gospel, a chapter each day, With the deeds that you do, and the words that you say,
Men read what you write whether faithful or true, Say, what is the gospel according to you? "
(Thanks to Jane MacDonald for this verse in tribute to all who contribute to the Chronicle)
Worship and personal reflection:
''our homes are in a Real and Important way the places of worship''
Praise CH 4 489
Come down, O Love Divine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HPKL1wOVXk
Scripture Reading:
Acts 2: 1-21
Day of Pentecost
The Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost
(Archie Gray)
The passage of the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost is familiar to most Christians as it vividly paints a picture and describes a Jewish Festival celebrating the Passover and their release from captivity in Egypt. Jews from Israel as well as neighbouring countries travelled to Jerusalem annually to attend and celebrate the Festival. On the day of Pentecost, prophecy was fulfilled (John the Baptist – Matthew 3:11) “I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance but He who is coming after Me is mightier than I. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” 10 days after resurrection Jesus reiterated the prediction (Acts1:5).
Acts 2 :1-4 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were altogether in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
The crowds of visitors were astonished because they heard the apostles speaking to him or her in their own foreign language.
The Pentecost event is presented as marking the essential equipping and enabling of the disciples to fulfil their God given task. This is summarised in 1:8: it is to “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The disciples must have been equally surprised as until then they were very Israel - centred but suddenly being enabled with the Holy Spirit the challenge of mission became a reality for each despite their unprepared background.
They were now called upon to proclaim to the world the true identity of Jesus. Peter then proceeded to preach his first sermon to the followers explaining who Jesus was and the significance of what had happened to him. He explained all that Jesus was and all that Jesus had said and done. The day of Pentecost saw the beginning of the Church and following Peter's sermon the first converts to the Christian Church.
Any doubts that may arise in how effective the power of the Holy Spirit was and is can be judged positively when one considers these few believers 2000 years ago were at the forefront of the Church.
The day of Pentecost completes the Trinity of God the Father, Jesus his son and the Holy Spirit. I prefer to consider the Spirit as a person and not some strange impersonal force. It is described in various ways in the Bible, like water that fills and refreshes, like fire that burns and purifies, like wind that brings life and power. The Holy Spirit is a person ready to be welcomed into the life of anyone who is sorry for the wrong they have done and who asks God's forgiveness through Jesus.
Not only in speaking languages (over 6500 currently in the world ) but through the centuries the Holy Spirit has been expressed in various ways e.g. art and music by individuals who have been similarly inspired. The Spirit makes Jesus real to us. He makes Christian life possible and he makes our lives new.
As and when we return to our church, sit in our pews and look around, it is not only the people present we also sense all who have worshipped before us. Many have influenced us, or our forebears by sharing the Holy Spirit often in an understated manner. Perhaps the lockdown will come as a blessing as we realise that we are now the apostles tasked with spreading the Holy Spirit in ways that are apparent to a doubting community. The charismatic movement of recent times, has been a powerful wake-up call to the Church to give full place to the implications of Pentecost for its life, ministry and mission.
In the C of S we are often seen as being reticent in openly suggesting Christ in our lives. By doing so we may be slipping further to the extreme edges of our present secular society as a result. Pentecost challenges us to renew our confidence in the Holy Spirit and where it will take us. Perhaps we have become reliant on our church buildings as our pillars of confidence whereas the lockdown has shown the Holy Spirit is alive and present in our communities and remains very relative to our times.
The Covid-19 lockdown has occasioned the Chronicle and video linked services etc. requiring us to adapt to new ways of communicating and by doing so to fulfil the mission given to this generation of Pentecost. A wake-up call to re-examine how we conduct our lives. (Archie)
When the Spirit Comes
Before the Spirit came, you were just words on a page
Black on white and yellowed with age.
Simply a story of long ago,
Of a man who had so much love to show;
Who healed the sick and cured the lame;
Took our guilt and bore our shame.
It sounded so good, but it just couldn't last
It was not for today but locked in the past
Until the Spirit came.
Now the Spirit has come, you are here at my side,
Larger than life and ready to guide;
Making real to me all that you said
And doing through me the things that I read.
I am the glove that your hand has filled;
I am the cup into which you have spilled
All the love and the power which you promised would come,
Right now in the present and for everyone
Since the Spirit came.
(With thanks to Archie for leading worship this week)
Praise: CH 4 194 This is the day
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/c/4
Let us pray. (Allan)
Heavenly Father,
When our world seems bleak and frightening,
When fear of the unknown and unseen grip our hearts and minds,
When the daily news is a litany of woe,
May you, our Lord of hopefulness, sing the words
And breathe the silence that shatters our fears
And keep us sure and steady in our lives.
Give us peace Father in our time.
Give us hope Father in our time.
Give us justice Father in our time.
Give us grace Father in our time.
Give us generosity Father in our time.
And most of all give us love Father in our time.
So Heavenly Father, hear our prayers for better days ahead.
Give us the opportunity to share our faith
In ways that bring good news to empty lives.
In ways that calm our fearful hearts and mend our broken spirits.
We pray that our nation and our Church be revived and strengthened
As we gradually regain our freedom from the isolation of pandemic.
Let us use this new beginning to do Gods work and live Gods promise.
Let’s seize this moment to bring Gods word to a whole generation looking for a new way to live in what could be a far better world if we pray hard enough for change, pray hard enough for peace and pray hard enough for honesty.
Heavenly Father, hear this our prayer. Amen
And let their first prayer be the one Jesus taught his disciples,
Our Father, which art in Heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy Kingdom come
Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For Thine is the Kingdom
The power and the glory.
For ever and ever.
Amen
And a personal prayer:
Let us take some silent time and offer our personal prayers for those we know who are in need of comfort.
Additional worship
Sunday Worship on Radio 4 at 08:10 Songs of Praise on BBC1 Sunday 1.15 pm.
Church of Scotland - Kirk Services online
www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship Rev Dr Amos Chewachong:
http://www.notchurch.co.uk Orwell & Portmoak Church
https://youtu.be/T-vHpwXo3vc
A Reflection
Rev. Ian W. F. Hamilton
“THE HILLS ARE STILL ALIVE!”
There are few who haven’t seen the wonderful film at least two or three times and the memorable music and songs of Rogers and Hammerstein are always a joy to the ear!
So, let’s start at the very beginning, it’s a very good place to start!
Rarely has a motion picture captured the imagination of the public as has “The Sound of Music”. It’s a film that blends history, music, the picturesque Austrian film location in and around Salzburg, deep and heartfelt emotion and not least the yodelling voice of Julie Andrews!
It’s the story of a young novice who is said at one time to have entered Nonnberg Abbey, the strictest abbey in Salzburg, a handsome Austrian Naval Captain who lives nearby and seven singing Von Trapp children.
Sister Maria is seconded to the Von Trapp home as a governess to the children following the death of their mother, she falls in love with the Captain and they live happily ever after, at least following their escape from their beloved occupied homeland at the time of the Second World War.
The love story is a real tear-jerker but anyone who knows their do-re-mi’s would surely agree that the melodious songs of Rogers and Hammerstein glue the story together in the closest and deepest of harmonies.
The song “Edelweiss” with its “bless my homeland forever” message at its heart was the last song ever to be written by the famous duo and, mistakenly, it has often been thought to be the Austrian National Anthem!
However it has to be said that the complete catalogue of “Sound of Music” songs are all winners and personally speaking, these tunes will be forever among my favourite things! It is noticeable too that looking beyond the film’s screenplay, so many of the film’s songs have within them, and especially within their lyrics, lessons for all of us, forever and a day, not least the classic melody sung in the film by Peggy Wood, the Mother Abbess, “Climb Every Mountain”.
The song’s title is virtually a parable on life! To a large extent life is about climbing mountains, one after the other for some poor folks, mountains of family tragedy, or crippling illness or unbelievable misfortune. “How can we ever get on top of this situation?” is the question many ask.
Mountains can be overpowering at times, and there are no neat, stereotyped answers I’m afraid, except to say that there is a power greater than all the mountainous obstacles that life could ever mete out to us.
“Before the mountains were created” wrote the Psalmist, “before the world was brought into being, you were eternally God…and will be God forever and ever!”
It is in HIS strength that we must meet and tackle the mountains we each encounter in the knowledge that He climbs with us…”every day of our life for as long as we live”…and even after that when the final mountain has been climbed, crushed and conquered.
Yes, the hills are still alive, and whether you are sixteen going on seventeen or sixty going on seventy, if you have ears to hear, the sound of music which they echo is none other than the music of the glorious gospel! (Ian)
Postcard from Kingskettle
Rev Michael Allardice
All of a sudden it seems that Summer has arrived this week! The Sun has been shining from morning ‘till late, the chill of the Easterly wind has gone and people are shedding their winter coats at long last: “ne’er cast a cloot ‘til May is oot” is the old cry! How true that saying is and how often do we find those old sayings still have a value.
In a world that seems so obsessed with “this moment”, “the now”, sometimes it takes the knowledge of our elders to remind us of older truths. Knowledge of the past allows us to learn and progress, but when we begin to ignore our past, we run the risk of repeating the mistakes of previous generations. Growing up in the 1970s, I remember all the Public Information Films about health and safety, about Nuclear Warfare, etc., etc. In the 1980s, we remember the anti-AIDS adverts. In recent years, these messages seem to have drifted into the background and been regarded as out-of-time. But now we can’t escape Prof Jason Leitch on our TVs!
It seems that the ‘cult of the now’ has meant that we’ve ignored the message of preparedness that previous generations were so familiar with. I’m sure many of you are more familiar with those messages than I am, especially if you were involved in Civil Defence or, dare I mention, the Secret Bunker? I can’t imagine many of those who took their roles so seriously stopping to take a selfie and posting their work on Facebook or Instagram. The world has changed, but some aspects of it have not improved!
It's sometimes said that the way to measure a society’s moral strength is to examine how it treats its older people. If that’s the case, it would suggest we have not been doing a very good job in the UK in recent years. What’s been happening to our old folk in Care Homes and Self Isolation has been hard to watch or countenance. This has not been the fault of any individual, but more a failure of all of us to recognise the direction of travel Social Care has been heading in for many years. Those who have worked so hard to build the society we have today have, in some ways, been forgotten and now we are seeing the consequences of that benign neglect as Covid 19 wreaks havoc in our Care Homes. If any good is to come from the current crisis, then it surely must be that we re-evaluate the care we provide for those most vulnerable in our society.
The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) contains the Book of Proverbs, that guide to right living that is said to contain the Wisdom of King Solomon. It comes from a time before the Jews were exiled in Babylon but comes down to us over 2,500 years later with truths and values that are still important to us in the 21st century.
Wisdom cannot be bought nor can it simply be downloaded: knowledge can, but wisdom is something that must be lived and earned. Those who have come before us can teach us a great deal if we are willing to open our ears and listen to them! The example of Captain, now, Sir Tom Moore has surely meant that some people will re-consider the contribution our older folk can continue to make in society. Shutting them away, leaving them to waste away their final years, is not the sign of a caring society, nor is paying those who care for them a minimum wage. Valuing people is a Christian tradition that Jesus exemplified in his healing and caring for those on the margins. If the Gospel of Jesus tells us anything, it was about the weak becoming strong and valuing the least of society as highly as we would King Solomon.
Our old folk carry the lessons of decades of learning about life. They’ll have made mistakes, they won’t have all the answers for sure, but if we listen to those who’ve survived previous pandemics, past wars, then maybe we might learn what ought to be done next or at least develop a little humility that our 21st century knowledge is just as limited as that of the 6th century BC.
I leave you with this thought from Thomas the Tank Engine, written by the incomparable Rev W Awdry in the late 1940s. On the wall of the Engine Shed was a sign that Thomas read as: ”Coughs and Sneezles spread diseasels” Public Health Information comes in all shapes and sizes, and I like the wisdom of Thomas the Tank Engine: Watch out for those Diseasels folks!
Editors note: Michael is pleased to inform us that he is due to have his second knee replacement operation on Wednesday 3rd June. Please remember Michael in your personal prayers for a successful operation and speedy recovery. Remember also Liz, who as Michael says "will have to come out of retirement to once again provide her caring ministrations!!"
We will miss Michael's postcards for a few weeks, but he has promised to keep me informed of his progress which I will pass on to you all.
A DAY AT A TIME
Jane MacDonald.
2 Peter 3: 8
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
A Clock-maker finished making a small clock and said to it “Now I have made you strong enough to strike one million times.”
In the shop the little clock was placed on a shelf quite near to a grandfather clock, to whom the little one confided his worry. 'Poor me!' he said. 'Do you know, I've got to strike one million times! I shall never do it! Never! A million times! Just think of it!'
The wise old grandfather clock said: 'Don't think of it my lad. Think rather that a million is only made up of ones and twos. All you have to do is to strike one, or two, or four as the case may be, when the time comes. Day by day, striking each hour as it comes, you'll reach the millionth without noticing it!'
And so it proved. 'Bit by bit' and 'day by day' great things may be achieved.
God said to us, when He made us – 'I have made you capable of building my kingdom in the world!' And bit by bit in ourselves, day by day in our homes, our church, our neighbourhood, each can do his/her share. If everyone did it, the Kingdom would be built!
I had a calendar sent at Christmas which I have put in a very prominent place so that I can remind myself of this truth, expressed in a rather different way, by an Eastern poet. It reads: 'Look to this day, for it is Life. In its brief course lie all the varieties and realities of your existence; the bliss of growth, the glory of action, the splendour of beauty. Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision, but today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day.'
(Jane)
(This is an excerpt taken from an old book “Before we Close” - Epilogues for Women's Clubs by Ida Church)
Coronation Memories
(Jessie Lyon)
Tuesday, 2nd June, 2020, marks the 67th Anniversary of our Queen's Coronation.
It was to prove an historic day on two counts.
On 30th May Namche Bazaar, ran from Base Camp on Everest to Kathmandu with a telegram. The message read: "Snow conditions bad stop advanced base abandoned yesterday stop awaiting improvement. "Snow conditions bad" was the agreed code to signify that the summit had been reached; "advance base abandoned" referred to Hillary and "awaiting improvement" referred to Tenzing.
The message was received and understood in London for the news to be released by coincidence on the morning of the Coronation on 2nd June.
We were excited about this special day but when it was announced on the Radio that Hillary and Tenzing had reached the top of Mt. Everest there was unimaginable joy throughout the household. Our parents were ecstatic and we young ones cheered and cheered, "We've got to the top of Everest!" as though it was our personal achievement. I can remember our parents agreeing that this news was a wonderful start for Princess Elizabeth on her Coronation Day.
Dressed in our Sunday best, we walked down town to Reform Street. Albert Street, Princes Street, King Street, you could hardly see daylight for the flags and banners overhead from one side to the other.
Larg's music shop had a large window which had been decorated, like all the other shops, for the occasion. In the middle was a black and white TV set, small by modern standards and dozens of families gathered round to watch the ceremony. Without fuss, the crowd sorted itself out in height order, so that everyone could see the screen. it was magical. The commentator announced the various dignitaries and Heads of State, and kept us right on what was happening. there was a proud moment when the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland presented our Queen with a Bible.
One of the most memorable Heads of State to be present was Queen Salote of Tonga. She captivated everyone with her colourful and engaging presence and she smiled and smiled. Everyone loved her for her warm personality.
Once home again, there was a feast to be enjoyed.
Best wishes to Her Majesty.
(Many thanks to George for his help with information about Mt. Everest - Jessie.)
you can watch a short video showing the crowning ceremony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inKSvLk7kiI
The Naughty Choirboy
I will never forget the 2nd June 1953. It remains so memorable to me because it was the first time I ever saw a television set working. Black and white of course.
Like so many other people I had seen great wooden cabinets, so large you'd believe you could store more than a family's holiday luggage inside, and on one side, a wee bulging screen, hardly the size of a modern day i-player.
However to see one actually working was well beyond my ambitions; until, it was announced my Mother's friend, Chrissie R, had obtained a brand new television set, specially for the big event that was happening that day, and ALL friends and neighbours were invited to her house to watch it. The Coronation.
The traditional couch and two armchairs were pushed against the walls, while four dining and four kitchen chairs were crammed in together. One of the chairs was placed at the side of the unit for the exclusive use of Chrissie's husband, Jimmy, who had discovered after only two days that the television set worked better if he was able to give it an occasional dunt with his knee!
Ah! the way to master modern technology sixty seven years ago.
So, it was decided; that should be enough seating!
Only until it was all taken up, alas! Remember, Chrissie had invited virtually everyone within hearing range, and soon more chairs were borrowed from next door, and cushions and pillows appeared. I personally found a place to kneel on the floor where I could peer through between two ears at the screen.
At last, the programme started, and so also did the problems with the television set, because there was a white, shimmering, horizontal line across the bottom of the tiny screen, which shook and shimmied and shammied its way up the screen, apparently pushing the heads and upper bodies out through the top, whilst their legs and feet obediently followed. As the feet were disappearing at the top, so the heads and shoulders and whatever were re-appearing at the bottom to start the procedure all over again!
No amount of knee dunting by Jimmy made any difference. Neither did another idea, which he had only thought of today:- banging the top of the cabinet with a clenched fist!
One of the neighbours suggested that we could play a game if Jimmy was able to reverse the shimmering horizontal line to work its way down from the top so that we saw feet and legs first then we could guess who or what personage was about to follow.
Jimmy didn't think this was funny.
After all, he had bought, (and tried to control) this television set for Chrissie, who had spent the whole time serving biscuits, lemonade, cups of tea to everyone else, and never had a minute to watch it herself. (No coffee you'll notice! Hadn't been invented in that society in those days! I don't think Brazil had even been discovered, had it?)
Nonetheless, all present had an enjoyable time as you may imagine, especially at particular points, for example, when the crown, poised above HM head, suddenly jumped up, only to be followed by HM head seconds later, to a choral shout of "Ouch" from our assorted audience.
A lovely, memorable day, as everybody agreed as they left.
"Oh well, that's her croon'd, Bless her. I wonder hoo long she'll last pair soul".
"An' you Chrissie, ye've been that guid tae us a', and ye never saw much o'it yersel! Never mind, ye'll get yer rewards in Heaven!.........."
Allan & Sybil's Quiz
There’s a bit of a coronation theme going on in this weeks' issue of our newsletter. It will be 67 years on Tuesday that Her Majesty was crowned so a quiz based on that event might be fun. Here are ten questions that might test your memories of that special day.
- How many Maids of Honour did the Queen have for her coronation?
- Who was the first person to kneel before the Queen and proclaim himself “liege man of life and limb”?
- Who designed the Queen’s coronation dress?
- How many horses pulled the Gold State Carriage and what colour were they?
- How did Prince Philip outrage the Queen Mother and the Maids of Honour during the coronation service?
- The Archbishop of Canterbury conducted the service but for the first time a representative of another Church also took part. Who?
- What was lying underneath the coronation throne during the service?
- Who was the photographer responsible for the pictures of the Queen at Westminster Abbey?
- What other momentous event happened on coronation day?
- Which six countries did the Queen visit on her first Royal tour after the coronation?
Allan's quiz - answers
Quiz answers - Issue 10
1) Chicken Salad 2) Cheese and Ham 3) Egg and Cress 4) Brie and Cranberry 5) Cheese and Onion 6) Roast Beef and Horseradish 7) Vol au vent 8) Sausage Roll 9) Quiche Lorraine 10) Pancakes 11) Bannocks 12) Fruit Scones 13) Fruit slice 14) Custard Tart 15) Empire Biscuits 16) Truffles 17) Rocky Road 18) Tablet 19) Strawberry Tart 20) Gingerbread
Answers to the Christian Aid Quiz in issue8
1) Home and Away 2) Porridge 3) A Touch of Frost 4) New Tricks 5) The Big Bang Theory 6) Morse 7) upstairs, Downstairs 8) Panorama 9) The Magic Roundabout 10) The Simpsons 11) Goodnight Sweetheart 12) Come Dine with Me 13) the X Files 14) Only fools and Horses 15) Blind date 16) Poldark 17) Bargain Hunt 18) Strictly Come Dancing 19) Match of the Day 20) Top Gear 21) Doctor Who 22) Catchphrase 23) Third Rock from the Sun 24) Last of the Summer Wine 25) Who Do You Think You Are? 26) ER 27) Grand Designs 28) Game of Thrones 29) Gogglebox 30) Friends.
News of those wearing a Dog collar!
Sheena and Hamish
After last week's incredibly blustery weather it was lovely to see the sun come out again and my daily walks with Hamish tucked inside my cardigan and gardening resumed. On Monday my grandson took Hamish to the local vet for his first of 3 vaccinations; as a result, Hamish has not been his usual boisterous self, miraculously, however, he has an amazing burst of energy when he hears me putting food in his dish! Wednesday saw me outside manned with my secateurs with the intention of doing some light pruning - 2 hours later..........put it this way, I slept well that night. Hoping you are all keeping safe and well and using sunscreen. By the way, 36 years ago today I became a Grandma for the first time - hard to imagine!
Sheena
Doddie's diary and the trials of Ann
Just when I thought we were making some progress with training and general behaviour the wind blew! You will remember that we had unseasonably strong winds, it was blowing a gale for two days. Just like having strange effects on children so it seemed to affect Doddie, plus I suspect sore gums from teething as he is now coming up for 5 months old. He became like a Tasmanian Devil running riot, bouncing off the walls nipping and attempting to chew anything in sight, me being the main target, plus having a couple of little “accidents” which we thought was well and truly over. Thankfully, the weather has calmed and so has Doddie with some pleasing progress. However Susan tells me that the full moon also effect children so I am left wondering if I shall have him baying at the full moon like a Werewolf!
Tasmanian Devil or Doddie!
Malcolm and Coco.
Daddy is still with me 24/7 but starting next week it is back to being left alone Tues and Fri mornings as golf is on the menu again. I am feeling a bit trachled at the moment as I cannot get a clip till the 12th June so after my walks I lie in the shade on the cool slabs in the back garden. My dad took me a walk and a run along the East sands at St Andrews on Wednesday and I loved it. Well must go as my afternoon walk is round Crawhill and the Waid today.
Cheerio O for now
Coco MacDonald.
A history lesson courtesy of Malcolm.
Do YOU remember the meaning and origin of old sayings & customs?
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May,
And they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell,
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
The Kirk Session wish you a very safe, healthy and happy week ahead.
Doxology CH4 806
To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
the God whom we adore,
be glory, as it was, and is,
and shall be evermore.
Amen.