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All of Rosey's Letters July 2008 - I don’t usually write about ‘churchy’ things in my magazine letter, but I guess that this month ‘churchy’ news will attract more attention than usual, ..... read full letter May 2008 - Whenever I read the story of how the Holy Spirit came to that fearful group of Jesus’ early followers, gathered in a locked room after his death and r ..... read full letter April 2008 - T.S.Eliot began one of his poems with the words ‘April is the cruellest month.’ We can, of course, see how true that may be in the natural world, when ..... read full letter March 2008 - I’m writing to you in the middle of Lent, for publication at the beginning of March, yet aware that this will be the Easter edition of our magazine. S ..... read full letter February 2008 - As I write this, we are about to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which for us, begins tomorrow evening with a united service at St. Andre ..... read full letter January 2008 - As I write this, Christmas draws ever closer, and the mention on the Archers this evening of someone doing their ‘last minute Christmas shopping’ fill ..... read full letter December 2007 - What are you giving up for Advent? A strange question, you may think, since this time of year is when we do anything but give things up. We’re likely ..... read full letter November 2007 - November is the month of remembrance, and as usual, on November 11th, we shall be placing our poppy wreaths on our two memorials at Wraxall and Failan ..... read full letter October 2007 - October already – more golden sunshine, we hope, and our celebration of harvest, as we give thanks for the abundance of food so freely available to us ..... read full letter September 2007 - So, here I sit minus my gall-bladder (well, most of it – the surgeon found me a bit of a challenge, and told me the day after that quite frankly, he w ..... read full letter August 2007 - Who knows, by the time you read this the sun may be shining, and the reports of devastating floods may be, for us, a distant memory. For many others, ..... read full letter July 2007 - The wedding season is at its peak in these summer weeks, and we’re having an especially busy time in our parish this year – 18 weddings between March ..... read full letter June 2007 - The ‘Take a New Look’ group is taking a look at the DVD produced by our Bishop, Peter Price, called ‘Changing Lives.’ This tells the stories of ordina ..... read full letter May 2007 - The reading at the Communion service preceding the Parish lunch at Failand the other day got us all thinking. It came from the book of Acts, which is ..... read full letter April 2007 - Easter will soon be upon us – my favourite season of the Church year, when there aren’t all the commercial distractions of Christmas, and the natural ..... read full letter March 2007 - By the time you read this, I shall be in India. On the day after Ash Wednesday, I shall begin my Lent as I fly off to Delhi to meet up with my daughte ..... read full letter February 2007 - Did you notice, last month, that no sooner had the reduced Christmas items made their tired exit from the supermarket shelves, than the Easter eggs ap ..... read full letter January 2007 - I sometimes think how odd it is that, just once a year, for tens of thousand of people, the place to be in the middle of a winter’s night is not tucke ..... read full letter December 2006 - One of the things I don’t like about living in the Rectory is that, because of its position in the furthest corner of the Elms, no-one ever drops in w ..... read full letter November 2006 - ‘Remember, remember the fifth of November, Gunpowder, treason and plot….’ I think that November 5th will be memorable for many of us in Wraxall this ..... read full letter October 2006 - What’s in a name? Sometimes I wonder, when hearing the choices parents make. It may well be the name of someone featuring in the pages of ‘Hello’ or ..... read full letter September 2006 - It is many years now since the day when I went into Bristol Crown Court for the first time. I had been summoned to do jury service. ‘Great’, I thought ..... read full letter August 2006 - I dread those conversations which begin ‘I know how busy you are, but…..’, not because I sense another demand on my time looming, but because when ‘be ..... read full letter July 2006 - I hope you’ll all be coming to our annual summer Fete, which will be held on Saturday 22nd July on the field below the school. The theme this year wil ..... read full letter June 2006 - Yes, I must confess that I read it, and even found it difficult to put down until I’d reached its rather pathetic end – I’m referring to that notoriou ..... read full letter May 2006 - Just before Easter, I went for a very brief time of retreat to a convent in Oxford – a serene and beautiful place where the nuns, who still dress in t ..... read full letter April 2006 - There has been a lot of discussion in the press recently about forgiveness. It was all sparked off by a 10 minute slot in a local TV programme which ..... read full letter March 2006 - I often have to conduct a funeral service for someone I’ve never met. It’s always a challenge to try, as it were, to get to know that person ‘in retro ..... read full letter February 2006 - This is a gloomy time of year, when many people find life a struggle, and I wonder why it is that human beings don’t follow their natural instincts, a ..... read full letter January 2006 - Dear Friends, A friend of mine has recently returned from a trip to the Far East. She happened to visit Hong Kong at the end of a period of nationa ..... read full letter December 2005 - ‘Tell me what you want, what you really, really want….’ as the Spice Girls’ song went; a suitable theme for this time of year? I keep overhearing ..... read full letter November 2005 - I hadn’t realised until walking along it recently that Clevedon Pier is full of memories. We decided, on a ‘day-off’ trip to Clevedon, to go on to th ..... read full letter October 2005 - Driving down the A 38 today on the way to Wells, my attention was seized, for one moment, by a vivid splash of gold on the right-hand side; on the way ..... read full letter September 2005 - We’re about to go off to France for our long-awaited holiday. I’ve already tried out my rusty old French, booking a B&B over the phone; I was doing al ..... read full letter August 2005 - My letter to you this month was going to be a carefree affair, reflecting what for many of us, we hope, will be the relaxed holiday mood of August. M ..... read full letter July 2005 - Dear Friends, In full bloom at present in the Rectory garden, down in the Elms, are two cascading white rambler roses which we brought with us, and ..... read full letter June 2005 - Dear Friends, By the time you read this, we may have discovered the identity of the mystery ‘Piano Man’ who recently turned up looking very bedragg ..... read full letter May 2005 - I wonder if any of you recognise the rough sketch above? It is an attempt by me to depict the ‘Green Man’ carving which looks down on Mary (my secreta ..... read full letter April 2005 - What difference will Easter make for you? Here are some possibilities: Lots of chocolate – or whatever other indulgence you gave up for Lent. An ex ..... read full letter March 2005 - On 6th March – Mothering Sunday - we shall remember and give thanks for our mothers – treating them, perhaps, to flowers, breakfast in bed, cards, or, ..... read full letter February 2005 - Ask any florist or card shop what is the most significant event in February, and the reply will be 'Valentine's Day'. We may not all be romantics, but ..... read full letter Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - With a Roman Catholic husband and Methodist parents, I suppose I might be said to have a vested interest in ecumenism and Christian unity. I am certai ..... read full letter January 2005 - Every New Year’s Eve I get out my copy of Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam’ (the original manuscript of which can be seen at Clevedon Clourt, just down the roa ..... read full letter December 2004 - As I write these words, the world is appalled by the tragic killing of the gentle and dedicated aid worker Margaret Hassan in Iraq, the city of Falluj ..... read full letter November 2004 - November, it’s true, is a gloomy month, with the days getting darker and the weather colder (though less gloomy now, thank goodness, than it was for t ..... read full letter 18th October 2004 - Celebrating St. Luke - Every Thursday morning at our quiet service of Holy Communion, there is the opportunity to receive individual prayer, with the laying on of hands, for ..... read full letter October 2004 - Our Worship in Church - I have always loved the hymn ‘O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness’; I think it expresses something of the deep desire in human beings to str ..... read full letter October 2004 - I am really looking forward to Harvest this year – more than ever in my life before – because this is the first time that I’ve actually celebrated Har ..... read full letter September 2004 - When I was a teacher, I used to hate the fact that no sooner had the long summer holidays begun than signs would appear all over the shops proclaiming ..... read full letter August 2004 - ‘Having a lovely time – wish you were here’ may well be the message on the holiday post-cards coming through your letter-boxes this month. The holiday ..... read full letter July 2004 - As some of you know, I recently lost my diary – probably somewhere along the footpath between the Elms (where the new Rectory is) and Wraxall church. ..... read full letter June 2004 - The boxes are unpacked and we’re settling in very happily, so thankful to be here in this beautiful place surrounded by such lovely people. May the ho ..... read full letter May 2004 - I’m writing this while in a strange state of limbo between two churches: on Easter Sunday, just three days ago, I was given a wonderful send-off from ..... read full letter 
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