Thank you

Hi,
thank you for visiting the Chaplaincy Blog. As of 31st July 2010 there is no Chaplain, but....thank you for visiting...

24th May 2010. Community.

This week we explore community. Communities that grow are the ones that not just look after each others basic needs like food and shelter, but look beyond this. Take a moment to think about all the things that enrich our lives.
This weeks video, "You Raise me up" reflects on what it is that makes our lives even more enriched than they already are.

Playing our part in justice.

This week the new Robin Hood film is released...see the trailer below... or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMcDeNo6KUs&feature=related

What do you know about the legend of Robin Hood? If the stories are true, do you think he was right to "Rob from the rich and give to the poor?" Why not post some comments on the blog here?

Endurance and Friendship: Lent and Valentine.

During the half term holiday there are three important dates. Valentines day, Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. While for shops and businesses this may be a big chance to make a lot of money, we have to ask if the image they sell us of love, is a true one. Valentine (click to see more), a Bishop in AD270, thought that love and friendship were so important that he sacrificed his life to enable people to make life long commitments of love to each other. He looked for a love and friendship that would last. We are told that "We love because God first loved us". I wonder if you have ever thought about love, and where it comes from. Although many songs talk about love, what is it they are describing? One pop song, "The Power of Love." talks about love as being "a force from above". What do you think this might mean?

Half term is also the beginning of Lent. The Church season of preparing and getting ready for Easter. Many people will give something up for lent. Its important to think why we do this? The church remembers the temptations of Jesus in the desert (click to see the story). It is a time when we can think about our relationships, and to explore what inner strength we have. So don't just give something up, but use giving up as a way of growing your relationships, and becoming a stronger person.

Keep on making things better. 1st Feb 2010.

Have you heard of the butterfly effect? The idea is that a butterfly flapping its wing creates movement in the air, which in turn changes something else, and the effect gets bigger and bigger causing a storm on the other side of the planet (see the science or maths department for more details!). We usually assume that this is a bad thing. We also know that dropping a piece of plastic litter can have a long term effect on the environment. It seems easy to see how all these small but bad things add up and create a problem. But have you thought about this the other way around? Maybe it isn't as easy to see, but doing something good for the planet, or stopping doing something bad must have a positive effect. Keeping on doing good, and seeing the change happen slowly takes perseverance and endurance. But surely it must be worth it? Mother Teresa said, "We can only do small things, but we can do them with great love". I am certain, that doing this, we will one day see a difference.

Michael Jackson's "The Man in the Mirror" suggests that to make a change it has to start with us. What do you think? Why not post your ideas below... (click on the link to see hear the song).

Endurance at making a difference also comes alongside recognising what we have got to be thankful for, and where we have made mistakes in the past. Psalm 106, is a great poem from the bible that expresses these three ideas; we have a lot to be thankful for, we have not always acted the way we should but doing good will bring us great joy. Can you think of any examples of this? Why not post below.....

Global Village? 25th January 2010

John Donne wrote a famous poem called "No Man is an Island". I wonder what you think he meant by this? We usually think of islands as being on their own, separate from the rest of the world. Many people dream of being on holiday on a warm desert island. But can we always exist without other people? Last week disaster struck the Island of Haiti. Haiti needs the worlds help, the people of Haiti need friends. The parables (stories) in the Bible teach that we need not just to be friends with people we know and like, but also with strangers.

One of the most famous ones of these is "The good Samaritan". Read it from the link if you don't already know it. I wonder what the helpful Samaritan was thinking? Sometimes we don't help because we are fearful of what will happen if we get involved? But perhaps we also need to ask what will happen if we don't get involved.

Did you know there are ways we can help Haiti that don't just involve sending money (although this is important too!). Haiti has an international debt of $890 000 000. Christian aid, and other organisations are campaigning for Haiti's debt to be dropped. This will give Haiti a chance of recovering, not just in the short term, but in the long term. See the Christian Aid web site for details, videos and sign the petition. Once of Haiti's main exports is coffee...so next time you have a coffee, think where it might have come from.

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." John Donne "No Man is an Island, Meditation XVII"

Haiti slideshow

Stand by me....music of the week (Warning contains pictures of earthquake vicitims).

Why not post your thoughts or prayers below....

Choices that will last. 18th Jan 2010.

At this time of year many of us make a New Years Resolution. Three weeks into the new year and a lot of us will already have broken them. It's not easy to make a resolution that we can keep to, for a very long time. I wonder why this is? Maybe its because our goal is unrealistic? It's beyond what we are really capable of doing in one big step, and what we really need to do is look carefully for what needs be the first starting step. But sometimes its because we choose something that isn't important enough to keep working at. Sometimes we need to have big dreams.
Everyday is a chance to look at ourselves and make a change. If you can imagine yourself one year in the future, what difference would really excite you? What is the first step you need to take? How are you going to keep working on that change?

Something to listen to, some advise to "The Class of 97", what do you think of this advise? Post some thoughts below... (listen to the first 3 mins).