Povey Prattle

I was the preacher at St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL last Sunday. This was my first Sunday sermon since November 2015.  (I had been scheduled to preach in January 2016, but an intestinal infection kept me at home that Sunday). Last Sunday I chose to preach from notes rather than from my usual full script.  The sermon is long by St. Boniface Church standards. I was interested  to see myself as others see me, and to note that I smile a lot when preaching. The readings were 1 Kings 8:22-23; Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10 The celebrant/presider was our Associate Rector,  the Revd. Andi (Andrea) Taylor.  She is a wise and respected colleague. (I knew Andi in our Massachusetts days).   She will soon be leaving us to become the Rector at a parish on Cape Cod: St. David's Church, South Yarmouth, MA. To see and hear my sermon click on this link ://www.bonifacechurch.org Go to "watch live" , then to "May 29th service...

I read a news article today which included the words  "the proof is in the pudding".  Many American writers and broadcasters say this  - but  it is nonsense, The saying, correctly spoken or written is "the proof of the pudding is in the eating ". In other words, you do not know if a pudding is good until you eat it. In Britain (and  in some Commonwealth countries) "pudding" has two meanings. 1,  It can be a reference to any dessert.   (for instance, at a restaurant in Vietnam I came across  a couple who said "we are having ice-cream for our pudding"  I knew at once that they were Brits. "Pudding" for dessert is hardly ever used these days. Middle and Upper Class Brits will refer to "dessert".  Working class Brits will say "afters". 2, There are also sweet and savoury dishes which are specifically called puddings. Here  are some of them Spotted Dick pudding (suet based)  now for tender ears call...

Via my friend Alison G.  Originally posted by Brandt Hansen Page

How fortunate I am! Yesterday I called my local handyman business   Meyer Makes House Calls  (owned by David Meyerburg - sole owner and worker)  941 993 9756  and asked him to make a few repairs in my home (clearing a clogged drain,  returning  a sliding glass door to its track, and repairing a folding door in my bedroom). David returned my call early this morning, and was at my home by 1:00 p.m.  He worked for about an hour. I went to get my check/cheque book to pay the bill. David refused any payment .  He said that he is glad to work  for me, and that he enjoys our conversations. A free lunch! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day last week a car drew up  alongside me at a traffic light,  The driver told me that my left side brake light was not working.  So this afternoon  I took myself to a local repair shop http://www.samsautorepair...

Citizens and residents of Bristol U.K.  get a bit dewy eyed at any mention  of "The Suspension Bridge" (properly known as the "Clifton Suspension Bridge"). We have a deep seated pride in this Bridge which spans the River Avon Gorge between Clifton and Leigh Woods.  It is "our bridge".  It speaks "Bristol" to our our souls, and we love it. The earliest memories of many Bristol children are rooted in that first time they were taken to the Bridge, there to walk across it from Clifton to Leigh Woods, and back again. I am sure that I had been taken there previously, but one of my earliest memories is of the time when "Aunty Whitfield"  took me there to see it "all lit up"  in 1951 - the year of the Festival of Britain, (when I was seven years old).  It had not been illuminated since before WWII  (if ever). (Aunty and Uncle Whitfield were not family members.  They were a couple who rented two rooms in our home at the time of...

In my sermon today at St. Boniface Church on Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL I spoke of the time in 1994 when my brother Martyn and his wife Wendy  joined me in taking our Mum to the British and Commonwealth Cemetery in Bayeux, France. There we stood at the grave of Mum's brother Albert,  who was killed in action in Normandy in August 1944. Fifty years and one month later dear Mum was able to see her dear brother's grave.  It was a deeply moving moment. Martyn and I were at first surprised to see that there were also the graves of German soldiers in a corner of the Cemetery. Then we agreed that grief is grief, and that it mattered not that young Germans were buried alongside young Britons. Those young Germans also had Mums, Dads, brothers and sisters who grieved for their premature deaths. I told this story in my sermon.   But I had forgotten an even more telling event. I cannot remember the exact year , but it was sometime between 1972 and 1976.   I wa...