When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

I expect some women hope that they do not have to wait until  they are old women before they are allowed to wear purple.What do you think?
Ruth Gledhills article In 'Times Online' written  before the Synod meeting today may be read here.

'you have to be seriously squeaky clean'

as i write this, football focus is on bbc1 and reporting on the news about john terry having had his england captaincy removed.

it's a very messy story with lots of people involved which will probably run and run. but it's interesting to see how the people involved have reacted to the story. mark lawrenson said today how surprised he was that john terry's people didn't advise him as soon as the story was out that he should resign. terry obviously felt he'd done little wrong that would affect his role as england captain. what about honesty? integrity? teamwork? trust? it says an awful lot about what terry values as his priorities in himself and others

i'm pleased he's not the england captain right now and i'm pleased the england manager fabio capello has made this decision.

lawrenson also said you have to be seriously squeaky clean to be an england football team captain; not a bad aim for the rest of us too, isn't it?

The Equality Bill

I have only just got my head round the debate about the Equality Bill thanks to Rosemary Bennetts Analysis in todays Times. Even the comments on  its online version seem to open reason and common sense for me. Yes I have been reading all that  John Sentamu has been saying on the subject, but I am afraid this ordinary retired of Filey person is not able to understand what he, and the other Lords Spiritual, actually said . Neither do I understand the comments . The bloggers from Archbishop Cranmer to Archdruid Eileen have commented on the bill. All the tweeters have been talking about the bill in less than 140 characters. John Sentamu's tweets are I'm sure not always from him , as they are stilted and lacking in emotion. I think he has a professional PR person now to write them for him. His tweets last week were all about the Equality Bill, and that  is how I knew it must be important. I am trying to be up to date and topical for you. So a big thank you to Rosemary Bennett for writing a piece that I could understand. The equality bill seems very good in parts. The debate over those parts which have Christians worrying  are open to the democratic processes . Our MP will be changing next Summer , as the new boundary changes take place. We need to make sure we are informed and ready to elect a man or woman of integrity to serve our views.

On Twitter, where you may follow me as margaretkiaora, (87 followers)where I am myself ,or Fileyparish (96  followers ) where with Simon(103 followers) I tried to be the PR for you all, without being stilted or lacking in emotion  the tweets are followed by Everyman as well as bishops and journalists. Granted some are in Ohio and Colorado, I have blocked the dubious page 3 ones, but you can see that I need to be informed. Filey is after all on the world stage, like it or not. In the south of England, mention Filey and it is well known. Margaret Drabble and Antonia Byatt evoke it in some of their novels. The Fourth Estate is always talking about it as a 'gem of a place' for beach holidays of the the most wholesome kind. Even Michael Portillo has shown us to the world.  My plea with this blog is just this- Open up to the world . Be informed. Let us not just be known for our lovely beach. Think about issues that will ultimately affect you, whether it is the right to equal pay, the right to worship where you want, the right to worship not at all, the right for a Christian church to employ just Christians.

THINK ABOUT IT.

• the under 60s of Filey who are equal
• the retired of Filey  who are more equal than others
• the born here of Filey who have equality thrust upon them.

When John Siddle taught me O level  English Literature he never mentioned the gender bending in the plot of Twelfth Night. I don't suppose  it would have been allowed, but MY , it would have made Shakespeare so much more interesting.

Galations 3 v28 (The Message)

In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.

Bar-tailed Godwits in Filey

Some of you may remember my blog about the amazing Bar-tailed Godwit in August. They are now in Filey in force! During January I usually saw three of them on Filey Sands when I went down to the beach. This morning there were five of them feeding in the country park with Oystercatchers and Common Gulls. There were also three Long-tailed Ducks off the Brigg. These Bar-tailed Godwits however won't have come from Alaska! They are most likely to have come from Norway or NW Russia. I came back praising God for His wonderful creation!

Come on People Of Filey, life, the world the universe........

Start Blogging, send a blogpost, ask for help to do it.


 Have you Nothing to say!

From the Christian Aid website

Lets do what we can
Give and  Pray

Tell all your Filey friends

If like me friends are always saying they wish they knew how to access this blog, or understood how to use a laptop,
Tell them to go to the Evron Centre Filey on Thursday Mornings, FROM THIS WEEK  and try an absolute BEGINNERS COURSE.

View from Evron Centre Grounds(dont you think this picture has echoes of Breughels 'Hunters in the snow!'-will add to site when find it)

This is where I started  in 2001, as an absolute beginner , with no computer of my own. I used Filey Library's Computers then , then my son in law, fixed me up with a fourth hand one the size of a Moog synthesiser (almost!) and for internet I did dial -up ,until last year when I got broadband, having got the ISP  that 'Which'( Filey Library on-line) recommended as being reliable.
The recent bad weather has convinced my 90 yr old mother to try on-line grocery shopping in an emergency. Like it or not computers do not rule you, you RULE them , if you let them work for you. Something about being being wise
'let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance'-Proverbs 1

Always winter ,never Christmas

I thought a little colour would brighten our thoughts. I have really enjoyed this snow thing believe me. Our Christmas in Brighton  was not so different from any other Family Christmas, except the venue. It is always exciting to be somewhere not completely familiar. We spotted this restaurant on our way back from Church on 27th December. (A Holy Trinity Brompton plant , informal service like  Cafe Church , full of families, prams, pensioners, and fashionable young things, so we felt completely at home).I love the pinkness of this Indian restaurant, and will go there next visit, it was just so unexpected. Oriental eateries are expected to be Red or Orange, Ginger or Brown like the colours of tamarind, cinnamon and peppers and turmeric. This was the colour of saris and Bombay Stores(Bradford).

The only thing about the last few weeks that irks is the colour of snow. I havent like Miss Smilla got more than one word for snow. Yesterday evening  it was a delight to go outside the back door and enjoy the whiteness. Anyone who has walked into town today knows that the whiteness is soon corrupted.(Sermon there Mary).

I have enjoyed talking to total strangers about snow. In the bank a lady was telling us all how as a child in Rutland Street her uncle had to climb out of the window and make a narrow path through the snow. You could only walk down the middle of the street in a space about 2 feet wide cut in the waist high snow.  That was 1947. I was born in March 1947, and it had snowed since Christmas. My family tell similar tales.  Or there is 1961, when as a teenager we were cut off from Sutton village and mother took my sister and the sledge through the snow drifts to get bread and milk from our home  . I was always peeved that I had to stay behind with my other sister , but realise now that I was trusted to look after the house. We didn't get through to school for ages, no hardship there.  We spent hours out of doors in the snow, making igloos and snowmen . We were given  mugs of soup outside the back door. All the neighbourhood children were together, we sledged down the lane . I have never forgotten it. I was talking  to Lucy (my Posada friend) this morning. She was surprised that none of the neighbourhood children were out enjoying the snow in the Pastures Estate. I wryly think as she does that they are indoors watching DVDs. Still Lucy and her dog Georgie had lots of fun . I would just have loved to watch her little dog pushing a tiny snow ball along until it was bigger than he.

My greengrocer and butcher are delivering to those who cant get out, Online grocery shopping will have taken off, and we all thank God for  thermals, cup a soups and Yorkshire Coast radios updates to parents of school children. May it last long enough for us all to be thankful for the Spring on its way, and be over soon enough for none of us to get cabin fever.

Tomorrows psalm of the day(29)  says

'Pray that our Lord will make us strong and give us peace'

pause

For 10 seconds to take a deep breath.
For 1 minute to take in the view.
For a couple of minutes to brew a cuppa.
For 10 minutes to clear your head.
For 20 minutes to call your mum.
For half an hour to exercise your body.
For a couple of hours to read a good book.
For a weekend under the stars.
For a fortnight to recharge your batteries.
For a month to learn something new.
For a summer to be a kid again.
For a year to see the world. For a lifetime to work out what it all means.
Or for just five minutes to do absolutely nothing.

(borrowed from howies)

The Gospel Message