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* * * * * * * * * * The Church Members’ Alphabet
A is for avoiding arguments B is for believing the Bible C is for consenting to change D is for devotion to duty E is for escaping egoism F is for forgiving others’ faults G is for giving generously H is for hating hypocrisy I is for ignoring insults J is for jettisoning jealousy K is for keenness on kindness L is for learning to love M is for minimising meetings N is for not being nosey O is for offering olive branches P is for practising patience Q is for quietness R is for relinquishing resentment S is for serving unselfishly T is for trouncing temptation U is for unity V is for volunteering for Church jobs W is for warding off worry X is for X-ray eyes for seeing beyond appearances Y is for saying yes to all that has yet to come Z is for zest for the Christian way of life.
(taken from the noticeboard of Salem Baptist Church, Dover) From the collection of Majorie Fooks
* * * * * * * * * * I may never see tomorrow I may never see tomorrow, There’s no written guarantee, And things that happened yesterday Belong to history. I can’t predict the future, I cannot change the past; I have just this present moment, I must treat it as my last.
I must use this moment wisely, For it soon will pass away And be lost to me forever, As part of yesterday. I must exercise compassion, Help the fallen to their feet; Be a friend to the friendless, Make an empty life complete.
The unkindest thing I do today May never be undone, And friendships that I fail to win May nevermore be won. I may not have another chance On bended knees to pray, And thank God with a humble heart For giving me this day.
From the collection of Marjorie Fooks (1920 - 2013) * * * * * * * * * * |
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Love Lives Beyond the Tomb Love lives beyond the tomb, And earth, which fades like dew! I love the fond, The faithful, and the true. Love lives in sleep, ’Tis happiness of healthy dreams: Eve’s dews may weep, But love delightful seems. ‘Tis seen in flowers, And in the morning’s pearly dew; In earth’s green hours, And in the heaven’s eternal blue.
’Tis heard in spring When light and sunbeams, warm and kind, On angel’s wing Bring love and music to the mind. And where’s the voice So young, so beautiful and sweet As Nature’s choice, Where spring and lovers meet? Love lives beyond the tomb, And earth, which fades like dew! I love the fond, The faithful and the true John Clare * * * * * * * * * * |
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the Bluebell A fine and subtle spirit dwells In every little flower, Each one its own sweet feeling breathes With more or less of power. There is a silent eloquence In every wild bluebell That fills my softened heart with bliss That words could never tell Anne Bronte (1820-1849 )* * * * * * * * * * |
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Glorious Easter! Only God could have created All the loveliness of spring. Made the bough to bud and blossom Taught the robin how to sing. Only God could have remembered, Through the winter, cold and grey. How to renew the earth with beauty And give us Easter Day. * * * * * * * * * * Change in the Year It is the first mild day of March, Each minute sweeter than before, The redbreast sings from the tail larch That stands beside our door. There is a blessing in the air, Which seems a sense of joy to yield To the bare trees, and mountains bare: And grass in the green field. William Wordsworth |
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* * * * * * * * * * Weep not dear wife, but be content, For unto thee I was but lent, My time has passed, my race is run, Therefore dear wife prepare to come! (epitaph found in Croston cemetery) * * * * * * * * * * Look up with wonder; look back with gratitude; look around with love; look within with honesty and look ahead with anticipation. * * * * * * * * * * "Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God’s will. Dietrich Bonhoffer * * * * * * * * * * A little boy asked his daddy, "What does a man’s better half mean?" His daddy replied, "Usually exactly what she says!"
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