Tickets Please!

It's Sunday again and here I'm back....I'm actually very impressed with myself in keeping my blog updated!

As usual I caught the train to Canterbury. This morning I caught the 10.22 Southeastern High Speed service from Ashford International, which actually departed at 10.21....now I know that they call it the high speed service, but leaving ahead of time, surely that will destroy the railway's reputation!!

Nothing exciting happened on the journey to Canterbury (can't say the same about the journey home, but more on that later).

On arrival at church this morning the usual faces were all there, but there were two extras that I had not seen before. One was Gillian, who I had heard about, but until today, had not met. Due to ill health, etc she has been unable to attend church as often as she would like, but thankfully today she was able to attend, together with her carer, Maggie, who was the second new face.

Today is Septuagesima Sunday, which is the start of the pre-Lent period in the church. Apparantly everything becomes a bit more sombre, and the word "Alleluia" is now not heard in worship until Easter Day.

I suppose that this period can be seen as a time of quiet reflection and preparation of things to come.

The Bishop's sermon today highlighted the importance of preparation, and how that in order to win the ultimate prize (eternal life) we must take part in the race and finish the course. Everyone who takes part will win, no matter if you cross that finish line first, 14th or last....the important thing is to take part and finish. It does not matter even if you start late....just make sure you follow the course and finish.

Translated into Christian life this means that it is never too late to find God and to commit to life as a Christian. It will of course take some preparation and maybe a few lifestyle changes, just as a marathon runner must prepare for the testing time ahead of him or her. It may not be an easy path at all times, but with preparation and commitment then the finish can be reached. For a Christian the finish is a place in heaven with the Lord....this is the end of the ultimate marathon, the race that has taken a lifetime to achieve!

I will be starting my oiwn preparation soon. On Sunday 21st February 2010 (the first Sunday in Lent) the Bishop is starting a short course of Membership/Confirmation classes. These are designed to prepare me for my own confirmation which should take place on Easter Sunday. Therefore Easter Sunday in future will have extra importance to me. Not only will it be the day that Jesus rose again, but it will also be the day that I took a huge step in my commitment as a Christian!

After the usual tea, coffee and biscuits we parted company for the day and I headed back to catch the train home.

On the train the conductor came alomg checking tickets and he approached a male passenger who presented him with an out of date ticket. Now I have to say that I have an interest in this area as I spent 5 years working as a Revenue Protection Inspector for Transport for London, so I am an authority on fare evasion....not that I commit it I better add!

Being nosey I was listening in to the conversation and it turned out that the ticket expired yesterday, 30th January. The passenger claimed that he purchased the ticket this morning at Bromley South station, paying for it with his debit card. The conductor pointed out that the ticket was actually purchased at 22.30 yesterday evening, the male was having none of it and was becoming rather irrate and defensive. The passenger was insisting that the ticket machine must have incorrectly issued the ticket. Now this claim really doesn't hold much water as it would be one mistake to issue a backdated ticket, but to issue a backdated ticket with also the wrong purchase time on it, this seems a little farfetched!

The conductor was giving the man a chance to buy the correct ticket, pointing out that if a revenue officer found this irregularity later then he would either impose a penalty fare or possible even issue a prosecution against the man. The man was having none of it, instead saying that he would go to court. This I really couldn't understand, as the evidence spoke for itself, and having been the instigator of many such cases before I could see that in the eyes of a magistrate this would be a 'bang to rights case'. It made be realise how much dishonesty there is in this world, even down to a man (who appeared well presented and of means) to be trying to defraud the railway of £12.95.

I get the impression that he travelled to Canterbury yesterday evening on a cheap day return and was returning today after having spent the night in Canterbury. He should have purchased an open return which would have cost a little more. Why he decided to say that he purchased the ticket this morning is beyond me, even insisting upon it when it was clearly evidenced to him that this was not the case. He should have just been honest and said that he purchased the wrong ticket last night. This way the conductor may have been able to sort something out. Or he should have just swallowed his pride and purchased a new ticket at £12.95, instead he will have gone on to have been caught and will be guaranteed to have received at least a penalty fare of £20, or maybe a court appearance, conviction, criminal record and fine! The moral of the story being honesty is the best policy!

So that is the story of the excitment on the journey home, it was nearly as good as watching an episode of Eastenders or Emmerdale on television. I'm starting to feel like a bit of a journalist, because as I was watching the story unfoild I was thinking "this is going on my blog".

So until next time just think about what you might say next time that you hear the words "tickets please".

Can someone turn the heating up!

It's Wednesday and I'm updating my blog....no, I'm not late again, it has been planned this way!

Last Sunday there was no mass in Canterbury as the Bishop was on his travels. He was visiting our new mission is South Molton, Devon (the Mission of St. Benedict). It was the inaugural mass there, which, I am told, went very well and was a great success. I hope (and pray) that the mission continues to go from strength to strength.

So, instead of attending church last Sunday I read through the Order for Mass booklet at home, said some prayers and spent the whole day with my wife and kids. I've realised now that not only do I go to church on Sundays to worship God....I actually go so that I can have a rest!! My little girl is 14 months old....and believe me, she is hard work (must get that from her mother)!!

I am now off of work on Wednesdays, at least most of them anyway. This enables me to do a couple of things. One is to attend church and the other is to concentrate a little more on my studies, you may remember that I am doing an Open Bible Institute course.

This morning I decided to get my hair cut before catching the train to Canterbury. When I left home this morning I quickly realised that it was somewhat cold outside, luckily I remembered to take my hat with me, otherwise I think that my head would have frozen and fallen off on the walk from the barbers to the station. Once at the station I had a short wait for the train so I popped into the Pumpkin Cafe and decided that a cup of hot tea was desired. These food outlets at train stations are overpriced, so it does pay to have a 'Bite Card', it gives you a 20% discount which helps. You can get one for free by visiting www.bitecard.co.uk

The train arrived on time and I was pleased to find that it was warm when my cup of tea and I boarded. The journey to Canterbury was uneventful as usual. On arrival at Canterbury and alighting from the train I was quite disappointed to find out that I was not actually in the Maldives, it would appear that the train had been diverted to the Artic....in other words....it was cold!

I was rather early so I had a little walk around the city centre before admitting defeat and needing to find some warmth, so I headed to church. Luckily when I arrived Lawrence and Margaret were there. Margaret was arranging some fresh flowers and Lawrence was about to start hoovering. It wasn't much warmer inside, but then churches are not known for their central heating are they?! The problem is it would be far too costly to have the heating on constantly, so it only gets switched on when people are there. The Bishop did mention the possibility of getting a special timer at some stage in the future, which would help, and of course solve this age old problem of cold churches! maybe this is why churches really use candles....for the extra heat!!

In today's service Bishop Damien used the 1549 BCP Canon and not the Gregorian Canon, this was mentioned after mass during coffee. Normally the Bishop uses the Gregorian Canon and so this was a change that seemed to go well.

Bishop Damien invited me to have lunch with him today after mass and we went to an Italian restaurant in Best Lane (a few doors from the church). The restaurant is called Olive Grove, their website is www.olivegroverestaurant.co.uk It is very pleasant inside and the staff are very friendly. Being neighbours of the church they know Bishop Damien quite well, and they were most welcoming to us both. We both had the Frittata Tricolore (3 egg omlette with ham, mozzarella, mushrooms and tomato), served with chips and salad garnish. I have to say that it was very nice. I will be back, and I'd even like to take Debbie there for a meal, perhaps after church one day....I will get her through the door somehow, even with the promise of a nice meal!! I'm a bit partial to pizza, so I may try one of those next time.

We had a general chat over lunch, which was enjoyable. After lunch we popped back into the church as the Bishop needed to get a book that he has lent me. It is the Peoples Anglican Missal.

After this I headed back to the station and awaited my (delayed) train back to Ashford. Debbie and the kids met me at Ashford station and we then went to do some shopping at Tesco. My wife is clever like that. By waiting for me to return before going shopping means that we will pay using my money rather than her's....I fall for it every time!

That's about it for now, church again on Sunday, so I'll post again after that.

Until then....turn up the thermostat!!

It hurts but I'm carrying on!

On Tuesday I had a wisdom tooth removed by my dentist, really it should have been done under general anaesthetic at hospital, but their waiting list is longer than the roots of siad wisdom tooth!

instead my dentist offered to do it under sedation, and as I had been suffering with the pain of the tooth for some time I decided to take him up on the offer. So, it was done, and Tuesday after the sedation, etc wore off it was agony. I ended up getting prescribed some tramadol by the doctor...thankfully it takes away the pain, but seems to me me feel rather rough!

Anyway, I wasn't feeling too special this morning, but still went to church (remember last week's blog about putting God first??). To be honest, during the service I really thought that I was going to pass out a couple of times, and at one stage I even had to stay seated whilst the others were standing, but rather this than collapse on the floor I suppose!

I'll be honest here, because of the way I was feeling today's service didn't all 'sink in'. I think the sermon for today was about making the commitment to God, there was emphasis on the fact that is not just a case of being baptised and thinking that this is a guaranteed ride to heaven. It is important to commit, in terms of being confirmed and remaining commited. Speaking of which, I am now starting to think about formally applying for membership of the ACC, which will mean me being confirmed, this of course is one of the sacraments.

There is no mass in Canterbury next Sunday as the Bishop is visiting South Molton in Devon as the ACC have a new mission there, the Mission of St. Benedict. I would like to wish Father Michael Clothier (the Deacon there) every best wish, and of course he and the mission will be in my prayers.

I was going to attend our church in Rochester next Sunday, but there will be no service there for a short while as the priest there (Father Raymond Thompson) is due to go into hospital very shortly for an operation, it goes without saying that he will be in my prayers aswell.

I can't think of much else to write today, so I think I'll leave it here and go and get all woozy on painkillers!! I'm overdue some more and the tooth (or rather lack of tooth) is starting to give me grief again now.

Until next time...God bless!

Terrible Events in Haiti

It's unusual for me to blog during the week, but like many others I have been affected by the terrible eartquake in Haiti. Obviously I haven't been affected as in the true sense, because I wasn't there. I have been affected emotionally though.

All disasters like this have some impact on me because as a Christian I hate to see anybody suffering. However, this has hit me particularly hard. Let me explain. My absolute favourite place on earth to go on holiday to is the Domican Republic (Haiti's neighbour), the place is amazing, the people are so friendly and the rum very cheap!! Many people in the Dominican are from Haiti and many of them have relatives there. My wife and I have always felt a very special connection with this island, it is where we spent our honeymoon. We purchased some pieces of artwork which were either painted in Haiti or inspired by Haitian style, one of these takes pride of place in our living room, and the others are waiting to be hung.

The people in that part of the world have so little, but offer so much. As a rule they are so friendly and warm. The Dominicans and the Haitians are the same, with the exception that the Dominican have a little more and a slightly better quality of life, largely thanks to the tourist trade. Sadly, the Haitians have not had this benefit and their past oppressive governments still have lasting consequences to this day. The country is exceptionally poor, yet the people are somehow very strong, they have survived dictatorships and they will survive this latest tragedy.

But they need our help. If we all donated a little then the relief effort would be even better, and the people of Haiti could see how much the rest of the world care.

I only found out yesterday that the Anglican Catholic Church (my church) actually have an orphanage and mission in Haiti, in Port-au-Prince. It was destroyed by the earthquake, but by the mercy of God the children and the caregivers escaped major injury. According to the Vicar General in Haiti, Father Bien-Amie, many of the people of the parishes are still unaccounted for. We have all read the headlines and seen the images on the news, the likely consequences are devastating. These people have so little, and now it would appear that they have lost so much of that, yet we have seen them on tv singing hymns, etc....despite everything they still have faith, this must serve as an inspiration to us all.

I urge anyone reading this to do a couple of things. Please pray for the people of Haiti, for their friends and family, pray for the souls of those who lost their lives, pray that the suffering may be eased. Please also pray for all of our friends in the ACC, in particular for Father Bien-Amie and all of the priests there, that they may be given strength to help those in need. Pray for the caregivers and children at the orphanage.

Please also donate anything you can. You can make a donation through the Anglican Catholic Church website. Click on the 'News' link and follow the instructions www.anglicancatholic.org.uk The Anglican Catholic Church has launched a formal appeal, so please, please help!

I appreciate that some of us may have very little to give, but they have even less.

That website again is www.anglicancatholic.org.uk click on the 'News' link, and follow the instructions, donations can be made by cheque or postal order, or via PayPal. It is also worth mentioning that the ACC UK is a registered charity and you can also gift aid your donation, all of the details are on the website.

Let it snow!

We have had a fair bit of snow in Ashford and the surrounding areas over the last few days, however, the "significant snowfall" predicted for last night didn't happen, although mid afternoon it wasn't looking like we'd be getting away with it!

I was all prepared though. Normally I get the train from Ashford to Canterbury to go to church. Deb (my wife) usually drops me at the station and off I go on my merry way. It is easier and quicker than driving to Canterbury, and probably cheaper by the time I would have forked out for fuel and parking. I even purchased a Network Railcard, so I now get 1/3 off of my fare, making it just £4.05 return...bargain!

This morning I drove to the station with a plan. parking at Ashford on a Sunday is free so if Plan A went ahead then it would not cost me anything. This was Plan A - Drive to station, park car, catch 10.03 train to Canterbury...if 10.03 cancelled then catch 10.22 (high speed), if that one was cancelled then go for 10.30, if that was cancelled then walk back to the car and launch Plan B....drive to Canterbury! The 10.03 service was initially showing as running on time, but by the time I purchased my ticket and walked to platform 5 it was showing as being 12 minutes late. It duly arrived 12 minutes late...but on platform 6...with no platform alteration announcement.

There was a message on one of their displays that made me laugh though. It said that due to the adverse weather the replacement bus service had been cancelled and trains were operating instead! So the buses that were replacing the trains were being replaced by trains...work that out if you can!!

Anyway, the train left (late) with me onboard bound for Canterbury, and arrived without event. I think that under the circumstances of the last few days Southeastern Railway have done a pretty good job coping, the high speed service has really been a bonus as it has been relatively unaffected by the adverse weather.

I arrived at church ontime (unlike last week) and service there was running to time with no disruptions....well, if you exclude Jennifer's losing of her voice mid song from that statement! It is horrible when that happens, I remember it happening to me during a job interview once, you can tell it is about to go, but no drink on hand to aid recovery! Jennifer soon recovered....and in case you are wondering...yed...I did get the job!!!!

Today's sermon was basically about putting God first, ahead of all else, and in turn God will ensure that He puts our needs/concerns/etc first...kind of makes sense actually. the parish newsletter this week talks about beng called to serve God in one way or another, even though we may feel that we are not the most approriate person to serve Him....reading this was like looking in a mirror to me....I wonder if Bishop Damien has been reading my mind!

I really feel that I am fitting in at church now, and it feels normal and 'right' to be there....in fact I actually look forward to going now....although Debbie still can't fully understand or appreciate my feelings and commitment. I think it makes it a little difficult as I work six days a week and Sunday is my only day off, so it used to be the 'family day', now some of the day is spent with my commitment to church...it goes back to today's sermon. Of course Debbie and the kids are more than welcome to come to church with me....and YES....I am working on it! She has actually said that she will come to my confirmation (whenever that is), so this may be the start. It would be difficult as we have a 4 year old and a 1 year old aswell....the 4 year old is probably autistic, so he can be a little 'moody' at times and the 1 year old is loud, independent and opinionated....just like her mother then!!! I know, however, that they would be more than welcome despite the disruptions that would more than likely be caused....probably starting with the youngest eating the Order for Mass (she is a little partial to eating paper, her favourite is actually the Argos catalogue)!!

Oh well, it's time that I got some sleep. Got to say a prayer or two before I get my head down as I have got to be up early for work...stay safe and stay warm in this cold weather, spare a thought for those less fortunate than ourselves and why not check on your neighbours, especially elderly and less able ones, make sure that they are ok in this weather.

Bye for now....

Better late than never!

I'm a bit late blogging here this week....should have done it on Sunday, but was late home then kept meaning to do it the last couple of days, but something else seemed to keep coming up.

Talking of being late, I was a bit late for mass on Sunday, thanks to Southeastern trains and their....shall we say 'flexible' approach to their published timetable! When I finally arrived the service was in full swing, instead of walking away though and making some excuse for not attending I opened the door, walked right in and sat down. I think this actually made a good impression. I actually arrived just before communion, so timing was quite good!

I had placed an order for some books through the Anglican Catholic bookshop, and these were available for me to collect after the service. I ordered my own copy of Archbishop Haverland's book, a copy of the Order for Mass and a copy of the Ordo-Kalender for 2010 (and yes, that is the correct spelling of Kalender!!!!). Bishop Mead also threw in a copy of the ACC Canons (2005 edition)...these are the laws, or rules and regulations for the church, etc. It is more of a reference book than a sit down with a coffee read, but I am sure that it will be of use.

After church today I met up with my wife and kids who were shopping in Canterbury, so we had a wander for a while and then went for lunch in Wetherspoons, as I wasn't driving I had a couple of beers aswell....a pint of Churchyard Bob and a pint of Abbott Ale.....seems appropriate!!

Bishop Damien told me about a course which is approved by the ACC's Board of Ministry, it is a Certificate of Higher Education in Theology & Biblical Studies. It is studied through the Open Bible Institute (who operate distance learning courses on behalf of Moore Theological College, Sydney, who are a very well respected body). The CertHE is validated by Middlesex University, so all in all it appears to be a very good and genuine course.

After looking into this course I established that it would be a great way to develop my theological studies and knowledge, and after speaking with the OBI I decided to enroll on their 'access' course....Introduction to the Bible. Their were two options for this. Pay £30 and receive the course manual, etc....or pay £60 and receive this plus a bundle of additional books. I opted for this, and it arrived yesterday (the very next day).

I've had a brief look through it and it seems well laid out, but not a walk in the park. I have had to purchase a bible dictionary, so when that arrives from amazon.co.uk I will be able to start my studies. I have opted to take the exam at the next sitting, so I think I get about 10 weeks to do the course. Bishop Damien has kindly agreed to act as my supervisor for this, as the exams are not taken at a college premises.

If anyone wants to take a look at the OBI they can be found here: http://www.open-bible-institute.org/

Changing the subject a little. I went back to Slimming World last night (first time since Christmas) and have only put on 1.5lbs....so I am well pleased with that. Since being with Slimming World (on and off for 2 years) I have lost about 5stone in total. I parked the car at about 19.10hrs and went back out to it about an hour later and it was covered in snow...as were most of the surrounding roads!! Personally I love the snow, so it was great to see.

We didn't seem to have any more overnight, but today we had a couple of heavy showers which made some of the roads interesting to say the least. As I sit writing this it is snowing again, so the roads and cars are covered again....maybe it will keep up then I can have a day off of work tomorrow....actually, thinking about that, I am self-employed, so no work means no money....oh well maybe I'll have to send the kids out sweeping chimneys (whilst they are still small!!!!)!

That's all for now....next update Sunday.....ok.....maybe a day or four afterwards!!

Oh, nearly forgot to mention that I've started reading the book that Bishop Damien gave me for Christmas....I am finding it VERY interesting and heart-warming, there is 'something' about it!

In the words of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh....TTFN!