It’s October and two geese are chatting in the farmyard. One says to the other; “What do you do now that summer’s over and you begin to feel lonely?”

The other one replied; “Oh, I just have a gander around!”

Although October is a beautiful month, autumn has all the trees dressed in their autumn colours and there is often an atmosphere of mellowness and for a lot of people it is often a time of loneliness.

The children are back at school; families are busy trying to fit in everybody’s engagements and often those who have grown up children and families get left out of the loop.

Loneliness is very much a modern problem with families now often living all over the world whereas not that long ago families all lived a relatively short distance away and Sunday was seen as the day to go afternoon visiting. Nowadays Sunday is often a busy day and many people work on a Sunday.

I remember Sundays as a young boy being a dreary day, nothing was open and quite often all my friends would be out visiting relatives and I certainly wouldn’t want to go back to those days but I do feel that all of us should try to make one day of the week special, we do after all need a break from our daily routines and chores.

Jesus said; “The Sabbath was made for the good of man; man was not made for the Sabbath.” In this busy society that we live in the Sabbath is no longer necessarily seen as a Sunday. Obviously Sunday is a very busy day for me but my day off is a Monday and I do enjoy my day off, it is a time to relax, unwind and do the things I enjoy doing.

It is often thought that Jesus worked tirelessly and constantly but we see in the Gospels a man who needed to be away from the crowds from time to time to rest and recharge his batteries so that he could give his best during his ministry.

Christians often feel guilty if they are not busy rushing around doing things but they forget that ministry is for life and just like Jesus we need to spend time with Our Father so that we can know where and what he needs us to do.

Rob Mellowship

Registers

Baptisms:

30^th August     Roydon                       Amy Lister

Weddings: (none)

Funerals:

11^th Sept          Bressingham                Ralph Shipley (interment)

BIBLE STUDY GROUP

There will be a meeting in The Rectory at 6pm on Wednesday 14th October to discuss the logistics of the group. Please come if you are interested in being part of the group or if you have any experiences of being part of such a group that you would like to share.

Attending the meeting doesn’t mean you have to commit yourself; so if you would just like to know more, please just come along.

ALL HALLOW’S EVE (HALLOWEEN) PARTY

As usual we will be running an All Hallows’ Eve Party for children in The Parish Room Roydon on Saturday 31^st October between 5-7pm. Please come in fancy dress if you can. Refreshments are provided and the party is FREE. All are welcome to this safe alternative to trick or treat and you get the opportunity to trick or treat Rob!

ALPHA COURSE

The Alpha Course is up and running on a Tuesday evening at 7.30pm at The Parish Room Roydon, you have missed the beginning but it is quite alright just to come along.

The course pre-supposes no knowledge of Christianity and is very informal. Everyone is welcome and it is free.

ALL SOULS’ SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE

Our service of Remembrance with Thanksgiving is at Fersfield at 6.30pm on Sunday 1^st November; during this service we remember all those from our parishes on our Years’ Mind List and any who grieve any loss recently or in the past. All are welcome.