Thought for the week ...

On a personal note ...

Last night I was at the theatre in Canterbury with my mate Maddie. We went to see 'Fisherman's Friends - the musical'.  Quite simply, one of the best things I've seen in a long time. Excellent music, amazing staging, and laugh out loud humour - from start to finish. 

Take a wee listen here:

Fisherman's Friends - A Drop of Nelson's Blood

Unfortunately, someone decided to park their car on a train crossing, so the journey home was delayed. Didn't get in until 1am 😩

Prayer for our World

Today has marked ONE YEAR since Russia invaded Ukraine and at 11am many honoured a one minute silence in memory of some 8,000 non-combatants who are confirmed killed and over 13,000 injured. Please pray for an end to this conflict!

Additionally, in recent weeks parts of Turkey and Syria have been devastated by not one, but two, dreadful earthquakes resulting in a current death toll of 47,000. Many thousands more remain homeless, having lost everything.

Our world needs our prayers and our help.

OXFAM charity shops will take any good clothing, especially winter items, for the relief efforts in Turkey & Syria.

You can also donate financially through www.dec.org.uk

A Gift from China

I met Shanzhao Cui last Thursday, when he came to TABLEtalk for the first time.  

Yesterday, he brought me this beautiful Chinese calligraphy scroll, which wishes longevity and happiness.

Thought for the week ...

TABLEtalk: Love is ...

A new record @ TABLEtalk last night😀😀😀

We had 26 students/alumni, including six newcomers.  In respect of Valentine's Day, our theme was Love is ...

Archdeacon Andy Wooding-Jones joined us for the evening and we did a role-play of a traditional, Christian, church wedding. Handsome Arun played the role of our groom, with Rohit as his best man. Our bride was the beautiful Jane, with her lovely bridesmaids, Adenike and Aiste. 

The groom waits, hoping his bride isn't
going to be late!

Here she comes, led by Archdeacon Andy,
with Jon (father of the bride) and
supported by her bridesmaids

Pauline reads 1 Corinthians 13 from the New Testament

portion of the Bible; Andy leads Arun & Jane through

their 'vows' and exchange of rings.

Then followed much lively discussion about how what we had role-played compared to weddings in other cultures and religions. Plus questions related to all manner of aspects of dating and marriage.

REMEMBER:

It's better to long for what you don't have,

than to have what you don't want.

Happy Valentine's

Not long finished a fabulous Chaplaincy Chill 'n' Chat pop-up in the Drill Hall Library.  As usual we were offering lollies, inspirational bookmarks and a listening ear.

We also gave away 170 mini chocolate eggs and students were invited to take time out and colour.  It was a busy four hours 😀

In addition to our Valentine's activities, students were invited to give feedback on what they 'love' or 'don't love' about the library.

Medway Light Nights

Last Friday (Feb 10th), myself, Pauline, and 17 students took the shuttle bus for an evening at this year's Light Nights, which was taking place along Chatham High Street and the Riverside. Unfortunately, we were too late to see the parade, but explored most of the other light installations.

Sadly, for me, the evening was extremely disappointing, in comparison to last year's event. It felt too sparse and some installations had really long queues in order to see them 😒😒

My favourite part of the event was the display about Thomas Waghorn, who I realise I knew very little about ...

BUT ... the very,very best part of the evening was a meal at Taze, the best Turkish restaurant in Medway!!!  Although, the main restaurant was fully booked, the staff were super accommodating and made room for 11 of us in their coffee & baklava shop next door.  They made us most welcome and the food was truly scrumptious 😀😀😀

Finally, it was time for home ...