Goodhand in Banbury

It seems wherever we have lived we end up changing which supermarket we go to, preferring to shop at our nearest.  In moving to Banbury we sort of had a choice but have opted for Sainsbury's. There are other supermarkets available!!! We are all aware that such companies gather information about our shopping habits. This can be a little disconcerting to know so much information is held by such companies.  So I should not have been surprised when a message came in on their app revealing a breakdown of our shopping habits since we moved here. It's amazing as it breaks down the number of total shops we have made. It tells us how much we spend on various areas from fruit and veg , dairy, bakery, household and cleaning. Then it told us our top three purchases through these weeks.  But we laughed out loud to see that we are the number one buyers of Staffordshire Oatcakes in Banbury. They represent part of our past. For we had lived in the potteries at one stage for twelve  years and O

 It felt like a packed house at this month's Table Talk gathering at St Hugh's where numbers continue to grow. A real buzz in the air and once again there was an abundance of food to keep us going. The focus was John Rutter's music. So with a couple of John Rutter clips speaking about how he felt music has an ability to create community, we then listened to and attempted to sing some pieces he had written. We had in our minds and conversation how important music was to our well being, our spiritual journey, our faith.  Now I may be no singer, and when I have been leading worship, someone close to me has said "mime"   I always remind myself that John Bell of the Iona Community would never have it that someone cannot sing, "We all have the voice of an angel"!  I do enjoy music, hymns and songs, and words are very important to me. While I understood where John Rutter was coming from, and that music can enable community, I equally know that in Church life it

 It's a common statement that people who thought they were about to die had their lives flash before their eyes. It must be a very quick movie if you're getting on in years!!  Well it was a bit like that for me at church while attending the Christmas midnight communion. As I have commented previously it's my favourite service of the Advent and Christmas period. As I sat savouring the atmosphere my mind played back a rich variety of services from the annual carol service of the Cambridge Fire Service at St Ives, to images of young people at Highlands with their 5pm service, right through to I think every church I have ever been Minister of. It was a kind of taking stock, of being thankful and knowing I've done my bit. So I immersed myself in the sense of waiting and watching knowing all that could be done had been. But one little thought kept coming to my mind. Who would light the final white candle of the advent ring? For 38 years I have taken the opportunity of lightin