Dear Friends,

‘In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground’.

This short passage from St Luke’s gospel tells of Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion. Whilst he prayed, his disciples slept.

I sometimes wonder if it is passages like this that help to make prayer such a mystery. The most frequent questions I am asked is ‘What is prayer?’ ‘How do I do it?’ ‘What good does prayer do?’ To give even half satisfactory answers to such huge issues would take much more space than I have here – and I am not sure that I could give entirely satisfactory answers to all the questions anyway.

The former Archbishop Michael Ramsey describes prayer thus,

‘We need to see Christian prayer not as an isolated religious exercise but as an aspect of a many sided converse between human beings and their creator’. Put more simply there was the little girl who began all her prayers with ‘Mr God, this is Anna.’ In the charming book of the same title, Anna speaks to God quite simply and directly about all the things that interest, excite or trouble her. Perhaps this is a good place for us to start, for Michael Ramsey too suggests that one of our problems with prayer is that we draw too a rigid frontier between prayer and life. The joy that we feel at seeing a beautiful sunset, for example, is as valid a prayer as time spent on our knees.

The other difficulty with praying is that most of us assume others are better at it than us! Also that we have to use special words and phrases before God will listen – and that he probably has so many calls on his time that perhaps we should not bother him with our trivialities. Not so! I believe that nothing is too small for us to share with God, and no ordinary language inappropriate. Probably, too, most people feel that their own prayers are less than adequate – but that is not a good reason for giving up!

In this Diocese there is an opportunity to explore prayer – and different ways of praying. On Saturday 7^th May, there is another ‘Exploring Prayer’ day in St. Albans Abbey. Participants are invited to consider such diverse things as T’ai Chi and painting as bases for prayer. A booklet detailing all the options is available at the back of the Church. I hope to be going; if you are interested in joining me, please let me know as soon as possible so that our booking forms can be in well before the March 31^st deadline.

We shall be thinking of the agony of Jesus’ prayer in the garden this month, as we approach the solemn and joyful season of Easter. How wonderful if, unlike his disciples, we could be found awake and praying with Him!

Yours in Christ

Jo

Christians throughout the world as we celebrate Holy Week and Easter

Our bishops, Christopher, Richard and Christopher

The people of Israel and Palestine and peace initiatives in that region

‘Feet on Earth: Eyes on Heaven’ The Diocesan Prayer Day in St Albans Abbey is on Saturday 7^th May from 9.45am – 3.30pm., followed by Cathedral Evensong at 4.00pm. If you are interested in going, please see the booklet at the back of church, or telephone me on 01234 881312.

Jo Spray

We are hoping to hold another Easter Workshop for children in the Manor Room on Saturday 19^th March from 2.30pm – 4.00pm (please note the change of time) Would children under five please bring a grown up?

The Revd Robert Evens is to be installed as Priest in Charge of Sharnbrook and Knotting with Souldrop on Tuesday June 14^th. We wish Caroline and Robert well in their new parish.

The next coffee morning will be at 10:15am on Saturday 12^th March at 25 Norfolk Road, hosted by David and Jenny Allender. There will be a raffle and bring-and-buy stall for which contributions especially of cakes would be much appreciated.

Last month's coffee morning at Holmwood House raised £376.20 towards church funds. A big thank you to Richard and Judith Bray for hosting a very enjoyable and highly successful event and to everyone who helped with and supported it.

Easter is approaching rapidly and we need to order lilies as soon as we can. If you would like to donate a lily or other flowers in memory of a loved one, please let Anne Claypole White know in good time (( 881661).

There are still a number of blank spaces on the flower rota, please sign up if you would like to help. The rota is in the church porch.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 17^th March, communion in All Saints’ at 2:30pm followed by tea in the Manor Room.

Little Lights will meet on the following Mondays in Church at 2:30pm: 7^th March, 9^th May, 6^th June and 4^th July. Please note, no meeting in April.