Ghostbusters and cinnamonbuns, somewhat edited and pictures added!!

John 11:25    " I am the Resurrection and the Life"
Those are the encouraging words I look upon when leading service in S.t Gertrud.

    Goodmorning!! Or rather, goodafternoon!!!

    This morning I for once had the time to join the morningprayer-group in the nearby chapel,       but for some reason it was cancelled, probably due to the concert with the Gospelstompers
    that took place there last night, and no, I didn't attend it. I intended to when I saw the add
    some weeks ago but the youngest daughter, a bit of a loner from time to time, wanted to
    see the Ghostbusters with us and we couldn't say no to such an invitation.

   So this morning I went for a prayerwalk instead in this humid and suffocating weather.
   It seems that praying is needed all around the clock,  we must not lose our hope and turn to
   other sources of power and peace, that won't hold. Not as the sole focus of our attention and 
   affection anyway. Praying is a way of communicating with someone very much alive, loving 
   and powerful. If you forget the "loving" part, the prayer might actually be harmful and lead 
   to darker thoughts than was intended. The times are dark enough as it is, even now when    creation stands in its prime and flourishing sundaybest.  Hope must prevail!
  Praying is kind of a ghostbusting, but for real,  if you excuse the bad parable.

   There is a change in the weather coming up, the swallows are extremly swift and brisky
   in the air above me, they tend to narrow up in the dives and I'm crouching although I don't 
   have to.  Much higher up the greylag geese are powering up for the coming longflight,
   they do a lot of that all autumn and so do other birds. The crane and the heron are not so
   common in our part of the country but they can be both seen and heard occasionally
   when they are mowing on. The crane is beautiful, sitting on his pole like a port guardian.
   There was none in the harbour today so I headed back to our garden.

The moist glittering in the hydrangea, these grow larger every year, but this spring my husband cut them
down so bitterly that I feared they would never recover, but, behold!!!

If you have good eyes you can see the little fellow working inside the hollyhock.

   













    

This week we have something called Roadchurch, a phenomena that was much larger some
    years ago with maps to follow all over the country. It basically means that the church is
    open in daytime, and someone is there to guide and welcome visitors. Sad enough, many of
    our countryside churches are closed, there are not enough  people to take care of them and
    if they are left open and unattended much harm have been done to them from time to time,
    and irreplaceable artefacts have been stolen or broken. I know, it's only things, but still.
   

This is a very typical churchyard for a countryside church. Some of the headstones can't tell any stories since the letters are all gone.

         

Yes, you have seen it before, this old churchwall!!

The tower wasn't built until 1861, the vaults in the church were built in the 15th century.
Before the vaults the ceiling was all flat and the windows small. We still use real candles,
especially in winter and christmastime. The service today was bright and many people attended.

The altarpiece of our oldest church, as you can see parts of it from 14th century. 

    So for a week or two churches that are normally closed weekdays now open up. A service
    and some invited guests to sing and play, prayer and hymns and then some coffee with the
    traditional homebaked wheatbread, spongecake and shortbread served by volunteering
    ladies in the parish house. Our oldest church is located close to a larger road so.....
    

Cinnamonbuns ready to be served!!

    This monday I was there with a friend of mine, cantor in the neighbouring parish, and we
    had a program with songs, both in church and afterwards.  I enjoy singing , in two different 
    choirs, and sometimes solo. I am no Birgit Nilsson, but it's sufficient. Today, two of my   
    colleagues, one with her daughter and one with her sister, played and sang, it was very lovely!

    And perhaps you now wonder, did we enjoy the film???
    Well, leaving all sensible thinking aside, keeping only two hours of good and childish fun: Yes
    indeed we did!  It stands on its own, although it refers to the 1984-piece frequently, something
    only a filmnerd can appreciate I suppose.  The cast is actually brilliant, the plot, well...
    My girls seem to appreciate Chris Hemsworth as receptionist, quite a lot...
    Maybe next post will be a memorylane for some of my favourite films through the years..?