Dear Friends,It is rather a gift to come back from a silent retreat into the busy-ness of parish life and for the gospel for the week to be the story of Jesus visiting the sisters Mary and Martha!

Many thanks to all who have handled the "many things" that came up while I was away.The story reminds us that Jesus is present in a house where there is both quiet sitting and energetic action. The "one thing" he encourages the sisters to notice is their enjoyment of his presence and his love of being with them. He asks us to notice that wherever we are in life too.

This weather is for some a time to enjoy closeness to God in the glory of the natural world, for others it is a trying heat to live with, a time for being still and finding the calm and cooler places of the house. May we each find what we need this week to travel through the heat wave well.

With the fields around us bleaching out in the sun, its time to look towards the next agricultural festival of the year: Lammas. All are invited to Martinhoe on Sunday 31st July at 3pm for a short service of thanksgiving for the beginning of the harvest season and then a cream tea. This is a fifth Sunday and it would be nice to take this opportunity to meet up as members from our different churches in the Mission Community coming together to enjoy each other's company.

God bless

Samantha