NOVEMBER 2005

I regret that I've had no response yet to my appeals earlier this year, We will still need help in the New Year with magazine deliveries in the areas of Acacia Road, Henby Way and South Hill Close. Please get in touch with me for further information.
My latest stay at Ethel Tipple Court where I was lucky to renew so many friendships prompted the theme for this month's Musings. I value the friends I have made over the years; some friendships grow gradually while others are made within a few minutes of first meeting when you seem to have known each other for ages. A few years ago, I was told that a lot of people would like to be friends with me as I was treasurer then! (The same person told the Bishop that the parish was lucky to have me in that post as my mobility problems meant I would have difficulty running off with the funds).
One friend had just become a voluntary helper at E.T.C.; I last saw her when she used to come to the Good Shepherd Church before her marriage almost 20 years ago! Amongst my new friends was one who took the Sunday evening service. She told me that she reads this magazine after it is passed on by a Thorpe friend! "We can pick our friends but not our relatives", was quoted by my late mother at an anniversary party, adding that her relatives were her friends.
"A friend in need is a friend indeed" - that's why I carry an organ donor card. I've resisted the temptation to end with my Friends poem; instead, here are some quotations which I like; I hope you do as well.
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"Live so that your friends can defend you, but never have to." - Arnold Glasow
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"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." - Anon
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"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost." - Charles Caleb Colton
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“Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their colour. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense and choosing your friends by their colour is untenable.” - Anon.
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“A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your successes.” - Doug Larson
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"The only way to have a friend is to be one." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Best wishes - be happy

DECEMBER 2005

When I was P.C.C. treasurer, I was especially aware of the need to increase the church’s income to ensure our survival amidst ever-mounting expenses. So I was pleased when the P.C.C. agreed to adopt a recommendation of the Finance Committee to increase in 2006 the monthly price of this magazine to 60p - we have maintained the current rate for almost 3 years, despite increased production costs! We also agreed to restore a discount for prompt payment, i.e. £7 for a year’s subscription if paid to your distributor by February 28. If you don’t know his/her address, please contact me and I’ll be pleased to let you know the relevant details. The magazine deliverers (all voluntary!) do a grand job and we are very grateful to them - please all help by paying on time (I know that most of us already do!). Some round up their payment as an opportunity to make an additional donation to the church which is most welcome (particularly when augmented by Gift Aid). I must note my thanks to those who have agreed to some extra deliveries next year (chiefly by enlarging existing rounds!). Unfortunately, I’ve not yet had any answer to my plea for help with magazines in the Henby Way area; please, will you help?

Increasing age often leads to regret of a career choice and “What if…………………?” has many answers. It can be interesting (and amusing!) to type your name into the “Search” section of a computer. For example, my name is shared with an estate agent, American footballer, cricketer, world record speed skater, building and landscaping contractor, psychic healer for animals, would-be dance partner, country singer-songwriter, university philosophy tutor and a functional artist. Beside being the pseudonym of the novelist, Darrell Figgis, ’Michael Ireland’ was the name of a convict transported to Australia before reputedly becoming the Attorney General! My thoughts lead on to this month’s selection of quotations:-

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"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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"Buried deep within each of us is a spark of greatness, a spark than can be fanned into flames of passion and achievement. That spark is not outside of you, it is born deep within you." - James A. Ray
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"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where theylead." - Louisa May Alcott
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"When you engage in systematic, purposeful action, using and stretching your abilities to the maximum, you cannot help but feel positive and confident abut yourself." - Brian Tracy
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Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely and the likely definite. - Robert Half
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"I have a simple philosophy. Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches."
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth
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Finally, may I wish all readers a Happy Christmas.