Envoi, from the 1928 Church of England Prayer Book

Ben Crick, veteran Church of England minister in Birchington, Kent posted this prayer that is said in farewell to those dying. I think it is wonderful.

Go forth upon your journey from this world, Christian soul:
in the name of God the Father almighty who created you;
in the name of Jesus Christ who suffered for you;
in the name of the Holy Spirit who strengthens you:
in communion with the blessed saints,
and aided by angels and archangels, and all the armies of the heavenly host. Amen. May your portion this day be in peace,
and your dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem. Amen.

Special memories

This article on the Focus on the Family website reminded me of a story my tax agent's wife told me one day.

Do you ever wonder what memories your children will treasure when they become adults? Down the road, you may be surprised by what they recall.

Picture this scene: It is your daughter's 10th birthday. You want to make her party extra special. After all, she has told you every day for the past month that she is finally in the double digits and "no longer a child." You have plotted a surprise birthday party for weeks. You've invited her friends, bought snacks, hung pink and purple streamers, blown up balloons, spent hours meticulously decorating the cake and hired Sparkles the Clown. The guests arrive, and the party is a huge success.

Years later, as the two of you swap your favorite memories, your daughter mentions her 10th birthday. You assume she will rave about the beautiful cake and Sparkles' funny balloon animals, but instead she recalls how much fun it was to ride in the van with you to pick up doughnuts for breakfast. Not only were doughnuts a special treat, but the one-on-one time she had with you was also priceless. You sit dumbfounded and wonder what other simple memories she holds dear that you do not even remember.

We were idly chatting about the drizzling rain one day, when Mrs M told me what she and Mr M used to do when living in a small house with kids getting under their feet on a miserable day. She and Mr M would get them decked out in their wet weather gear, and take them out for a walk in the rain.

Years later the kids told her that these walks were one of the special times of their childhood. What Mr and Mrs M did in desperation was something to treasure!

When Writing About Those With Whom You Disagree

I got this from Ardel Caneday, who got it from Ken Keathley. I think it is something we all need to learn, especially me.

What Are The Best Ways To Engage In A Debate?
1. Describe your opponent's position in such a way that he can recognise it.
2. Know your opponent's position well enough that you could argue it for him.
3. Write as if your opponent and you were going to dinner together after you finish.

Keathley concludes, "Have I followed all three rules in all of my writings? I must confess that I have not. But I want to. And by God’s grace I hope to 'love my neighbor as myself' even when I’m disagreeing with him."

Capetown 2010

Are you taking the opportunity to participate in the Third Congress on
Evangelism and World Mission being held now in Capetown?

For those of us who can't be there, there are podcasts [audio and video, but so
far I have only found vodcasts] available on iTunes and also at Youtube and from
The Capetown 2010 website.

This is the first time that such a worldwide conference can be available to so
many people around the world.

I'm downloading and watching the vodcasts and hoping to interest folk in my
church in doing this also.