While life has been on this planet for 3.8 billion years, consciousness emerged less than a billion years ago and the self-conscious life that marks our humanity is probably no more than 250,000 years old. To be self-conscious is to relate to life in a new way.
We become aware first that only self-conscious human beings know that we are alive and thus only self-conscious beings also know that we will die. It is not easy to embrace mortality and yet human beings must do it every day. Only self-conscious human beings live knowingly inside the medium of time.
One of the glories of self-consciousness is that human beings form lifelong relationships, which remember the past, transcend the present, and anticipate the future. Because of this capacity we are able to give ourselves to those we love.
It is in that gift, however, that we also awaken to the vulnerability of losing the ones we love. Yet who among us would sacrifice our most precious life-giving relationships to avoid the inevitable pain of losing that relationship? Is it not in loving another and in giving ourselves to another that the essence of living and the joy of meaning are found? It is not easy to be human, but does not the joy outweigh the pain?
So we have to choose. I seek to choose life and love. I choose life-giving relationships even though this means that I must eventually endure pain and loss. Having once made that decision, I recognise next that in embracing the self-consciousness of humanity, I am propelled beyond my limits to a new vision of what life can be. I escape the limits of time and space and there encounter an ultimate reality, which I can experience but never define. That is the reality, but still the mystery, that I now call God.
I experience God not as a being, but as the ground of all being, which means that if God is identified with being, the only way I can worship God is to have the courage to be all that I can be. The more I am myself the more I make God visible. That is when I am forced to acknowledge that living is not about the quantity of days, but about the quality of life.
I will not avoid the vulnerability that comes with self-consciousness because that is what enables me to live, to love, and to be, and that is the experience that also relates me to God. It is also in giving myself to others in relationships that I discover that I transcend time, and that is the moment when I touch eternity. Eternity is entered when I allow someone else to be part of me and allow myself to be part of someone else. Eternity involves recognising that no one can be human alone.
I have also learned that it is in sharing life, love, and being with others that I begin to recognise that I am part of who God is and God is part of who I am, and that all of us are part of those we love and they are part of us.

It was wonderful to have a full church to welcome baby Joshua into the family of Christ at his baptism in May. Led by Mike Catling, it was a moving & inspiring occasion, with the congregation all seated facing the font, our focus for the service.
On the third Sunday in July, we shall have more "All Age Worship" at 11am. Welcome to all who come.
Looking forward, there will be a Forest Walk on August. This is our usual fund raising for the British Red Cross. Led by John Voysey, with soup enjoyed afterwards in the church.
We had a very well supported Coffee Morning at the Gurneys’ in June, their garden was a joy on such a lovely day. You all helped us raise £420. Thank you.
"Fordante", five excellent musicians gave us a concert of light classical music one evening.
The Adforton Lecture featured Sir Leslie Fielding speaking fascinatingly on " Is Diplomacy Dead?".
We hosted a half-term "Story Telling" one glorious morning sitting on a sunlit bank in one of John Miles’ fields, being transported into fairy landscapes, or African folk lore, while spiders wove their webs around us. It has been a busy month in Adforton.
A. V.
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BRAMPTON BRYAN The church of St Barnabas

On Sunday 23rd May there was a very happy celebration in our church. It was filled with ninety people, mostly families with lots of lovely young children, all well behaved. The occasion was the baptism of Alice Elizabeth Mary the daughter of Jane and Edward Jones of Heartsease Cottage Knighton. And baby Alice was best behaved of all. When the rector named her she enjoyed every moment of it and seemed to understand every word he said. This delightful baby won the hearts of the congregation as well as the rector who didn’t seem to want to hand her back to her parents! It was a lovely, happy service which has been a talking point in the days following and one we will all remember.
We welcome Alice Elizabeth Mary into the family of Christ’s church and ask for his blessing upon her as she grows in the knowledge of his love.

Now to fund raising eventsJuly 3rd Aqua Vitae on Brockley meadow.

Then SCARECROW SUNDAY ON AUGUST 1st
The theme this year is Cookery and Food
So there will be ‘Celebrity Chefs’ in abundance
Lunches, teas and all refreshments will be available(not prepared by the scarecrows you will be relieved to hear).
As usual the event will take place in and around the village of BB, there will be activities, children’s sports, stalls and organ recitals.
This year all are invited to join in. Build a Scarecrow on the theme,Bring him/her along to join the throng.Contact Mrs S Harley 01547530241. Mrs J Richards 01547 540487

Brampton Bryan WI
On June 10th we welcomed Brimfield WI, a new branch of the Hereford Federation to our meeting. Foregoing our business meeting, we first showed our enthusiastic visitors around the village before gathering in the Hall. There followed a very amusing and interesting talk by Author Kate Charles about her life as a “CLERICAL” crime writer. A good time was enjoyed by all, and of course our refreshments were greatly appreciated by everyone.
At our next meeting, on July 8th, we welcome the Leintwardine WI to hear about the works of the NSPCC. A McF

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It has been a quiet month in Downton which, in some ways, is a nice change, so perhaps now is the time to say a big thank you to all the ladies who clean the church, decorate it with flowers and generally keep it looking at its best.

Welcome to Eddy, Sara and their daughters who have moved into Stony Yeld. We hope that they settle in well. We say goodbye to John and Carol Donnelly who have moved to Craven Arms, and we wish them all the best in their new home.
RR

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ELTON The church of St Mary the Virgin

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LEINTHALL STARKES The church of St Mary Magdalene

The summer is here and hopefully some good weather to look forward to.
At last Derrick of Garden House hopes he has had the last of his operations and is steadily on the mend and it is nice to have seen him venturing out and wish him a continued recovery. He and Liz would like to thank everyone for the cards and good wishes over the past months.
The Open Garden and Cream Teas at Orchard View Leinthall Starkes in June attracted about 60 people who despite the rain seemed to enjoy the garden and teas.- Many thanks again to David and Ruth Perkins for generously opening their lovely garden and for all the hard work organizing the event and to everyone who made cakes and helped on the day. An amazing £505 was raised for LS Church.
At the Village Meeting in May Anne Stead was elected Chair and Jane Smith Secretary. Many thanks to Stuart and Margaret Peach who have done an excellent jobs in these roles in the past few years. Thanks to the Parish Council for providing the annual skip.
Congratulations to Teme Valley YFC on winning the Herefordshire Rally in May which is the main competitions event of the YFC year-many of the members live in our parish. The last time the club won was 19 years ago.
Dates for L Starkes Diary:
Sat 3rd July-Aqua Vitae Event Leintwardine-items for event especially bottles for the tombola to David Perkins
Sat 10th July Churchyard tidy –please bring along strimmers and clippers etc
Sun 15th Aug Village get together
Flower and Cleaning Rota
Sunday 11th July- Margaret and Gary Ward. D. P.
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LEINTWARDINE - then - Pat Griffiths' report from Nigeria and the Evergreens report

After her delayed departure to Uzuakoli because of the volcanic ash, it is good to see Pat Griffiths safely back with us. She is giving us a talk on her visit in the Methodist Chapel on June 16th, (after the magazine goes to press this month).
We are pleased to hear that some of the money collected in the Parish has been used to install sinks in the hospital wards.
On Sunday 20th June, Tom Bowes will be giving a recital in the Church, organized by the Friends of Mary Magdalene. This is a return visit by popular request.
A group of people gathered on the 15th of June to gather the hay which has been cut. The weather was kind and the day a success. Thank you to all the ‘Hay Makers’.
The Wigmore Parish “Watery Event” is taking place on Saturday, 3rd July. It should be great fun and let us hope that the water is not in the skies. M. P W.

Report from Pat Griffiths recent trip Nigeria

Return Visit Nigeria 2010 Royal Cross Hospital - Motherless Baby Home

Volcanic ash, two cancelled flights and 2 nights in Lagos delayed my trip to the Nigerian Bush Hospital by one week – with no time to waste I launched into an action packed stay. I had been asked to give a series of lectures to all the Royal Cross Hospital staff. My flight delays allowed me time to research fundamental guidelines here in the UK prior to my departure. We kicked off with Professional Code of Conduct – ‘How to love your patients’, Infection Control, and Tropical Medicine Health Promotion. The Hospital was extremely busy so I made myself available to fit around shift patterns and work load. A good deal of time was spent setting up documents to streamline the nursing guidelines and administrative load. Thanks go to Chief Paul Okorie, Hospital Administrator, who facilitated the instillation of 15 hand washing sinks throughout the wards during my three week stay. £1,500, half the donations collected locally went to funding the majority of this project.
Time spent at the Motherless Baby Home in Uzuakoli showed a very favourable glimpse of how well cared for and healthy the babies are. Matron Mary van den Corput told me of how the Home runs fundamentally on local good will donations. Living by faith, they are blessed by local gifts of food and resources - often praying before 11th hour needs are met. Water remains a basic need which Matron Mary Corput tells me our donations go towards. It is a privilege to be able to draw alongside this worthy cause and see firsthand how well managed the Home is. Our gifts of baby clothes, blankets and toys were gratefully received.
Warm thanks, prayers and good wishes are extended to all of you from Bishop Ekeleme, Dr Hans van den Corput, Chief Paul Okorie (Royal Cross Hospital) and Matron Mary van den Corput (Motherless Baby Home) as well as staff and patients. Our continued support and wonderful generosity is greatly appreciated and valued- I had a deep sense of the necessity of your invaluable prayer cover during my stay.
Thank you so very much. The Ecumenical family of Anglicans in Wigmore Abbey, Knighton Baptists and Methodists, Peace Fellowship as well as Friends, Patients and family pulled together and were privileged to make a valuable and worthwhile contribution to this Nigerian Bush Community. Our thanks to Bob Jarrett, of the Uzuakoli Support Group who kindly processed our funds.
Every Blessing Pat Griffiths

Leintwardine EVERGREENS

To our meeting on 25th May, held in the Methodist chapel, we welcomed Jo Catling, who had come to give us an appreciation of the Roman way of life. Living as she had been near to Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, she was well versed in the customs and duties of a Roman garrison, and its skirmishes with the Celts. Leintwardine, on the other hand, had at about the same time been developing into a Roman township, with its emphasis on merchant traders and the marketplace.

Jo showed us fragments of many household articles, together with modern replicas in pottery and glassware, as well as producing examples of Roman games. She told us which vegetables and spices would have been available to the Romans, and produced a very tasty honey cake and a kind of savoury cake, both made in the Roman style. She emphasized that it was during this period that craft production went from an individual to a factory basis, and that because the Romans wrote things down, built in stone, and made pottery, we know so much about their way of life. Our thanks to Jo for an interesting and informative talk.

Housekeeping:
* Twenty-seven members were welcomed to the meeting today.
* Derek Savage has agreed to be our Treasurer, replacing Douglas Clarke.
* The recent coffee morning in the Community Centre raised £387.
* By a show of hands it was agreed that our next trip would be to the Three Shires garden centre at Newent where, following a stop for coffee at Ledbury, we will have lunch. The coach will depart from the usual pick-up points at 10.a.m. on June 30th.

After partaking of sandwiches and cakes, followed by the raffle, the meeting closed around 4.30 pm. B.G.D.
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This month the herringbone stone work has now been sealed with lime mortar,and is looking very good indeed.
Richard and Selina Bailey have cleaned the church after all the dust etc that was made during the work,a big thanks to them both for doing this.
We have all been enjoying looking at the local gardens that have been open for their churches and other charities.
Wigmore is busy getting ready for its stalls at the Wigmore Abbey fete in Brockley Meadow on July the 3rd. If anyone
would like to help us with this event, please call on 01568770127.
The school concert is in the church on July 8th at 2pm,we do hope you will come along to hear the children's music. J M

WIGMORE COMMUNITY FUN DAY - SATURDAY24TH JULY 2010
WIGMORE SCHOOL PLAYING FIELDS 2PM - 5PM
The Rhythm Thieves Tug of War Welly Wanging, Wizard WonkyRounders, Children's RacesPenalty Shoot-out CompetitionBeer Tent, Tea TentFace-Painting, Fortune TellerTombola Stalls and GamesFREE ADMISSION

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