Three Sundays done, and three to go. Time for another blog post.
This is the church where I have the honour to serve for the last Sunday of June and the five in July: three commemorating apostles Peter, Thomas and James (hence the red altar frontal and chasuble) and three in Ordinary Time (when the colour is green).
Last Sunday was the only one when I needed to write a sermon from scratch. My written text was based on one verse in the gospel: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light…” Within that verse, I concentrated on the single word, “yoke”, from oppression and slavery in the Old Testament, to Jesus sharing our burdens and calling us to share the burden of others.
It’s a relief to read the covering message from the churchwardens when they send out the recording of the service, and see that they got the point.
On Friday I was invited to tea with David, one of the Churchwardens, and his wife Florenda, in the country near the village of Assat, about 12 km away.
We went for a short walk, curtailed from 8 km to 4 in order to get back to their house before a thunderstorm which deposited two deckchairs into their swimming pool. (The photo was taken before this happened!)
The next day, as previously planned, I walked to Assat, with its decorative bridge over the Gave de Pau, and back to Bizanos on the outskirts of Pau, 20 km. After a climb to the Chateau de Franqueville for the view, the path was mainly through woodland along the river, with occasional sight and or sound of the water.
Now it’s Monday, and too hot for a long walk. I signed up for a sightseeing tour of places associated with Henri IV and his family. The other 19 participants knew a lot more about the subject than I did! Here is Henri turning his back on the Pyrenees.
In the afternoon, I visited the English corner of the cemetery, where a number of 19th century graves, possibly some of members of the St Andrew’s congregation, have been restored by the city.
This meant walking back through the Place de la Liberation and stopping off for an ice cream. With 20 flavours on offer, I chose coffee and melon.
emeritablog: life after work 