Dear Prime Time member,

Hasn’t it been a momentous week? The news about the Duke of Edinburgh which, although shouldn’t have been entirely unexpected, still came as a shock. Listening to his life story, I myself had not realised how much he had sacrificed in the early years of his marriage; normally expecting twenty years of so having a ‘normal ‘ life and career, but instead taking on very quickly the full-time roll of Queen’s consort. I learned a lot about him that I had not known or had known but forgotten!   I expect this may bring back memories for you too, some poignant some peaceful, of loved ones lost; either recently or in times past. It’s times like these we really miss hugs from families and friends. I pray that God’s love will sustain you all.

Di’s letter last week was suggesting we remember things in our past, invoked through sights, sounds and smells. I suppose my favourite would be the smell of new mown grass, reminding me of caravan holidays in the Lake District. But my very earliest memory is of sitting in a tin bath in front of the fire. Did you have one of those? Then we progressed to a weekly bath in an upstairs bathroom, but only one filling of water for all of us. I was third in line! And yes, old newspapers came in handy…… well, we did come from Yorkshire. The latest loo roll shortage didn’t faze me a bit.

Di and I have obviously got a lot in common. I also got married in 1969 and watched the moon landing actually on our honey ‘moon’  on the hotel television.  I also made my blue bridesmaids dresses on an old treadle machine in the basement of the YWCA I lived in at the time; and ironed them with one of those flat irons that you only see now in the servant’s quarters of National Trust houses.

Now, can anyone visualise Di as a cowgirl? Well, that gave me a chuckle. The nearest  memory I can get to that is having a crush on Hopalong Cassidy, a goody two shoes cowboy on TV in about the fifties. Does anyone remember him? I saved for ages to buy his  annual. Can anyone remember the name of his horse?  Mind you, he did have a very deep sexy voice. (Hopalong, not the horse).

I asked husband for his earliest recollection, and found out he doesn’t  even remember getting married (which I can assure him we did!)

It’s been lovely going down Memory Lane but I just wish my short term memory was as good!  All those jokes about going upstairs and forgetting what you had gone up for are no longer funny!

Lockdown is gradually starting to ease, the weather is warming up and we must find the courage to emerge and start living again. I must admit I haven’t found Penny’s seven daisies yet,  although I have seen seven snowflakes, and lots of bright cheerful daffodils. Zoom has been invaluable, but I can’t wait  to start meeting you all again. I hope you feel the same.

Keep going. We are nearly there!

With love and many blessings,

Olwen x

Olwen Downhill

Primetime Team Member

Dear Prime Time member,

Well here we are already on the second day of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.  Although the past three months may at times have felt dull and dreary while we’ve been confined to barracks due to the most recent Lock Down; I know I’m not alone in thinking that, in many ways, the time seems actually to have passed quite quickly.  I’m not sure that it feels as though more than three months have passed since we celebrated Christmas.  Even though the Christmas festivities were more muted than usual last year, the occasion definitely was marked; but in my mind it doesn’t feel as though more than a quarter of a year has passed since we were singing carols and opening presents.  But the calendar assures me that this is so.  We passed the Spring Equinox on March 20th which heralds the astrological first day of Spring and last weekend the clocks went forward signalling the start of British Summer Time.  And although according to the weather forecast, temperatures are set to plummet in the next couple of days which will have the effect of making it feel as though we are still in the depths of winter; this last week we’ve had a few days when the mercury rose higher than it sometimes does in the height of summer!

According to an article I read this week however, there is yet another measure by which we can declare spring has (or hasn’t!) arrived; because according to ancient lore, spring has only arrived when you can fit seven daisy flowers under your foot.  A quick scan of our lawn at home shows it to be completely devoid of daisy flowers; there isn’t one let alone seven in a space small enough to be covered by my foot print!  So from that, are we to surmise that spring hasn’t yet arrived in this part of south-east England?!?

The easing of Lock Down restrictions and the hope brought by the vaccine roll-out feel something akin to spring at the end of a long, hard winter brought about by the pandemic.  As we look to the future with renewed hope that the worst of the pandemic may at last be behind us, I am reminded of a verse from the Song of Solomon; Chapter 2, Verses 11-12; 

‘For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come… 

And as a church family, we will be actively singing tomorrow for the first time in  more than a year as we gather together (outside) for our Easter Day services.  Both services are now fully booked to attend in person, but please do join us online via our YouTube channel.  The links to the services are easy to find on the Homepage of our website: www.bhcgodalming.org  The service from Hambledon starts at 9am, while the one at Busbridge is a little later – 10.15am.  Both can be watched live, or viewed later in their recorded form.

Our Rector Simon writes: ‘We’re waiting for the end to restrictions, distance relationships and lack of community and the end of this phase of the amazing vaccine effort but as a Christian I know that there is another ending. It is the ending longed for in Scripture across generations and it is the defeat of the darkness of evil. The ending which arrives at Easter is the resurrection of Jesus… There is hope for tomorrow and in it I invite you to remember that yours is a precious God given life. Easter means the waiting is over and we have a new life to live which takes us to the end of time’.

Easter and Spring are full of symbolism pointing to ‘new beginnings’ and ‘new life’, none more so than the tradition of the chocolate eggs which are now synonymous with Easter.  This Easter it has not been possible for BHC to host its annual Easter Egg Hunt in the gardens of the Old Rectory.  However, so as not to leave the younger members of our community disappointed for the second year running, my colleagues in the Children, Youth and Families Team have devised Easter Egg Treasure Hunts in both Busbridge and Hambledon which can be completed at any time in the next two weeks.  So if you have grandchildren visiting during the Easter holidays for their permitted ‘garden visits’ or you have neighbours with young children, do tell them about the BHC Easter Egg Treasure Hunts.  Treasure Hunt flyers can be picked up from the porches at both churches and further details can be found on our website: https://www.bhcgodalming.org/cyf-easter-egg-hunt where you will also find a promotional video which fully explains how this Egg Hunt works.  Even if you don’t know any young children, it’s worth watching the video for sheer entertainment value and to marvel at the ingenuity of my colleagues!  (You will also be introduced to Sheepy who has become something of a local internet sensation over the past year with the very youngest members of our church family).

I’ll be taking a bit of a break for the next two weeks as it is the school holidays; but fear not – your weekly Prime Time email will still be arriving regularly in your inbox courtesy of the lovely volunteers on the Prime Time Team.  On my return from leave, I will begin compiling the Prime Time Lock Down Year Book, so if you have any further contributions, please do get them to me either via email or post over the next couple of weeks.  My final suggestion for things that could be included in the Year Book are personal reflections from the past year.  What has the last year meant to you?  Has it been frustration after frustration or have there been some positives to come out of the experience as well?  What have you learnt about yourself or the world?  What have you discovered you’re capable of?  If a future generation was to face a worldwide pandemic, what advice would you give to them?  In your opinion what lessons need to be learned?  A copy of our Year Book will be stored in the church archive.  What words about the pandemic of 2020 would you like to speak out of the pages of our Lock Down Year Book?  This is your opportunity to have your voice recorded for posterity – so please don’t hold back.  I look forward to reading what you come up with.

It just remains for me to wish you a peaceful and peace-filled Easter and the extra joy that the easing of some of the Lock Down restrictions may bring.

Until  next time,

Penny x