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From the Rector Dear Everybody, hello again. Once again we shall be honouring the saints on All Saints Day, (Nov 1*), and remembering our departed loved ones on All Souls’ Day (Nov 2**). If you would like someone remembered in our prayers in church, whether you can be there or not, please leave a phone message at the Rectory before 6pm on November 2. Thirty years ago, counsellors would suggest to the bereaved that they should let go of the dead, and move on. Nowadays, many bereavement counsellors believe that it is just as emotionally healthy to have “continuing bonds” to the dead. Those for whom their departed loved ones are a real presence, as long as they don’t deny the reality of their death, are grieving in their own way. There are many roadside memorials, and others to mark those who have suddenly died. And it is also important to many people that graveyards should be appropriately kept. But then, some people like their graveyards shaggy and with lots of wildlife, whereas others like them neat. There has been debate about whether the Chapelfield development should have disturbed headstones in order to make the site neater. There are churchyard regulations that are intended to make memorials locally both personal and fair. They are posted in each church. Please do keep the graves of those you love tended and full of flowers. But please don’t put things there that make life more difficult for those who have to maintain the general appearance. But wherever our love ones are buried, we can keep their memory bright in our hearts, and follow their good examples. That is the best memorial. God bless you David Head
* Service in Bawdeswell, 7pm, followed
by refreshments
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