Hi,

Snow!!!! I love snow…except when I’m standing on a hillside at 9pm in the dark and fog and snow, with not quite enough warm things, trying to work out which of many many tractors that are appearing out of the dark, all dressed in lights and tinsel and all have air horns (some of them have some really fancy ones that play all sorts of tunes) is our tractor and am trying to video all of the tractors without dropping the phone when my fingers are like ice blocks….no, I’m lying, I still like snow even then!

That’s what I was doing this weekend, watching my son and Mali his spaniel taking part in a tractor run. As I’ve told some of you already, I really didn’t think the tractor was going to make it. I thought I’d be spending the evening trying to find where he was broken down. Instead, he managed the whole journey and, bonus, his friend who had a newer, more powerful tractor and had been teasing him that he would tow his tractor home when it broke down, managed to run out of fuel and had to be rescued! Bonus for me was that the tractor didn’t break down so Mali stayed clean in the cab and I didn’t have to bath her when she got home.

I probably need to introduce you to the next of the dogs, because nobody can ignore Gwen for too long. She’s a complete goofball, who has the silliest grin and the fluffiest coat and, compared to Mali, is a pro at getting mud-bathed, rather than an amateur. Here is Gwen…

She is a pain to take for a walk because 9 times out of 10 when you take her for a walk she is a good girl. She trots along elegantly at your side, looking beautiful and well-behaved. That other 1 out of 10 time?…she goes feral! She galumphes around the place, pretends she can’t hear or doesn’t even know her name and runs as fast as her fluffy legs will carry her straight to the most disgustingly stagnant bit of ditch and dives straight in. The picture is one of her being walked home in disgrace after one of those times.

At home she is a complete princess. She is by far the prettiest of our dogs and is nicknamed Marilyn Monroe…we say that she has all of the glamour but that her brain is made up of mashed potato and elevator music. She is the kindest, gentlest girl who gives cuddles to anyone who is sad and brings her toys to anyone who has just arrived or is crying.

Lots of people wonder why we didn’t have a litter of puppies from her, but if they knew the truth about Gwen, they would know why we didn’t…..she was the baddest baby ever! She was wilful and had mostly chosen not to hear her name when we called. She chewed everything (our kitchen table has one slightly shorter leg because of her). She ate the curtains in a cottage when we were on holiday. A disgusting habit of hers is that she learned how to switch the air con on in the car and then loudly (and slobberily…it’s not a real word but it describes what happens) sucks the air out of the vents. Oh my goodness, its the kind of noise you wish you could burn out of your ear drums, it makes you never want to eat again and not ever own a retriever?…that! And she’s clever, that’s the problem. I switch the air con off and she waits til I’m concentrating on driving again, switches it back on and the slurping starts again. Can you imagine trying to survive with a litter of those??! Nope, no babies for Gwen, I don’t think I could cope with a whole load of them. One Gwen is quite enough!

You’ve probably noticed that my chief technical advisor and printer operator is back. That’s the good thing about having missed a week. So, last week’s letter was from the week before. This letter you will get this week but belongs to last week (so I have added photos in) and this week you will also get this week’s letter as well…loads of Blitherings! You can’t escape them 😂.

So now I’m going to move on to this week’s letter….

13th December 2023

I saw a mug this week that said “what a year this week has been”…and that’s how it feels!

This week I also saw this verse from Isaiah and have held on tight to it….I thought you might like to hold onto it too:

It’s been a ‘keep on keeping on’ sort of a week with lots of difficult things, all with good outcomes thankfully.

We had a hospital appointment with my eldest daughter’s main consultant. There is a big, scary decision about feeding tubes and nutrition to make as she deteriorates, but it wasn’t this time. This time we have continued to dodge the bullet. She’s a little bit thinner, her condition scores are a little bit worse, function has deteriorated a little bit….but not too much, so we keep on going as we were.

My husband is back home with us (and back working the printer!). Wow! Shingles is a nasty little beastie, isn’t it?! He’s still feeling a bit grim but he’s not infectious any more. Gwen was so pleased to see him she brought him all her toys, including her very favourite, bestest, much loved one.

We had an emergency, too, before Pete got back. Last week one of our yard cats (the joke in our house is that they were supposed to be stable cats but they turned out to be unstable cats because they are so spoiled) got knocked on the road. The yard cats have been with us since they were kittens, they’re now 10 years old and have a cosy thermal box by our back door, get fed a few times a day with cat food and also have the leftovers from our meals in the winter. I’m also slightly ashamed to say, they are so thoroughly spoiled that in the winter they have a microwaveable hot bottle that gets topped up a couple of times a day and is put in their kennel and they also come in to sleep in front of the kitchen fire in the evening. There are 2 of them, Claude and Mr. Roberts and it was Mr. Roberts that got hit.

He was thrown into a muddy ditch and came limping back home, absolutely covered in mud. My daughter, her carer and I set to bathing him. It’s just as well he is such a lovely boy, because he hates water but was still very well-behaved. We cleaned him up, dried him off, then took him to the vets to be checked over.

I didn’t think it through when I named him. He’s named after the old owner of our house. I hadn’t realised the awkwardness of his name….the vet calls out “Mr Roberts?” I stand up and say “that’s me”….meaning, of course, that’s my cat. The vet assumes that the cat cannot be called Mr.Roberts, cos obviously a cat won’t be called Mr. Roberts. And so we have that difficult moment when the vets looks me up and down to try to straighten out whether I am a ‘Mr.’ Roberts or not and I try to explain, in embarrassment, that the cat is actually the owner of the name and yes, he does get his full title. The vet examined him and discovered that he has what he thinks are 2 hairline fractures in his front leg, so we took him home with his indignation and some painkillers (he had to have a thermometer up his tail region and wasn’t best impressed) to sleep it off in front of the fire.

Two days later he came limping up to the house with a lump on the side of his head that tripled his head size. Off to the vets…the whole Mr Roberts?/that’s me drama all over again. This time he had a massive abscess on the side of his head where he’s been bitten by another cat. So not only did poor Mr. Roberts have a thermometer up his tail region this time, he also had his abscess burst and cleaned out, an antibiotic injection given and he was sent home with 10 days worth of antibiotic tablets as well. Not a happy Mr. Roberts. With all this, and the extra prep for Christmas and one man down with Pete being away, it’s definitely been a keep on keeping on sort of a week!

This next topic those of you who got these letters through Covid will be very familiar with….Meteor Showers!! There’s nothing like a bit of sky watching to keep us grounded, I think. This week its the Geminids meteor shower, which is one of the easiest to see without a telescope. Also there can be up to 150 meteors per hour depending on how active it is this year and it can be seen all over the sky, so if its active, you should be able to see it from your window, whichever way it faces! The Geminid meteor showers are well known for being colourful because they are caused by debris from a broken-up asteroid, and so chemicals and metals are released causing the colours.

What I would like you to do is…any time from 7.30pm on Thursday night which is the start of the best time to see it (don’t worry, its every night up to the 20th), brew yourself up a hot drink, switch out the light and sit as close to the window as you can. While you wait for your drink to cool and then drink it, your eyes will get used to the dark. Then start watching the sky and hopefully there won’t be too much cloud cover. It can take a bit to focus your eyes, so stay patient….I hope you see some! I always remember that the stars, moon, meteors that you can see are the same ones that your loved ones can see too. There are no fences in the sky. I love being aware of the majesty of creation, a very little part of the unimaginable scope of the universe…like when we were talking about the meaning of ‘fathoming’ a few weeks ago. I will be outside too, probably with 2 ‘unstable’ cats, definitely with a cup of coffee, sitting on the low wall in my garden watching to see if there are any shooting stars.

I’m going to leave this letter with a poem this week, it says everything I need it to say about a hero of mine…

Blessings,

Elizabeth

It’s gone cold…all of you will have noticed, I have no doubt about that. For me, I have cracked open the warm jumper cupboard but have yet to be seen in a coat. We have a wood burning stove in the kitchen and all the animals are wearing it as a scarf, apart from Dilys…this is the great advantage of being a short-legged sausage dog with a long-legged wood burning stove. She can fit underneath it! The stove is old but a really good one. If you look after it, it can stay lit for ages, chugging out a decent amount of heat day and night for weeks.

As the winter wears on and the stove has been lit for longer, Dilys’s fur goes thinner and thinner on the top of her head until she is pretty much bald. She gets hotter and hotter and with the heat the fur on her tummy wears off…mostly not a pretty sight at all. We all say that she looks a bit like a doberpig…the top half of a Doberman, the bottom half of a pig! This week you will just have to believe me on that because there will be no photos along with this newsletter…I will explain why later.

It’s been such a good year for berries, fruit and nuts in the hedgerows. The trees are fully-dressed in red berries and there are huge amounts of nuts on the hazelnut tree. I think I’ve told you before that there is an old farmer’s saying that if there are lots of berries on the trees that its going to be a cold winter. I think we are about to find that out! I always feed the birds outside the big window in my kitchen but in the winter, as well as the usual food, I bake them potatoes whenever I put the oven on and fill them with cheese and water-soaked raisins and watch the blackbirds and robins feasting on them.

This year I have to ask my son to fill the feeders for me because I asked him in the spring to put some hooks up for me for the feeders. I suppose I wasn’t specific enough…What I should have said is ‘put some hooks up so I can hang the feeders up’. He is 6 foot 5. I am not. He has now got the job of hanging the feeders up.

This week there has been lots of preparations going on. There is a Christmas tractor run at the weekend and our old tractor is being dragged into service and dressed up ready. It’s had Christmas lights, tinsel and…a new air horn! It’s been well-tested by most of our spare teenagers and I’m sure anybody in the same postcode as us is saying very rude things about us.

The thing that is worrying me about this is that this tractor run goes on for 5 hours. I’m not sure that the old boy (the tractor) still has 5 hours worth of drive in him…and some of the hills on the route are a bit steep. I’m just wondering where along the route I’m going to have to rescue my son and Mali from. At least Mali will be shut in the tractor cab…she can’t get into mischief and need a bath from there, can she?

So, no pictures this week. My chief technical advisor and printer of Blitherings, my husband Pete, has got shingles. He’s not feeling very good at all but has to go stay away from home because my eldest daughter hasn’t had chicken pox and it could be really bad for her system. So he and his dog Anya (for those of you that remember her, she’s the half-kangaroo, half-dog one) have had to go stay with relatives. The printer and I are not friends. We don’t even have any kind of mutual respect or working relationship. So you will only get this if I can persuade someone nice in Chaplaincy, who manages a better relationship with technical stuff, to print this out.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Hi,

Wow its gone cold…and its about to go colder. The jet stream is dropping down over Britain and allowing colder air to stream in so there is even a possibility of a bit of snow over the next few weeks. I know it won’t cheer you up but it will cheer my sausage dog Dilys up. Dilys loves the snow. For something with such short legs and such a ridiculous shape body, she really loves the snow…you would think that she wouldn’t. She creates snow-paths and slides on her tummy down our garden and plays catch-the-snowflake, leaping about our garden with far less dignity than a 10 year old sausage dog should.

So, those of you who haven’t met Dilys yet, here’s her story…

I used to work at a horse yard, years ago and on my way to work one morning I had a phone call from a friend. The friend knew my parents used to have sausage dogs and had heard of one that had been born with a deformity and the breeder wanted to have it put down. It was born with only 3 legs and the breeder didn’t want anyone to know about it, so either it needed rehoming quickly and quietly or she was going to have it put down. My parents at the time had recently retired and didn’t have a dog…so I phoned them. “No, no, couldn’t possibly have a dog” they said and we hung up. I sat there and counted 3…2…1…the phone rang again, “we would love to have it!”. So I left a message for my friend and went off to work.

The place I worked had absolutely no signal at all, so when I finished work and drove away I had a message from my friend saying they had found a home for the puppy. I phoned my parents and asked them how much trouble they thought 1 extra leg on a sausage dog would cause. “What do you mean?” “Well, if you were so excited about the thought of a 3 legged dog, why don’t you think about getting a 4 legged one?”

My Dad started searching the internet and found one not too far away. They went off and met the litter, they were just 3 days old when they saw them, and chose one of them.

I was in the middle of moving house at the time, that stage where there is absolute chaos, boxes everywhere, but nothing really packed up. I started dreaming about boxes when I tried to sleep…then I started having nightmares about boxes when I tried to sleep. I was complaining about it to my mum on a phone call so she suggested I have a day off and have a day out with mum and dad, to get away from it for a bit. We were going to go to the beach, but first we were going to pop in to see their puppy.

It was a really bad idea…I am sure you can guess! We popped in, met their puppy, I fell in love with a puppy and, back when farm-bred puppies were a sensible price and not post-Covid prices, they bought me one as my house warming present. I had to go back to my family, and my husband, and admit that I now had a puppy….and that was Dilys. The picture above is Maisie, my Mum and Dad’s dog (she’s the hairy one) and Dilys, my dog (she’s the smooth-haired one). They are wire x smooth haired dachshunds and even though they are litter-sisters no-one ever believes us because they look so different.

This week has been really busy. My middle daughter has been busy doing her assignment. She’s one of those people who is really good at stuff but can’t remember she is, so the minute she gets an assignment question she becomes completely sure that she can’t understand it, that she’s never known anything about this subject, that she hasn’t ever even seen a pen and doesn’t know how to use one. We’ve had lots of phone calls with her where we have tried to stop her dropping out of uni, packing in life as she knows it and becoming a hermit. She’s nearly finished the assignment, it sounds really good, but she’s still not convinced.

My oldest daughter is back from the hospice. I think she’s had a good time. They have re-looked at her situation and I think they are going to refer her to a big specialist hospital in London. She always looks a bit better when she comes back from a stay and so we are hoping to manage to take her to see the Christmas lights and to a Christmas market this week. Like me, she loves Christmas and there is a Christmas decoration shop there that she and I haven’t been to….I can see a lot of wishful thinking going on when we get there.

If anyone is going to get struck off my Christmas list its going to be my son. This week he has managed to run out of fuel in his tractor TWICE!! I’m not even going to start saying the words I might have said, but they might have suggested that he needs to use his brain a bit more.

To be fair to him, he has been busy this week helping an old farmer out who had Covid really badly and he has been getting our yard sorted out for the winter. In the next couple of days he is helping a local farmer dip his sheep…this is where you put them into a pit of water that has anti-parasite and anti-fungicidal treatment in it so the sheep don’t get ill.

He’s also off my Christmas list because like most teenage boys he’s been hoarding washing in his bedroom. Unlike most teenage boys he is also a farmer, so the washing doesn’t just need a quick wash to get his clothes clean again, his clothes stink! I’ve always had a rule with my children that I don’t intrude on their privacy. So I don’t come into their rooms and interfere, but it also means that they are responsible for their rooms…if they want to live in complete havoc that’s up to them. However, if I can smell their bedroom from the bottom of the stairs…that’s when I get involved and they have to sort their rooms out. It had got to smell crazy bad from my son’s room so he was sent to investigate…..oh my!! The amount of washing that came downstairs was so bad.

The whole of that big blue box is full of his washing, so as Mali was washed earlier today, this time I am going to finish this letter so I can go and sort the next loads of washing out!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Sing unto God, sing praises to His name: Extol Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name JAH, and rejoice before Him. (Ps 68:4)

Opening Prayer

So we hail our God, Eternal God, Ras Tafari, hear us and help us and cause Thy face to shine upon us, Thy children.

***

The Kebra Negast

2. CONCERNING THE GREATNESS OF KINGS

Come then, let us go back, and let us consider, and let us begin [to state] which of the kings of the earth, from the first even unto the last, in respect of the Law and the Ordinances and honour and greatness, we should magnify or decry.

Gregory, the worker of wonders and miracles, 3 who was cast into a cave because of [his] love for the martyrdom of Christ and suffered tribulation for fifteen years, said, “When I was in the pit I pondered over this matter, and over the folly of the Kings of Armenia, and I said, In so far as I can conceive it, [in] what doth the greatness of kings [consist]? Is it in the multitude of soldiers, or in the splendour of worldly possessions, or in extent of rule over cities and towns? This was my thought each time of my prayer, and my thought stirred me again and again to meditate upon the greatness of kings. And now I will begin.”

***

Old Testament Reading

Psalm 68[a]

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

1 May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.

2 May you blow them away like smoke—as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds[b]; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.

5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the lonely in families,[c] he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

7 When you, God, went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness,[d]

8 the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.

9 You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.

10 Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

11 The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:

12 Kings and armies flee in haste; the women at home divide the plunder.

13 Even while you sleep among the sheep pens,[e] the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold.”

14 When the Almighty[f] scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

15 Mount Bashan, majestic mountain, Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,

16 why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the Lord himself will dwell forever?

17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.[g]

18 When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from[h] the rebellious—that you,[i] Lord God, might dwell there.

19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

20 Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

21 Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies, the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

22 The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan; I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

23 that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes, while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”

24 Your procession, God, has come into view, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

25 In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the young women playing the timbrels.

26 Praise God in the great congregation; praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.

27 There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them, there the great throng of Judah’s princes, and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

28 Summon your power, God[j]; show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.

29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts.

30 Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.
Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.

31 Envoys will come from Egypt; Cush[k] will submit herself to God.

32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord,

33 to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice.

34 Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens.

35 You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Praise be to God!

***

I love this psalm. It’s supposed to be one of the most beautiful written and is also one that is used a lot in the Rastafari communities. I love verse 10. Which is your favourite bit? I hope you will use this to meditate on during the next week….I am going to be!

Prayer Time

Time to share our thoughts and prayers and to give thanks for our many blessings.

***

Reasoning

I’m sorry if this seems a bit like Groundhog Day for some of you…we keep on not getting as far as this Reasoning, so you keep getting given it in the printouts. Hopefully, this week…!!!

H.I.M. Haile Selassie’s speech, ‘The Way of Life’.

What we seek is a new and a different way of life. We search for a way of life in which all men will be treated as responsible human beings, able to participate fully in the political affairs of their government; a way of life in which ignorance and poverty, if not abolished, are at least the exception and are actively combatted; a way of life in which the blessings and benefits of the modern world can be enjoyed by all without the total sacrifice of all that was good and beneficial in the old Ethiopia. We are from and of the people, and our desires derive from and are theirs.

Can this be achieved from one dusk to the next dawn, by the waving of a magic wand, by slogans or by Imperial declaration? Can this be imposed on our people, or be achieved solely by legislation? We believe not. All that we can do is provide a means for the development of procedures which, if all goes well, will enable an increasing measure and degree of what we seek for our nation to be accomplished. Those who will honestly and objectively view the past history of this nation cannot but be impressed by what has already been realised during their lifetime, as well as be awed by the magnitude of the problems which still remain. Annually, on this day, we renew our vow to labour, without thought of self, for so long as Almighty God shall spare us, in the service of our people and our nation, in seeking the solutions to these problems. We call upon each of you and upon each Ethiopian to do likewise……

Above all, Ethiopia is dedicated to the principle of the equality of all men, irrespective of differences of race, colour or creed.

As we do not practice or permit discrimination within our nation, so we oppose it wherever it is found.

As we guarantee to each the right to worship as he chooses, so we denounce the policy which sets man against man on issues of religion.

As we extend the hand of universal brotherhood to all, without regard to race or colour, so we condemn any social or political order which distinguishes among God’s children on this most specious of grounds.

***

It’s such an interesting speech, with so much in it to discuss. I thought we would divide it into sections, so we get as much benefit of His wisdom as we can.

So, the first bit to discuss is the first paragraph. I am going to start off the Reasoning with a few questions for you to debate and then you can take it from there!…

1.) The idea that “all men will be treated as responsible human beings, able to fully participate in the political affairs of their government”… How will this work, why is this important, will it make any difference?

2.) A “way of life in which ignorance and poverty, if not abolished, are at least the exception and are actively combatted”…H.I.M. was a huge believer in a good education system and the importance of continuing to learn. Here are two quotes of His about education:

“Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilise her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life”

“A MAN WHO SAYS “I HAVE LEARNED ENOUGH AND WILL LEARN NO FURTHER” SHOULD BE

CONSIDERED AS KNOWING NOTHING AT ALL.”

What is our responsibility in this? Why is it important?

…there are many ways this can be discussed, this is just to start off!

***

Closing Prayer

InI father in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, may your kingdom come, may your will be done. On earth and in heaven.please oh JAH Give InI this our daily bread, and forgive us of our trespass as InI forgive those that trespass against InI. Please JAH do not bring us to the time of trial, but deliver InI from every evil. Almighty I JAH RASTAFARI HAILE SELASSIE I the first. King of kings, lord of lords, elect of god, light of the world. Thank you JAH FOR EVERYTHING you have given InI and blessed unto InI. In your holy name I pray Yeshua. JAH RAstafari

Hi again!

Are you ready for more Blitherings? Here goes…..

It was really good having the Transfiguration Day get-together, thank you to those who put in so much hard work at such short notice. I think everyone really appreciated it.

It’s been a bitsy sort of week here with a lot of different things going on.

This week was the week that this year’s lambs needed dosing and giving their vitamins and then the ewes needed separating from the rams. It’s gone colder now so my son is taking them some hay every day when he checks them and I think this week he’s going to buy some mix to feed them and some salt licks.

Today he’s taken the tractor to pick up some scaffolding boards so he can fix a bale trailer. He has a small bale trailer but usually in the summer he has to borrow other farmer’s trailers to get all the bales in. The man who has inherited the next farm along isn’t going to farm it and has given my son the metal skeleton of a decent sized bale trailer so he is going to take any rotting wood off and repair it all, ready for hay time.

He and his girlfriend have gone off to get them and I am dreading them getting back!…I have some bad news for his girlfriend. They went out leaving Mali, his spaniel, in the kitchen…..with his girlfriend’s lovely new pair of Nike trainers. I have to tell her when they get back….that she no longer has a pair of Nike trainers! She has one trainer and a pile of chewed up ex-trainer bits. Mali is now sleeping the sleep of the guiltless next to me while I write this letter…..

Today my eldest daughter has gone into the hospice to stay for a week. She goes in for a stay every so often for them to check how her system is doing, to take bloods and give her therapies.

She takes her assistance dog Carrie in with her. She is a golden retriever. Carrie has an amazing time whenever she goes and the staff love having her there. She is so spoiled. The staff buy her toys and give her treats. The kitchens cook her sausages and scrambled eggs and other things that retrievers might like. My daughter went to the hospice on Carrie’s birthday this year and the cook made Carrie a birthday cake! Carrie gets invited into the rooms where the patients are coming to the end of life. She lies on the bed to comfort them and their families and she cuddles up to the people with Parkinson’s or dementia who can’t remember much and sometimes can’t speak but who can always remember how to cuddle a dog. A couple of weeks ago the staff borrowed Carrie to sit with a lady who had just that day lost her husband and was close to the end of life herself. Carrie just sat quietly with her head on the lady’s shoulder and the lady stroked Carrie’s head and was calmer when Carrie was with her. She’s an amazing dog…we are so blessed to have her.

Last week whilst I was at Berwyn my middle daughter was at A & E because she had managed to fall down a step and land on her hand. By the time I was back to the car I had a message saying that she had already had an x-ray and been seen by the doctors, which has to be record time for our hospitals recently. She has broken one of the bones in her arm but also got infection into the cuts on her hand from where she landed. She is really annoyed because not only is she having to wear a really horrible salmon coloured wrist splint (they can’t put a plaster on it because the infection needs to be checked) but she had been learning to drive and now can’t have another lesson until her break has healed. She had been really nervous about starting to drive but when she finally started, she was really enjoying it. She has already booked her test and now is counting up the days, trying to decide whether her arm will be healed in time to give her enough practice before the test date.

The autumn colours round our fields are beautiful, even if everywhere is completely soggy. It’s rained so much this week that the stream that runs though our garden has been in full flow and one of the fields has standing water in it. Last night I saw a fox running down the hill by us and I could hear the barn owls calling. There are so many berries on the trees this year its beautiful. The old farmers say that when the trees are full of berries, then its going to be a cold snowy winter….we shall see! I do know that at the moment I am beginning to get a bit sick of rain and more rain.

This letter has come back full circle and I’m going to end with the usual character….Mali. I think she is going to fill our letters just as much as Lenny used to, for those that remember him. Mali has just come back from a walk….well, maybe a swim…..perhaps even a muddy puddle diving competition. She looks like this…

So now I’m going to have to finish up writing to you to go bath a spaniel …again!

She has grit and mud caked all over her and she stinks!! So that’s what I’m doing with my afternoon.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

I WILL SHEW FORTH ALL THY MARVELLOUS WORKS. I WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN THEE: I WILL SING PRAISES TO THY NAME, O THOU MOST HIGH

Today, hopefully, we will be celebrating the anniversary of the coronation of H.I.M. Haile Selassie I. Transfiguration Day. This is what the H.I.M. Church (International) says…

“Sunday, November 2nd 1930 – This day represents the Holy Day, the Transfiguration Day of Negus Ras Tafari to

Emperor Haile Selassie I, ‘Might of the Trinity’; fulfilling Revelation 5v5:

“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the

Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to

open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”

Today, because we are celebrating, I thought that this hymn of praise would be good…

Psalm 138

1 I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise.

2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness, for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame.

3 When I called, you answered me; you greatly emboldened me.

4 May all the kings of the earth praise you, LORD, when they hear what you have decreed.

5 May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.

6 Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me.

8 The LORD will vindicate me; your love, LORD, endures forever— do not abandon the works of your hands.

Prayers

Today we give thanks to JAH for our blessings on this festival day.

Old Testament Reading

Isaiah 40: 28-31

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Blessings

Hi,

I hope you are all managing to avoid the horrible cold that is going around and are staying well. It really feels like autumn has dug in and is properly here. There is a bite to the air in the evenings, my kitchen floor is a constant battle of gruesomeness and the dogs are always soggy…especially the spaniel Mali, she is a small ball of bouncy disgustingness. Usually we give her a quick wipe over because 2 seconds later she goes back to just as bad but last week I gave in and filled the bath with warm water, added some bubble bath…and a spaniel. I gave her a proper scrub, shampoo and conditioner, and she returned to being a colour I hadn’t seen for quite a while. The water was so grim after it I thought I was going to have to cut it into slices to make it go down the plug hole!

This is a clean version of Mali, after her bath, sitting in her dressing gown.

If any of you have ever owned a spaniel, you will understand why she needs a dressing gown. The minute she is picked from the bath, holding on to as much bath water as possible, particularly in her ears, she goes zooming round the house, over the beds, over every chair, cushion, soft furnishing in the house, making everything just as soggy as her.

As I’ve told you already, my son is a farmer. He works long and very strange hours. He is later back than he’s supposed to be very regularly and is very often grumpy and tired. He comes in from work, grumbles at us, eats his dinner and goes to bed. If dinner isn’t made or put on a plate fast enough he is often asleep before he can eat it. He always has Mondays off though and he’s got into a habit where he thinks that my Mondays are just his.

Every Sunday night, he checks if ‘I’m around’ on Monday and I ask him what he wants to do. Usually it is go get red diesel for the tractor, which is quite a trek, or he wants to go to the farm supplies place to get wormer or mineral dose for the sheep, or we need to go and pick up a piece for the tractor, and every time we go somewhere there is always some biker cafe or farming canteen that he knows of that I could, if I’d like to, take him for lunch.

He has also bought himself a car and is learning to drive. Honestly, ‘car’ is an exaggeration….I’ve seen sardine cans which would drive better than that thing, that I’d be safer in. So he insists on driving us whenever we go out. The good thing is he has mostly driven a tractor so he rarely goes very fast, the bad thing is he’s mostly driven a tractor so he’s used to being the biggest thing on the road and everyone giving way to him…doesn’t work quite the same when you reverse your tin can out of a parking space and no-one give way or even notices you at all.

Last week he announced that he didn’t have any important farm things to sort and he thought we ought to have a day out…to Anglesey. If you had met his car, I’m sure you can imagine it, you would know why it was a bit worrying….all that way in a fish tin, could it even make it that far?! Then, to make it worse, he decided that we would go via Snowdonia! Did I mention that the car regularly goes into limp-home-mode just for fun and locks itself into going 17 miles per hour until you can find a lay-by, pull over, switch off and hope it has a word with itself.

Off we set, me, Dilys the sausage dog and my son driving….it was stunning!…it was slow! We stopped at a farm that my son knows sells lunches (how does he always know these things?) and Dilys got to eat the leftovers. Snowdonia is stunning, especially in autumn. All the rivers were in spate after the storm and the waterfalls were amazing.

When we started out my son was still pretty anxious about driving….I wish he’d stayed like that. We got to the big bridge over the Menai Straits and on to Anglesey. It’s a stupid fear I know, but my big phobia is bridges…they terrify me for no good reason at all. My son decides, going over the bridge, that his tyres need warming up as if his sardine can was a formula one car and starts zigzagging across the bridge. So Christmas is going to be loads cheaper now I’ve told him he’s off my Christmas present list!

We went to Penmon Point, a rocky beach right opposite a lighthouse. Dilys ran along the beach and we collected beach pebbles. We have to watch Dilys cos even though she’s 10 years old she sometimes forgets she’s a creaky old sausage dog and mistakes herself for a fierce, wave-conquering warrior. She dives into the sea and heads for faraway shores, paddling as fast as the least aerodynamic stump of a dog can paddle….which means that she gets all of a couple of inches from the beach but one of us has to get our feet wet and go in after her to bring her back to shore.

This is the beach and lighthouse, with Puffin Island in the background.

It was cold though, and a bite to the air and when Dilys started to shiver, we headed back to a drive through coffee place and Dilys was allowed a puppachino too…yes, seriously, they are called puppachino and Dilys insists on ordering hers through the window too! We made it back home in one piece, after stopping about 8 times to reset the limp-home-mode and my son, despite all threats, still finding it hilarious to ‘warm his tyres up’ on the way back over the bridge and any other bridges he could find on the way back.

This week, we shall see, I am hoping that my arrangements will work and we should be able to celebrate Transfiguration Day together with some food and prayers….It was really short notice, so I’m not sure what can be provided, especially as I can’t do any of the arranging yet and I sprung it on Chaplaincy with less than a week to go!

I wanted to explain something to those who don’t know me. When I started helping the Rastafari Group run I had no knowledge or books but wanted to make sure there was provision for it to run. Now I have many books and have read and looked at websites and learned from people but the way to get more knowledge is to carry on asking and being corrected if I get facts wrong…which is what I want to do. I try my best to use valid and reliable resources so that you know this isn’t just stuff I’m making up as I go along, but I will get it wrong many times and I would like to be corrected please 🙂

Okay, so if you are still with me here….you haven’t all fallen into a coma of boredom, I am praying that the food turns up and we can celebrate Transfiguration Day (a little late I know).

Blessings,

Elizabeth

* Opening Prayer *

So we hail our God, Eternal God, Ras Tafari, hear us and help us and cause Thy face to shine upon us, Thy children.

***

This week we celebrate Transfiguration Day on November 2nd. It will be 93 years since His Imperial Majesty was transformed from Negus Ras Tafari and crowned to become Emperor Haile Selassie I. His Imperial Majesty claimed his place with Lion of Judah, along with Kings David and Solomon, and the Kebra Negast tells some of the story of that lineage…

* The Kebra Negast *

Chapter 1: The Glory of The Kings

IN PRAISING GOD THE FATHER, THE SUSTAINER OF THE UNIVERSE, AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, THROUGH WHOM EVERYTHING CAME INTO BEING, AND WITHOUT WHOM NOTHING CAME INTO BEING, AND THE HOLY TRIUNE SPIRIT, THE PARACLETE, WHO GOETH FORTH FROM THE FATHER, AND DERIVETH FROM THE SON, WE BELIEVE IN AND ADORE THE TRINITY, ONE GOD, THE FATHER, AND THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

THE interpretation and explanation of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Orthodox [Fathers] concerning splendour, and greatness, and dignity, and how God gave them to the children of Adam, and especially concerning the greatness and splendour of Zion, the Tabernacle (tâbôt) of the Law of God, of which He Himself is the Maker and Fashioner, in the fortress of His holiness before all created things, [both] angels and men. For the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit with good fellowship and right good will and cordial agreement together made the Heavenly Zion to be the place of habitation of their Glory. And then the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit said, “Let Us make man in Our similitude and likeness,” 1 and with ready agreement and good will They were all of this opinion. And the Son said, “I will put on the body of Adam,” and the Holy Spirit said, “I will dwell in the heart[s] of the Prophets and the Righteous”; and this common agreement and covenant was [fulfilled] in Zion, the City of their Glory.

And David said, “Remember Thine agreement which Thou didst make of old for salvation, the rod of Thine inheritance, in Mount Zion wherein Thou dost dwell.” And He made Adam in His own image and likeness, so that He might remove Satan because of his pride, together with his host, and might establish Adam—His own plant—together with the righteous, His children, for His praises. For the plan of God was decided upon and decreed in that He said, “I will become man, and I will be in everything which I have created, I will abide in flesh.” And in the days that came after, by His good pleasure there was born in the flesh of the Second Zion the second Adam, Who was our Saviour Christ. This is our glory and our faith, our hope and our life, the Second Zion. 2

Footnotes

1:1 Genesis i, 26.

2:1 Psalm lxxiv, 2.

2:2 I.e., the Virgin Mary, who is identified in Chapter 11 with the “Tabernacle of the Law of God, the heavenly and spiritual Zion.”

* Old Testament Reading *

Last week we were talking about which was the oldest part of the Bible. I did some research and discovered it was part of the Book of Exodus called the Song of the Seas, or the Song Of Moses. It was probably written in the 13th Century BC and I find it amazing that we still have access to it. It’s also a beautiful piece of writing and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did. It is a holy song, focused solely on JAH, to exalt and honour His name. It describes how incredible it is to be one of JAH’s people. Many people feel that this is prophetic of the final destruction of the enemies of the church and I think it has great significance for the people of Africa who have been exiled, who have faced incredible hardship and cruelty for millennia, and who, as faithful to JAH, are not promised an easy life but belong to a God who can be our ‘strength’ and ‘defence’ and our ‘salvation!

Exodus 15: The Song of Moses and Miriam

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.

2 “The LORD is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.

4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea.

5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.

6 Your right hand, LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, LORD, shattered the enemy.

7 “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.

8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’

10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11 Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

12 “You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies.

13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia.

15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away;

16 terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone— until your people pass by, LORD, until the people you bought pass by.

17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance— the place, LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

18 “The LORD reigns for ever and ever.”

* Prayer Time *

Those that have been in our group before will remember that this was the time that we used to share things that needed praying for, the time when we used to pray for each other, praise JAH and give thanks for our blessings. You probably also remember that this is the point when one of the group would always pray that the food at Berwyn would get better. I must admit, I don’t ever remember it making much difference!

* Reasoning *

After last week’s discussion about your beliefs and knowledge levels I have put a load of thought into what would work for all of you. I have a plan!! In fact, I don’t just have a plan, I have a 5 week plan! I know all of you have different aspects of overstanding, some of you have been taught by really good Rastafari teachers, some of you have Rastafari heritage knowledge. The whole idea of a Reasoning is to bring your knowledge, share it, listen to others, debate…so I thought I would find something which is worthy of that, one of H.I.M Haile Selassie I’s speeches. I have chosen a speech from 1966, given on the 2nd November, the 36th anniversary of his crowning as the 225th Emperor of Ethiopia…so relevant for us this week. It is a speech called ‘The Way of Life’ and was a wise and thought-provoking speech which I think you will all enjoy debating and discussing its relevance for us today.I have also found the Pato Banton track which sets the same speech to music. Here is the speech…

H.I.M. Haile Selassie’s speech, ‘The Way of Life’.

What we seek is a new and a different way of life. We search for a way of life in which all men will be treated as responsible human beings, able to participate fully in the political affairs of their government; a way of life in which ignorance and poverty, if not abolished, are at least the exception and are actively combatted; a way of life in which the blessings and benefits of the modern world can be enjoyed by all without the total sacrifice of all that was good and beneficial in the old Ethiopia. We are from and of the people, and our desires derive from and are theirs.

Can this be achieved from one dusk to the next dawn, by the waving of a magic wand, by slogans or by Imperial declaration? Can this be imposed on our people, or be achieved solely by legislation? We believe not. All that we can do is provide a means for the development of procedures which, if all goes well, will enable an increasing measure and degree of what we seek for our nation to be accomplished. Those who will honestly and objectively view the past history of this nation cannot but be impressed by what has already been realised during their lifetime, as well as be awed by the magnitude of the problems which still remain. Annually, on this day, we renew our vow to labour, without thought of self, for so long as Almighty God shall spare us, in the service of our people and our nation, in seeking the solutions to these problems. We call upon each of you and upon each Ethiopian to do likewise……

Above all, Ethiopia is dedicated to the principle of the equality of all men, irrespective of differences of race, colour or creed.

As we do not practice or permit discrimination within our nation, so we oppose it wherever it is found.

As we guarantee to each the right to worship as he chooses, so we denounce the policy which sets man against man on issues of religion.

As we extend the hand of universal brotherhood to all, without regard to race or colour, so we condemn any social or political order which distinguishes among God’s children on this most specious of grounds.

***

It’s such an interesting speech, with so much in it to discuss. I thought we would divide it into sections, so we get as much benefit of His wisdom as we can.

So, the first bit to discuss is the first paragraph. I am going to start off the Reasoning with a few questions for you to debate and then you can take it from there!…

1.) The idea that “all men will be treated as responsible human beings, able to fully participate in the political affairs of their government”… How will this work, why is this important, will it make any difference?

2.) A “way of life in which ignorance and poverty, if not abolished, are at least the exception and are actively combatted”…H.I.M. was a huge believer in a good education system and the importance of continuing to learn. Here are two quotes of His about education:

“Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilise her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life”

“A MAN WHO SAYS “I HAVE LEARNED ENOUGH AND WILL LEARN NO FURTHER” SHOULD BE

CONSIDERED AS KNOWING NOTHING AT ALL.”

What is our responsibility in this? Why is it important?

…there are many ways this can be discussed, this is just to start off!

***

Closing Prayer

InI father in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, may your kingdom come, may your will be done. On earth and in heaven.please oh JAH Give InI this our daily bread, and forgive us of our trespass as InI forgive those that trespass against InI. Please JAH do not bring us to the time of trial, but deliver InI from every evil. Almighty I JAH RASTAFARI HAILE SELASSIE I the first. King of kings, lord of lords, elect of god, light of the world. Thank you JAH FOR EVERYTHING you have given InI and blessed unto InI. In your holy name I pray Yeshua. JAH RAstafari

***

November 1st 2023

First letter, after the first week, after a new start…what to say to you?! Firstly, it was so good to catch up with those I know, to hear about those who are out and doing well. It was also really lovely to meet the new members and start our plans for how our group is going to go. I have done loads of thinking and planning and hopefully you will like what I have put together for the group for the next few weeks. I think this is going to be a really interesting group because you all have lots of different knowledge and are good at debating, so it should be an exchange of knowledge as well as fun…I’ve always said that this is the best group to be part of!

I’ve given in this week and I lit a fire in the stove in the kitchen. It’s no good ignoring it, autumn is here and its not getting any warmer no matter how many pairs of thick socks I put on. I love having the stove lit in the kitchen and so do all the animals. We have an old sofa in the kitchen and I am sat on it writing to you, with the company of a dachshund, a spaniel and a golden retriever piled on top of me…my excuse if there are typos! None of you have been introduced to the spaniel, let me tell you her story….

Lenny, as I had to tell all of you who remember him, sadly died about a year and a half ago. He was such a thief right until the end and didn’t ever slow down. The day before his last he came with me, my son and a load of my son’s friends to get the starter motor for the tractor repaired, to pick up red diesel, to get some bulbs for the farm truck and to get a Burger King burger…his favourite! He was being as giddy and daft as ever, bouncing round, trying to steal everyone’s food, even though he had his own burger, and then the following day, that was that. It was quick. I couldn’t believe he was gone and nor could my son.

My son struggled to sleep without his Len in his bed. He hated being alone in his bedroom without him. The amount of times he would start up to go out in the tractor and go to call Lenny to go with him. He couldn’t bear to move any of Lenny’s things, at all, any of them. Lenny’s food bowl, Lenny’s water bowl, Lenny’s basket at the bottom of his bed. There was a problem….Lenny was an old gentleman and as sometimes happens to old gentlemen staffies, his…erm…bladder was not always…the most reliable, shall I say?! And the weeks went by and the basket at the bottom of my son’s bed got increasingly stinky and no-one could get him to give up on it. It was baaaad! Grim.

My son would send me pictures of staffies he had found on rescue sites and I would ask him, is this the one? Shall we go and see him? Always the same reply, No! And the basket stayed where it was and continued to stink. He said he didn’t want to get another dog unless he could take it to work. And he wouldn’t ask his work if he could take a dog.

My son works on a beef and dairy farm, he’s a farmer, its his first job after leaving school.

He had gone for a day out to the zoo and in between sending me out-of-focus pictures of giraffes and pictures of him making faces at the camera with half an ostrich in the background, he was sending me pictures of dogs from the Dog’s Trust site. His favourite that day was Dave the brindle staffie. You know one of those days where you say, “Stuff it! Something needs to be done!”

So I got in the car, drove down to the farm where he worked and talked to his boss. We agreed, the lad needs a dog.

There were rules…it couldn’t be a bull breed because it was a dairy farm (my son had said that he couldn’t cope with another staffie anyway because he just wanted Lenny back) and it had to be a girl to fit in with the farm dogs and our dogs.

So I phoned my son. You can imagine how that went….. Me: You’ll never guess where I am?! Son: Where??? (Tones of “mother, I hope you aren’t going to be a problem”) Me: I’m sat outside your work. Son: WHAAAAAAAAAATT??!!! Me: Yes, I’m sat outside your work cos I’ve just been to have a talk with your boss. Son: &&&%$$$%^^& Me: I’ve just been to talk to your boss because, well, we needed to talk about the puppy I’m buying you. Son:……..silence……silence……then squealing.

By the following day he had shortlisted down to golden retriever or cocker spaniel and the decision came down to how easy it would be to bath after farm life. A golden retriever is a lot of dog to wash. I know this. I have two of them. It was going to have to be a spaniel. Then, it must be a dark colour, it has to be a dark colour otherwise it will always look dirty. It’s going to need to be a dark colour….whoops, we chose a white one. Meet Mali, she’s an orange roan cocker spaniel….

This is the day we got her. She is adorable. She has the biggest spaniely-smile ever, loves everyone with huge enthusiasm, has the muckiest paws from digging elephant traps in my garden and isn’t afraid to share her muckiness with everyone.

In preparation for Mali’s arrival I explained to my son that puppies immune systems are just developing and they need to be protected from too many germs (in other words, the stinky shrine to Lenny had to go!) And it went. Mali has grinned and snuggled her way into my son’s heart. She is the best tractor spaniel going…

Last week my son, Mali and I went off on a mission. We bought off eBay a piece of reclaimed slate and we are going to use it to put a bench by Lenny’s grave. With Lenny’s dinner bowl that has his name on, we are going to plant something next to it, probably some snowdrops, to remember him by.

For those of you who don’t remember Lenny, I’m sorry that this is our first letter…but just so you know, it doesn’t get any more interesting than this!

Lastly, I was talking to one of you last week about the Amen break in drum n bass. I didn’t know the history of it so came home and looked it up. This is from Wikipedia:

“The Amen break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in popular music. It comes from the 1969 track “Amen, Brother” by the American soul group the Winstons, released as the B-side of the 1969 single “Color Him Father“. The drum break lasts seven seconds and was performed by Gregory Coleman.

With the rise of hip hop in the 1980s, the Amen break was used in hits including “Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A and “Keep It Going Now” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. In the 1990s, it became a staple of drum and bass and jungle music. It has been used in at least 6000 tracks of many genres, making it the most sampled recording in music history.The Amen break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in popular music. It comes from the 1969 track “Amen, Brother” by the American soul group the Winstons, released as the B-side of the 1969 single “Color Him Father“. The drum break lasts seven seconds and was performed by Gregory Coleman.”

“At about 1 minute and 26 seconds into “Amen, Brother”, the other musicians stop playing and the drummer, Gregory Coleman, performs a four-bar drum break that lasts for seven seconds. For two bars, Coleman plays the previous beat. In the third bar, he delays a snare hit. In the fourth bar, he leaves the first beat empty, then plays a syncopated pattern and an early crash cymbal.”

There you go, the history of the Amen break in DnB…what else would these letters be for!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

* Greetings in the name of the Most High

Conquering Lion of the tribe of Judah, Elect of JAH *

***

Glory and Greetings in the name of the Most High, The Almighty, JAH Rastafari, ever living, ever faithful, ever sure, and let the whole earth know that JAH lives as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen Amen Amen (From ‘The Rastafari Book of Common Prayer’)

***

I thought we would start with a prayer:

‘Jah Jah, Just like you created the Garden of Eden to bloom a new, I ask Jah Jah for a fresh new start. Bless me so that my mind nor my heart will not be weighed down by troubles or concerns of the past. Bless me so that I may look forward to taking a new step forward, on a brand new horizon.

Some of you I recognise in the group, some of you I am looking forward to meeting. I thought we would start today’s meeting with a reading from Psalm 100 and then I have a load of questions for you, instead of a Reasoning, for this first meeting so we can tailor this group to you and your beliefs…yep, loads and loads of questions, get ready!!

***

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

² Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

³ Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

⁵ For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

***

Right! On to the many questions………

The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

HAPPY EASTER!

It is so nice to be starting to tiptoe out of lockdown! Shielding ended officially last week for my eldest daughter and so we had my son’s godmother over for a meal on Easter Day and she brought her new…well….look at this!!!!…..

Isn’t she adorable! She hasn’t chosen a name yet but I think Scamp is the most appropriate. She is always up to mischief and she is SO confident! I don’t know how well you can see in the photo but Dilys my sausage dog is there, cleaning her. Dilys loves looking after babies…she loves puppies, kittens, human babies. Dilys would have loved to have been this one’s mum but little one was off wanting to have adventures and did not want to be trailed by a fussy sausage dog. So we spent our Easter evening adoring the puppy and laughing at her antics.

I’m writing this from the resus department of the hospital. As I write this, my daughter is unconscious, with her system on shutdown. She is on intravenous fluids and meds, supporting her system while it tries to re-start and sort itself out. It’s very quiet in this cubicle, only the beep of machines and the whirr of the IV pump, so I thought I would write to you lot, to keep me company! Here goes….

Kebra Negast

55. How the People of ETHIOPIA Rejoiced And [the people of ETHIOPIA] took flutes, and blew horns, and [beat] drums, and [played on] pipes, and the Brook of EGYPT was moved and astonished at the noise of their songs and their rejoicings; and with them were mingled outcries and shouts of gladness. And their idols, which they had made with their hands and which were in the forms of men, and dogs, and cats, fell down, and the high towers (pylons or obelisks ?), and also the figures of birds, [made] of gold and silver, fell down also and were broken in pieces. For ZION shone like the sun, and at the majesty thereof they were dismayed. And they arrayed ZION in her apparel, and they bore the gifts to her before her, and they set her upon a wagon, and they spread out purple beneath her, and they draped her with draperies of purple, and they sang songs before her and behind her.

Then the wagons rose up (i.e., resumed their journey) as before, and they set out early in the morning, and the people sang songs to ZION, and they were all raised up the space of a cubit, and as the people of the country of EGYPT bade them farewell, they passed before them like shadows, and the people of the country of EGYPT worshipped them, for they saw ZION moving in the heavens like the sun, and they all ran with the wagon of ZION, some in front of her and some behind her. And they came to the sea AL-AḤMAR, which is the Sea of ERITREA (i.e., the RED SEA), which was divided by the hand of MOSES, and the children of ISRAEL marched in the depths thereof, going up and down. Now at that time the Tabernacle of the Law of God had not been given unto MOSES, and therefore the water only gathered itself together, a wall on the right hand and a wall on the left, and allowed ISRAEL to pass with their beasts and their children and their wives. And after they had crossed the sea God spake to MOSES and gave him the Tabernacle of the Covenant with the Book of the Law. And when the holy ZION crossed over with those who were in attendance on her, and who sang songs to the accompaniment of harps and flutes, the sea received them and its waves leaped up as do the high mountains when they are split asunder, and it roared even as a lion roareth when he is enraged, and it thundered as doth the winter thunder of DAMASCUS and ETHIOPIA when the lightning smiteth the clouds, and the sound thereof mingled with the sounds of the musical instruments. And the sea worshipped ZION. And whilst its billows were tossing about like the mountains their wagons were raised above the waves for a space of three cubits, and among the sound of the songs the [noise of the] breaking of the waves of the sea was wonderful. The breaking of the waves of the sea was exceedingly majestic and stupefying, and it was mighty and strong. And the creatures that were in the sea, those that could be recognized, and those that were invisible, came forth and worshipped ZION; and the birds that were on it flapped their pinions and overshadowed it. And there was joy to the Sea of ERITREA, and to the people of ETHIOPIA, who went forth to the sea and rejoiced exceedingly, and with a greater joy than did ISRAEL when they came out of EGYPT. And they arrived opposite Mount SINAI, and dwelt in ḲÂDÊS, and they remained there whilst the angels sang praises; and the creatures of the spirit mingled their praises with [those] of the children of earth, with songs, and psalms, and tambourines joyfully.

And then they loaded their wagons, and they rose up, and departed, and journeyed on to the land of MEDYÂM, and they came to the country of BÊLÔNTÔS, which is a country of ETHIOPIA. And they rejoiced there, and they encamped there, because they had reached the border of their country with glory and joy, without tribulation on the road, in a wagon of the spirit, by the might of heaven and of MICHAEL the Archangel. And all the provinces of ETHIOPIA rejoiced, for ZION sent forth a light like that of the sun into the darkness wheresoever she came.

* * *

Reasoning

From H.I.M. church….

Command:

Hosea 3 v5
5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD, Emperor Haile Selassie I, their God, and David their
king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Will:

Psalm 19 v7
7 The law of the LORD, Emperor Haile Selassie I, is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD, Emperor Haile Selassie I, is sure, making wise the simple.

Desire:

1 Kings 11 v38
38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

Wish:

Isaiah 11 v10
10 And in that day shall be root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious

* * *

Psalm 118 is all about how mighty God is, how He takes care of us and how it is better to trust in God than in man. It’s is a beautiful psalm. I love, particularly, this….. “The Lord is my strength and my defence;
he has become my salvation.”

Psalm 118

¹ Give thanks to the Lord,^(A) for he is good;^(B)
his love endures forever.^(C)

² Let Israel say:^(D)
“His love endures forever.”^(E)
3 Let the house of Aaron say:^(F)
“His love endures forever.”
⁴ Let those who fear the Lord^(G) say:
“His love endures forever.”

⁵ When hard pressed,^(H) I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.^(I)
6 The Lord is with me;^(J) I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?^(K)
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.^(L)
I look in triumph on my enemies.^(M)

⁸ It is better to take refuge in the Lord^(N)
than to trust in humans.^(O)
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.^(P)
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.^(Q)
11 They surrounded me^(R) on every side,^(S)
but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
¹² They swarmed around me like bees,^(T)
but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;^(U)
in the name of the Lord I cut them down.^(V)
13 I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the Lord helped me.^(W)
14 The Lord is my strength^(X) and my defense^[a];
he has become my salvation.^(Y)

¹⁵ Shouts of joy^(Z) and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand^(AA) has done mighty things!^(AB)
16 The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
¹⁷ I will not die^(AC) but live,
and will proclaim^(AD) what the Lord has done.
¹⁸ The Lord has chastened^(AE) me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.^(AF)
19 Open for me the gates^(AG) of the righteous;
I will enter^(AH) and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord^(AI)
through which the righteous may enter.^(AJ)
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;^(AK)
you have become my salvation.^(AL)

²² The stone^(AM) the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;^(AN)
23 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous^(AO) in our eyes.
²⁴ The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad.^(AP)

²⁵ Lord, save us!^(AQ)
Lord, grant us success!

²⁶ Blessed is he who comes^(AR) in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you.^[b](AS)
27 The Lord is God,^(AT)
and he has made his light shine^(AU)on us.
With boughs in hand,^(AV) join in the festal procession
up^[c] to the horns of the altar.^(AW)

²⁸ You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God,^(AX) and I will exalt^(AY) you.

²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

* * *

Book Of Enoch

Chapter 9

1 And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being 2 shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. And they said one to another: ‘The earth made without inhabitant cries the voice of their cryingst up to the gates of heaven. 3 And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men make their suit, saying, “Bring our cause 4 before the Most High.”‘ And they said to the Lord of the ages: ‘Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne of Thy glory (standeth) unto all the generations of the 5 ages, and Thy name holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages! Thou hast made all things, and power over all things hast Thou: and all things are naked and open in Thy sight, and Thou seest all 6 things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee. Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which 7 men were striving to learn: And Semjaza, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule over his associates. And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the 9 women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. And the women have 10 borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are 11 wrought on the earth. And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.’

* * *

The glory that was Solomon greater still reigns in Ethiopia. We can see all the Kings of the earth surrendering their crowns to His Majesty Ras Tafari the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Earth’s Rightful Ruler to reign forever and ever.

Upon His Majesty Ras Tafari ‘s head are many diadems and on His garments a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords oh come let us adore him for he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, The Conquering Lion of Judah, The Elect of God and the Light of the world.

His Majesty Ras Tafari is the head over all man for he is the Supreme God. His body is the fullness of him that fillet all in all. Now my dear people let this be our goal, forward to the King of Kings must be the cry of our social hope. Forward to the King of Kings to purify our social standards and our way of living, and rebuild and inspire our character. Forward to the King of Kings to learn the worth of manhood and womanhood. Forward to the King of Kings to learn His code of Laws from the mount demanding absolute Love, Purity, Honesty, and Truthfulness. Forward to the King of Kings to learn His Laws and social order, so that virtue will eventually gain the victory over body and soul and that truth will drive away falsehood and fraud. Members of the King of Kings arise for God’s sake and put your armor on.

Dear inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere, the King of Kings warriors can never be defeated, the Pope of Rome and his agents shall not prevail against the King of Kings host warriors you all must stand up, stand up, for the King of Kings.

All ye warriors of the King of Kings lift high King Alpha’s Royal Banner, from victory to victory King Alpha shall lead his army till every enemy is vanquished.

* * *

Reading Psalm 118 earlier, I was reminded of this prayer. I put it into the newsletter about 6 months ago but thought it would really fit in here…..

Prayer

Thank you Jah.

You have given me the greatest gift any human could ever have…life.

I am in awe of your love and your power every day.

Thanks and praises unto The Most High, Jah Rastafari.

* * *

* * *

From the Sacred Texts website, here is the next folk story. I’m really enjoying reading them. I love how many forms the character of Anansi takes and how sometimes his sly ways help him win, like last time, and how other times he gets beaten at his own games….

The Yam Hills

One time Anansi start to work a groun’ at the road-side. After clearing up his field, he dig nine yam-bills. Now no one is allowed to count up to the nine. If he say nine, he drop down dead. So Anansi say, “I got to eat somet’ing out of this.” So he sat down an’ begin to cry. Hog was passing, say to him, “Br’er Anansi, wha’s the matter with you?” Anansi said, “My dear Bredder Hog, from mawning I dig these few yam-hills an’ trying to count them, but I can’t manage to count them yet.” Hog said, “Cho! you too wort’less! You mean say you can’t say, ‘One, two, t’ree, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine?‘” And as Hog say “nine,” Hog drop down dead. Anansi take him up, put him in his bag an’ carry him home an’ eat him.

The nex’ day he came back an’ eat up Goat, who share the same fate as Hog, an’ every day he went back dig the same hills. At that time Monkey was on a tree watching an’ seeing all that take place. He came down from off the tree, an’ while Anansi dig the same nine hills again an’ was sitting down crying, Monkey come up an’ said, Br’er Anansi, wha’ the matter with you?” Anansi said, “My dear Bredder Monkey, from mawning I dig these few yam-hills, an’ I’m trying to count them but I can’t manage!” Monkey said, “I will count them for you, but you mus’ sit down ‘pon one.” Monkey then said, “One, two, t’ree, four, five, six, seven, eight, an’ the one Br’er Anansi sit down upon.” Anansi said, “That’s not the way to count them!” Monkey said, “I’ll count them good for you now!” Monkey began, “One, two, t’ree, four, five, six, seven, eight, an’ the one Br’er Nansi sit down upon deh.” Now Anansi is a man with a very short heart.[1] He got vex an’ say, “You mean to say that you can’t say ‘One, two, t’ree, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine?” An’ as the word nine come out, Anansi drop down dead. Monkey took him up an’ said, “You can fool the others, but you can’t fool me!“

[1. “A very hasty temper.”]

* * *

This has NOT been a good couple of weeks….lots of bad stuff has happened, but I am not going to complain about it all on here…only say sorry to you all for being so rubbish at sending these letters. I have still been praying for you and I haven’t forgotten you all.

One good thing is that my daughter is back out of hospital, after a 2 week stay, and she is beginning to feel a little bit better.

Lenny the liability is just as good at ‘smash & grab’. This week he has specialised in eating the top of sandwiches. He has eaten the top piece of bread from 2 fried egg sandwiches that my son made and a tuna sandwich. He also managed to steal a bite of my son’s roast chicken, a banana out of the fruit bowl and part of my nectarine….happy Lenny!

In all the gloom of the last few weeks, I did have a nice day last weekend….I went to the garden centre to spend my Christmas money. I bought a crab apple tree that has bright red fruit on it, lavender plants, peonies, plants for hanging baskets, geraniums….all sorts! Then I came home and started planting them, so I have been glad of the rain this week to get them all soaked in.

Today’s writing companion is Gwen, the bog-snorkelling retriever. She is trying to tempt me to cuddle her instead of concentrating on writing to you….

Right, I will finally get this off to you. I hope you are all okay and I will try to be a bit more communicative now!

Blessings,

Elizabeth