10th April 2024

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 I thought we would do something a bit different. I have been doing a lot of reading and research the last few weeks, collecting ideas and material for your service letter and I noticed something. For myself, I follow the St Aiden & St Hilda church liturgy and the one from the Northumbrian community. These divide prayers up throughout the day, with prayers said in the morning, noon, early evening and night. I noticed that there are a lot of Rastafari prayers that were specifically for certain times of the day too and so I thought that it would be good to put together a short prayer and reading time for you to follow at certain times of the day, so I will start with morning…

“Good Morning Jah, in the name of His Imperial Majesty, Holy Emanuel I, King Selassie I. I and I give thanks for this blessed day. May all the land be touched by your presence beauty and power. Keep I and I protected from Babylon tricks and adversity. Give I and I strength to survive another Day in Babylon. Bless I and I that I may maintain a positive loving caring and sharing spirit as I serve you Jah on this day. Keep Satan and his workers out of I and I path as I trod the earth today. In the name of King Selassie I, Holy Emanuel I. Rastafari.” (From the website of Daudimitch)

Bible Verses

Lamentations 3:21-26

21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

1 Chronicles 8:8-36

8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 9 Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 11 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. 12 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, 13 you his servants, the descendants of Israel, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob. 14 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 15 He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, 16 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.…23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples. 25 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. 27 Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place. 28 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness. 30 Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. 31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” 32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! 33 Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. 34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 35 Cry out, “Save us, God our Saviour; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.” 36 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”

The Wise Words of Marcus Garvey.

The Wise Words of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I

(From His Imperial Majesty’s Address to the United Nations, 1963)

We must look, first, to Almighty God, Who has raised man above the animals and endowed him with intelligence and reason. We must put our faith in Him, that He will not desert us or permit us to destroy humanity which He created in His image.

And we must look into ourselves, into the depth of our souls. We must become something we have never been and for which our education and experience and environment have ill-prepared us. We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community.

Lastly, I have an extract from the book ‘Rastafari; Black People’s Livity Bible’, by “Empress”. It’s the next book on my list to buy because it seems like a really good resource for a good and honourable Rastafari way of life. This is what it says…

“Prayer

As Rasta we pray, when we get the feeling to pray. But a deep Rasta man or woman will pray about 5 times daily.

* In the Morning Upon waking up

* In the afternoon before or after lunch

* In the evening before preparing dinner

* In the Night before going to bed

* In the evening to give thanks.”

This, then, is the morning prayer “Empress” suggests…

Rastafari Morning Prayer (Guidance and Protection)

Oh JAH, you see and you know all things.

Bless me that I may have a pleasant and productive day in your honour.

JAH you see and you know all things.

Guide me and protect me.

Watch over me as I go about my duties of this day.

In JAH Ras Tafari name I give my thanks and praises unto you.

Amen Amen Amen.

Hi,

Okay, please…No. More. Rain!

It feels like a long time now since summer and even though its nearly April, the fields are completely soaked, like its still the middle of winter. I’m trying to remember my blessings…the sound of the Spring birdsong, the lighter evenings, all the leaves starting to unfurl on the hedgerows, the flowers blooming. It would be far easier to do this if it wasn’t so muddy and slippy. We did have a little bit of snow thrown at us today too. As you all know, I do like a bit of snow. At the end of March, though, I am not quite as keen. It just seems to add to the grottiness of the land, doesn’t turn everything a lovely crisp white, just adds to the mud.

With all this rain and mud outside, I have been doing quite a bit of reading in front of the fire, cuddled up with the dogs and cats. I have been reading a book called ‘The First Rasta’ about Leonard Howell and the setting up of the Pinnacle community. I’m not far into the book yet, but its already clear what a fascinating man Leonard Howell was. The researcher, Helene Lee, met with lots of people who knew him and were firsthand witnesses to who Leonard Howell was and his character, the setting up of Pinnacle but also the prejudice and hatred that the community was subjected to. There have been times when reading has been quite difficult, thanks to help from a Mali spaniel. Not only does she snore really loudly but oh my! the smell of her is so bad and she wants to cuddle up to my face and sleep right under my nose! I think that once she’s had dinner tonight I will be giving her a long scrub in the bath with a nice-smelling doggy bubble bath.

Thinking of the subject of dogs, I didn’t realise what a lover of animals H.I.M. Haile Selassie I was. he had the most amazing collection of animals, including trained lions, but he was particularly fond of dogs. He had a Great Dane who was a particular favourite and a great companion, and also 2 chihuahuas…

“A well-known animal lover, Haile Selassie was often seen in photographs in the presence of cheetas and lions,  and as a dog lover, it’s not surprising that he would gravitate to the Great Dane as a companion canine, including one named, “Bull.” A bit more surprising is that in his later years, ‘the conquering lion of the tribe of Judah’ became very fond of Chihuahuas. There was “Cheecheebee,” but a particular favourite was “Lulu.”

Still on the subject of dogs, Anya, my husband’s Hungarian Nutcase..I…mean…Vizsla has finished her man-trailing course and now has a bronze certificate in something a bit more useful than eating table-legs and general wombatry….she passed her snoofing certificate! My husband was very proud of her because the only award she has ever been threatened with is the one for being a prize pest. She seems to have found her niche in life. She is going to go back and do the same certificate again though because my eldest daughter is going to take Mali to try some snoofing too, so Anya and Pete are going to show them how its done. My eldest daughter has Parkinson’s as part of her health conditions and she has dementia with it, so we are hoping that learning a new skill will keep her brain from deteriorating. She has been doing loads of training with her in preparation. Mali can sit, stay, heel, back-up, give her paw, ring a bell by pressing a button, guess-which-hand-the-treat-is-in, she is learning how to crawl, do twirls and spin on the spot which is really useful when she comes in from the yard with muddy paws and we get her to twirl on the doormat. It saves my kitchen floor from some of the worst gruesomeness.

We have my husband’s parents coming to stay with us this weekend and I have been trying out some new recipes. I have been watching the YouTube channel of a chef that lives in Jamaica and cooks Ital food, Oh my goodness, some of the food looks amazing. There is a gorgeous stew that uses peppers, chillis, beans, coconut milk, thyme, all sorts of spices. He cooks it on a fire made on an old car hub cab and the woodsmoke probably makes it taste the best, but I think that might be a step too far for my husband’s parents, and maybe my husband too!

When my son was little, the headmistress of his school used to despair of me as a parent because if he had a birthday or Christmas I always seemed to have Really Good Ideas for presents that involved danger. The Christmas when he was 7 I got him a penknife. It was UK legal & had 3 rules along with it….1) it mustn’t leave our garden. 2) if he had a friend over, he could only use the knife if he had permission from me and his friend’s parents. 3) he always had to use it away from himself. I actually got him a penknife and a box of plasters. He had to hold up all his fingers and thumbs and promise me he would have the same number next Christmas. He only ever used 1 of the plasters and we never had any knife incidents. However, he had gone into school and when asked in assembly what he had for Christmas and told them he had a penknife, the headmistress was on the warpath and I was marched into her office to explain myself….

So next birthday it was ‘game on’! He had a succession of dangerous presents. The next one was an axe to chop logs, ready for the next present which was a fire pit. Then a quad to use on the farm…etc etc.

The fire pit was probably the best present we got him I think. We got him a tripod and a big cast iron stew pot to go with it and, using his penknife to cut up all the vegetables, he makes the most amazing stews. They probably would be condemned if health and safety ever met his stews. They are probably why he has such a good immune system but from the spare contents of the fridge, the leftover half of a cabbage, a couple of potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, celery, the ends of this jar and that tin, and the herb garden, he creates such good food. So maybe my son and I will try the Ital cookery over his fire pit in the summer and for now I will play it safe for Pete’s mum and dad and make the stew with no delicious smoke flavour but also no bugs, bits of lawn and no dose of added bacterias.

I’m going to have to stop writing now and go to do something really important! I need to go bath the stinky Mali before our guests arrive. She really is grim!

Blessings, Elizabeth

Hi,

how are you all doing? I am so glad that we have reached the equinox….the days are now longer than the nights and all the spring bulbs are up. We have masses of daffodils in the woods, crocuses all through the lawn and the blossom is out down by the stream. I think Spring has gone to the dogs’ heads, they have been razzing round the garden barking and playing games. It’s been Gwen and Mali mostly, but even the old lady Dilys has been joining in.

There have been more changes than just the plants waking up. We have a swallows nest in our front porch and I have a suspicion that when the swallows return from Africa they will discover squatters in their nest! There are a pair of wrens (like in the picture) busy every day,collecting nesting materials like horse hair, moss, leaves and tiny sticks and filling in the top of the nest to make a cosyburrow, getting ready to lay eggs and nest. Swallow nestsare a bit like a teacup shape, made from mud and stuck high up to the wall. The wrens are adding a soft mossy lining and a thick warm roof, all ready for nesting. Wrens are tiny birds, they only weigh about 7-10g. I must admit, I’m very excited to see baby wrens hatch right by our kitchen window because they are one of my favourite birds.

The hills round me are full of the noises of nature waking up. We have fields of lambs bleating, the birdsong is beautiful and at night the foxes are barking and calling for mates. This almost makes up for the soggy fields, the mud trampled into my kitchen, more rain and bathing the dogs, as you can guess Mali in particular, almost daily! A friend of mine messaged me the other day when she got back in after a day of looking after all the animals on her farm and said she was actually going to dissolve if any more rain fell on her….I think that might mean she’s a goner because it is still raining!

Look at that picture! Mali came back from a day on the yard with my son in that state. They had been sorting out a drainage pipe leak at the bottom of one of the fields, then moved one of the storm damaged trees that had come down and all sorts of other bits of work that mean spaniels soak up most of a field. It took ages to get her clean, as usual. Then she slept the sleep of an exhausted but happy spaniel, in front of the kitchen fire, making squeaks, snuffles and little wuffly barks.

I probably ought to introduce you to the cat in the photo. Meet Ahsoka, my daughter’s kitten. Yes, that’s right, she’s only 8 months old and HUGE! I have a grey cat called Betsi, she’s the cutest little menace, but she is about a quarter of Ahsoka’s size, about the same size as her tail. Ahsoka is a breed of cat called a Maine Coon. The theory is that they were bred in the State of Maine in America and the first ones were the babies of a cat crossed with a raccoon. I used to live in America, just north of Boston, a house right by the sea. We used to have raccoons raid our bins every night, they were so loud and clumsy. Ahsoka doesn’t look like any raccoon I have ever met but, wow! she’s clumsy! I don’t know if she will grow out of it as she gets older but we will watch her making a decision to jump up onto the chest of drawers where Betsi’s food is (up there so that greedy Gwen doesn’t steal it). She will line herself up, wiggle her bottom in readiness, take a huge leap…and face plant into the front of the chest of drawers! She then face slides down the front of the chest of drawers, lands on the floor, dusts herself off and tries again, usually with the same result. She falls off things, trips over things. She often sleeps in a basket that is on the blanket chest at the end of my bed and always forgets where she is when she wakes up. She does a huge stretch, the basket falls off the chest with her weight and she lands on the floor with the basket on top of her. When we are downstairs in the daytime we will hear a massive thud from upstairs, look at each other and all say ‘Ahsoka!!!’

My daughter got Ahsoka, and named her after her favourite Star Wars character, after she did a big deterioration in her health and found it more difficult to leave the house. She also, knowing that she may not have a huge amount of time left as she is receiving palliative care, didnt want to leave Carrie her assistance dog without a friend. She was worried that because Carrie is always by her side and even goes into the hospice with her, she would fret and pine when she goes. So my daughter got Ahsoka on Carrie’s birthday, as a birthday present for her. It worked! They adore each other. They play together, wash each other and curl up to sleep together. My daughter has a hospital bed to sleep in, a single bed…and trying to fit herself, Carrie and an ever-growing cat into the bed is becoming challenging. It seems that Maine Coons keep growing til they are 3 years old and she is still only 8 months now! I’ve put a picture of Carrie opening her birthday presentnext to this. It’s not a brilliant quality photo but it was difficult to get a good photo because Carrie was just so excited.

I am having difficulty sorting out getting into Berwyn at the minute. I’ve had some difficulties with the medication I have been trying out…it doesn’t seem like its going to work for me and I’m having to come back off it. Also, there are issues with my eldest daughter’s care that I am going to have to sort out before I can come back. I’m really sorry that you can’t meet together at the moment but I am working on it and in the meantime will keep on haunting you with these Blitherings!

I’ve just come in from a walk around my garden and the fields, there’s a really cold wind but the ground and trees are alive with new growth. The nettles are springing up around the edge of the field. Under the trees by the stream smells strongly of the wild garlic plants and the lawns are beginning to grow fast. I’m hoping that all this new growth won’t be knocked back too much by the cold weather we are going to have. It was nice to get outside without it raining for once. I invited Dilys, my old sausage dog, to come with me but she just snuggled further down the blankets in the basket next to the stove and her body language said a very loud ‘No!’. Mali would definitely have been up for it but I wanted to get this letter finished to send to you and I knew that if she did come with me, I would be scrubbing spaniels for the rest of the day.

I’ve been making big plans for the garden. A load of my son’s farming friends, and my son as well, have chainsaws and a huge amount of overgrown evergreen trees had to come down in the garden and around the land. They were getting huge and had been planted in the wrong place. They have brought most of them down now but it’s taken a long time to get all the tree trunks chopped up and processed. It is nearly done. When its clear we are going to get a digger to it and scrape back all the years of conifer rubbish from underneath and to flatten the land out. Then I am going to plant some fruit trees, apples, pears and plums, so that I can use them for cooking, and plant lots of snowdrops and daffodils underneath.

We need to get a digger in to make some changes in the farm yard anyway, my son has cleared some land and wants to put up new sheep pens. He’s going to use the money from the sale of the sheep, they’ve all gone now, to get some work done. He still hasn’t had a day off, I thinks its about 6 or 7 weeks now. He’s finally finished lambing and he’s just catching up on all the jobs that have been missed in the busyness. I think he’s got a day off booked for the 5th April and I’m fairly sure he’s going to spend it sleeping.

Right! I better get this sent off to you otherwise I will miss the deadline for it getting printed and out to this week. I really hope to see you all soon.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

20th March 2024

Be exalted in your strength, LORD; we will sing and praise your might

(Psalm 21)

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.

Kebra Negast

12. CONCERNING CANAAN 

Now, it was Canaan who rent the kingdom from the children of Shem, and he transgressed the oath which his father Noah had made them to swear. And the sons of Canaan were seven mighty men, and he took seven mighty cities from the land of Shem, and set his sons over them; and likewise he also made his own portion double. And in later days God took vengeance upon the sons of Canaan, and made the sons of Shem to inherit their country. These are the nations whom they inherited: the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, and the Girgasites; these are they whom Canaan seized by force from the seed of Shem. For it was not right for him to invade [his] kingdom, and to falsify the oath, and because of this they ceased to be, and their memorial perished, through transgressing [God’s] command, and worshipping idols, and bowing down to those who were not gods.

And after the death of Shem Arphaxad reigned, and after the death of Arphaxad Ḳâynân 1 (Cainan) reigned, and after the death of Ḳâynân Sâlâ (Salah) reigned, and after him Eber reigned, and after him Pâlêḳ (Peleg) reigned, and after him Râgâw (Reu) reigned, and after him Sêrôḥ (Serug) reigned, and after him Nakhôr (Nahor) reigned, and after him Târâ (Terah) reigned. And these are they who made magical images, and they went to the tombs of their fathers and made an image (or, picture) of gold, and silver, and brass, and a devil used to hold converse with them out of each of the images of their fathers, and say unto them, “O my son So-and-so, offer up unto me as a sacrifice the son whom thou lovest.” And they slaughtered their sons and their daughters to the devils, and they poured out innocent blood to filthy devils.

I read this chapter and wondered where all these places were, so I looked it up and found this map. It’s from a website called ‘the freeman institute.com’ and I thought you might be interested in where the people mentioned in the Kebra Negast reading lived….

Last week we looked at Psalm 20 and this week we are going to look at its partner, Psalm 21. Both of them are written by King David in the form of a prayer, during times of war. Where Psalm 20 is a prayer asking JAH for help in gaining success in war, for the honour of JAH, Psalm 21 is a thanksgiving for the successes that JAH helped him achieve. It is a personal prayer of praise by King David at the strength and might of JAH, instead of his enemies, but also how much more JAH gave him than just an answer to his prayers. It reminded me of a verse that I read this week, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 NIV It is also a good reminder for us that what you have asked for in prayer you should thank JAH for when it is received, whether it is for you or for others.

Psalm 21

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 The king rejoices in your strength, LORD. How great is his joy in the victories you give!

2 You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips.

3 You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever.

5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendour and majesty.

6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

7 For the king trusts in the LORD; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.

8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes.

9 When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind.

11 Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

12 You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow.

13 Be exalted in your strength, LORD; we will sing and praise your might.

This week, on the 25th March, it is Queen Omega, Empress Menen Asfaw’s earth day. To celebrate this I thought I would find an article about her for you to read. This is by Biko Lion, published 3 years ago on the website rastaknowledge.com, and has many observations by people who knew the empress….

Celebrating the life of Empress Menen I, balance in creation on Her 130th Earthstrong. Queen Omega, The Royal daughter of Zion. Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Menen Asfaw. Born April 3, 1891 she was crowned empress on Nov. 2, 1930 and maintained that royal title until Feb. 15, 1962 when she died at age 70 in Addis Ababa.

Empress Menen Asfaw was born 3rd April 1891 Gregorian Calendar (25 March 1883 Ethiopian Calendar). As Woizero Menen Asfaw also Manan Dagmawit, in the Egua village of the Ambassel region of the Wollo province. She was baptised Walatta Giyorgis in the St Delba Giorgis Church. Her name Menen was given for the most beautiful respected ladies.

Woizero Menen probably met Dejazmach Tafari Makonnen (later Emperor Haile Selassie) at the home of her uncle, Lij Iyasu. This joyful occasion may have inspired Lij Iyasu to attempt to bind Dejazmach Tafari to him more firmly through marriage ties. The future Emperor was very impressed by her character and friendly disposition. H.I.M Emperor Haile Selassie then Governor of Harar in His twentieth year said of H.I.M. Itegue Menen “Her character is such that, apart from goodness, there is no evil or malice in her. Ever since, we were married, we lived together, by virtue of her being fertile, in one family joy, as well as sadness.”

Blessed Love, Greetings in the name of Her Imperial Majesty InI beloved Empress (Etege) Menen Asfaw, also known as Queen Omega, Living through the lineage of King Solomon and Prophet Mohammed representing the Woman of the world, in particular Rastafari Woman, who in general are more connected, knowledgeable and have more Love for Her Majesty. For InI she is the perfect example for Woman to look to, also having an important role for Female equality around the world. Being One with Rastafari and therefore blessed to have this opportunity to set a good example on a world wide scale.

BIRTH

Empress Menen was born 3 April 1891, Gregorian calendar (25 March 1883 Ethiopian Calendar) as Woizero Menen Asfaw (or Manan Dagmawit) in the village Egua of the Ambassel region in the Wollo province. The name Menen was usually given to the most beautiful and respected woman in Ethiopia. At eleven weeks (80 days) on the 21st of June she was baptised Walatta Giyorgis (Wolete Giorgis) in the Ethiopian Orthodox St Delba Giorgis Church.

CHILDREN

Their(RasTafari and Hers) sacred and happy union lasted forty-seven years during which time they had six children – three daughters and three sons and many grandchildren.

CROWNING

The day before Empress Menen received the divine coronation on the same day as the Emperor, she joined him in a night of fasting and constant prayer until the early morning hours as they prepared to take on the mantles such as: “Elect of YAH”, “Rose of Sharon”, “Bright and Morning Star”, and “Light of the World”.

For the first time in Ethiopian history, Empress Menen was crowned Queen of Queens, alongside Emperor Haile Selassie I, King of Kings on 2 November 1930 at St Giorgis Church in Addis Ababa. On Coronation day, H.I.M Empress Menen was given a gold and ivory sceptre. At the foot of the sceptre the name of YAH is engraved and the Pentacle of King Solomon. She was crowned Itegue Menen, Itegue being the title of an Empress. It is to be noted that H.I.M Emperor Haile Selassie I, set a new precedent for how women were viewed, by changing the course of Ethiopian history insisting that the Empress be coronated on the same day as the Emperor and not three days later as was the custom, noting that both are from the King Solomon and Queen Makeda lineage.

CHARACTER OF THE EMPRESS

A mother of 6, she balanced a stable family life together with her King and husband, Ras Tafari, crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I. She became His trusted adviser in national and international affairs, and strengthened the confidence of millions of women by educating them and giving them opportunities to shine.

Her garments were always royal, elegant, extremely appropriate by international standards, and indeed, they show her royalty with the finest of silks, cottons, and other fine materials often woven with gold, silver, and velvet.

Empress Menen performed perfectly in the role of Empress. In her public role she combined religious acts, concern for social causes, and support for development schemes with the majesty of her Imperial status. Outwardly she was the dutiful wife, visiting schools, churches, exhibitions and model farms, attending public and state events at her husband’s side or by herself.

She took no public stand on political or policy issues. Behind the scenes however, she was the Emperor’s most trusted adviser, offering advice on a whole range of issues and assisting in writing the elegant speeches of His Majesty. She avoided the publicly political role that her predecessor as Empress, Empress Taitu Bitul, had taken, which had caused deep resentment in government circles during the reign of Menelik II. Although Early in the reign of Haile Selassie I an army revolt broke out and His Majesty was taken hostage. Her Majesty commandeered a tank to brake through the garrison’s gate to free her husband.

Empress Menen is known to have been devoted to the traditions of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, including honouring of holy feasts such as Passover and Sabbath Days. These traditions include much fasting and prayer, and strict observance of church rules and regulations. This made her a model Queen for all women in Ethiopia, by remaining involved in the current affairs and progression of her country while remaining steadfast to the holy traditions of the Ethiopian Empire. As a devote and faithful Christian in the Orthodox faith she was often in deep prayer. She went to St. Mark church every morning and stayed up to 9 A.M. praying to YAH and received monks and nuns that came from different churches and monasteries. Every Friday She went to St. Mark Church for special praying since Friday is the day which Yahshua was crucified. When the Empress went from the palace to the church, she received women who lost their husbands in the war front and tried to fulfil whatever they asked of her.

The Empress never alienated other churches, she always read their books and liked to give attention for the interpreted views of the church. She is a Queen to rise up and fulfil every standard as a woman, wife, monarch, Christian, mother, and a benefactor to all who needed her most in her country, Empress Menen Asfaw has become the perfect role model for a woman.

The Empress supported numerous charitable causes for the poor, the infirm and the handicapped. Empress Menen let Orphans to learn who lived in areas outside the capital city. She listened to the problems of the poor and always visited patients in hospitals. She took an active interest in all that went on, frequently visiting schools, looking in on classes and presiding at awards and graduation ceremonies. Empress Menen’s contributions to churches, schools, hospitals are widely recognised as unparalleled by any other woman in Ethiopian history. H.I.M Empress Menen sought to serve the people instead of demanding services from them.

Empress Menen herself had been in deep sorrow because of the passing of some of her beloved children. As she is strong spiritually, the Almighty YAH gave her strength to overcome this. Therefore even though she lost children she never neglected the country’s problems, this is well known by Ethiopian people. She passed each problem patiently. All Ethiopian people shared her grief and sympathised with her. Therefore, the Ethiopian people love Empress Menen from the bottom of their heart and shared the happiness and sadness with her. Her Majesty, was a fine example of how women of today should lead their lives. Virtuous and royal, courageous and divine, faithful to the almighty.

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

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’s version of Kebra Negast…

Kebra Negast

11. THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN ORTHODOX FATHERS

And they answered and said unto him, “Yea, verily the Tabernacle of the Covenant was the first thing to be created by Him, and there is no lie in thy word; it is true, and correct, and righteous, and unalterable. He created Zion before everything else to be the habitation of His glory, and the plan of His Covenant was that which He said, ‘I will put on the flesh of Adam, which is of the dust, and I will appear unto all those whom I have created with My hand and with My voice.’ And if it had been that the heavenly Zion had not come down, and if He had not put on the flesh of Adam, then God the Word would not have appeared, and our salvation would not have taken place. The testimony (or proof) is in the similitude; the heavenly Zion is to be regarded as the similitude of the Mother of the Redeemer, Mary. For in the Zion which is builded there are deposited the Ten Words of the Law which were written by His hands, and He Himself, the Creator, dwelt in the womb of Mary, and through Him everything came into being.”

These words by Marcus Garvey reveal more overstanding of God’s creation of humanity and ourselves…

Words of Marcus Garvey

This week’s bible reading is Psalm 20. It is paired with Psalm 21 which we will look at next week. Psalm 20 is written by King David and is in the form of a prayer. King David was a king in a country often at war and there is a thought that this might either have been written about the start of a particular war or as a prayer for wars in general. This psalm tells us to not rely on our own strength and our possessions (‘Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses’) but to rely on JAH and have pride in HIS name. It is also a warning that if we have any wealth and rich worldly possessions, we are more likely to rely on them than JAH…

Psalm 20

1 May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.

3 May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.

4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

5 May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests.

6 Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

8 They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

9 LORD, give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!

The Wise Words of H.I.M. Haile Selassie I

The Law of the Kings

‘By the word and deed, we have sought to inspire Our beloved people to retain the past – to cleave to its faith, to preserve its tradition, to cherish its self respect; and to acclaim the present to recognise its challenges, to work diligently, to attain higher levels of achievement.  We believe that the past must be the foundation for the future, and the achievements which we have just recounted must open new avenues for further progress. This is the law of life, for nations and for individuals the law of lasting happiness and welfare.  As leader of Our people it is a law which we gladly accept for ourself.  a nation without laws is a nation without discipline.  Such a nation is not worthy of our name.’

Emperor Haile Selassie I

I thought there were similarities between the thoughts of Marcus Garvey and the words of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, talking of working hard to achieve more.

For the final prayer here is The Shepherd’s Prayer from The Holy Piby by Robert Athlyi Rogers

The Shepherd’s Prayer By Athlyi

O God of Ethiopia, thy divine majesty; thy spirit come in our hearts to dwell in the path of righteousness, lead us, help us to forgive that we may be forgiven, teach us love and loyalty on earth as in Heaven, endow us with wisdom and understanding to do thy will, thy blessing to us that the hungry be fed, the naked clothed, the sick nourished, the aged protected and the infants cared for. Deliver us from the hands of our enemies that we prove fruitful, then in the last day when life is o’er, our bodies in the clay, or in the depths of the sea, or in the belly of a beast, O give our souls a place in thy kingdom forever and forever. Amen.

H.I.M. Emperor Haile Selassie I & heir to the throne Crown Prince Asda Wossen

How are you all doing? There are signs of spring all over. I have snowdrops out in my front garden and daffodils out down the path. There are also daffodils out in the containers by the front door…daffodils in time for St David’s Day, the 1st of March.

I don’t know if you know the traditions of St David’s Day? St David is the patron saint of Wales and was a monk who was alive in the 6th Century. He established many monasteries throughout Wales and Northern France. He was considered to have performed many miracles and so was made a saint in 1120AD.

Most of the children in Wales will be wearing Welsh national costume, like in the picture. Many of the adults wear Welsh dragon on their clothes or Welsh rugby tops, or sometimes a daffodil pinned to their top because daffodils are the emblem of Wales. A lot of people eat traditional Cawl for their dinner, with Welsh cakes or bara brith, which means speckled bread because of the raisins in it, for pudding.

Cawl is a soup made with either lamb or beef, stock and vegetables, but most importantly with leeks, which are another emblem of Wales. They were the original emblem of St David, who ate as close to an Ital diet as a Welsh monk could (vegetables, herbs, homemade bread, with water to drink) and so a leek as his emblem seems understandable to me.

In the Battle of Crecy in 1346, the Welsh soldiers were commanded to wear leeks on their helmets in battle against the Saxons so they could be identified, probably by their smell just as much as being able to see it because warm, uncooked leeks do smell horrible!

I had exciting news this week. My middle daughter passed her driving test! She was so nervous and completely sure she was going to fail. She didn’t, and the driving examiner even said she was an excellent driver. She came back home and we had a celebration, a takeaway and some sparkling wine. Then we went into full search mode and went looking for a car for her. She wants to be able to get to a job and also do some work experience relating to her course, so she wanted to get a car quickly. She has an idea of the sort of thing she wants, now we just need to find it.

My son is coming to the end of lambing. He thinks there are only a few weeks left but that next week is going to be very full-on because the next lot of sheep are going to be brought into the barn. During the storms recently, quite a few trees came down so he and his friends have been cutting them up for firewood to sell. There are a few oak and sycamore trees that came down, but also there are quite a few ash trees affected by a disease that affects ash trees so he has been felling those too.

He leaves to go up to the farm for lambing at about 6.30am and gets home at about midday. Then he spends the afternoon felling trees, sorting the firewood, delivering hay or haylage to other farms or fixing his tractor (again! It’s old and always needs fixing). Then he has to be back at the farm for 4pm and he is there til 7 or 8pm, depending on how much needs doing. He’s only doing one day a week at the dairy farm at the moment because he has been given the rest of the time off to help out with the lambing but he has done about 4 weeks in a row without a day off! At the moment he gets into the house in the evening, eats his food quickly and then goes straight to bed he’s so tired.

Anya, who I told you about last week, has had an exciting week. No, she didn’t pass her driving test…she’s been learning a new skill. She’s been snoofing! Anya is a hunting dog (she hasn’t ever hunted much more than a warm bed and a stupid squirrel) but what she has got is a nose with a turbo drive…she’s really good at smelling. Not the ‘making stinky smells’ sort of smelling, although a good run in a field that a fox has wandered through means that she often manages the ‘stinky smells’ and needs a good scrub with tomato ketchup…the only thing that reliably gets the smell of fox poo out! No, this ‘smelling’ is the tracking sort of smelling, the finding sort of smelling which it seems she is really good at. We have found that doing man-trailing (the posh words for go-snoofing, which is what we call it) seems to calm her inner-kangaroo and tame the not-so-inner velociraptor. My husband and she go off with lots of boxes of cat food, sardines, cut-up sausages and all sorts of other stinky stuff to a field with a few other dogs so they can train for trailing. I think if she gets good at it my husband would like to do lowland rescue….he says he wants to do nothing that could see him and Anya having to leap out of a helicopter or scramble up rock faces, but across fields and moorlands he feels that he’s up to (he doesn’t have an inner kangaroo sort of attitude to life). She comes back from her classes very tired but incredibly pleased with herself. She looks very smug about life and is sure she has been the bestest girl ever.

You have been introduced to Dilys before…she’s the sausage dog that Clyde, the cane corso, is afraid of. My mum and dad have her litter sister, Maisie. You would never believe that they were litter sisters. They are wire haired crossed with smooth haired dachshunds. Maisie looks all wire-haired and has the wire haired character. She is a real clown but very well behaved. Dilys looks completely like a smooth haired dachshund and is as stubborn as smooth haired dachshunds always are. She probably knows her name but she won’t often admit to it.

Every so often, when my parents come over to see me, either Maisie will decide that she is coming for a holiday to me or, more often, Dilys decides she is going on a holiday to Maisie’s house. Some days there will be no change of house, neither of them have any requests. My parents have been over to my house most days this week and neither of the dogs have had any requests. Today they came over and Dilys decided she needed a holiday from us all. She stands like a tripod on three legs and does her ‘bossy bark’, the one where we know she is telling us how something is going to be. Then she runs to the back door and barks again. And back…and on and on til we can’t ignore her. So we packed Dilys’s food, her collar and lead and she’s gone off on her holidays until she decides to come back. It’s usually only a couple of days but I do miss her whilst she isn’t home. She is the smallest of our dogs but definitely the bossiest.

The photo here is one my Dad took whilst he was doing some work in his garden. It takes a lot longer when moving paving slabs up to the top of the garden, which is on quite a slope, if you have to make room for two bossy dogs in your wheelbarrow!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

I hate not being there for the group! I’m missing it! I hope you are all doing okay. I’m sorry that the letters have taken a time to reach you. It’s all my fault for sending it in a weird format that the chaplaincy staff are trying to make work. I’m going to see if Pete can help me change the format and then try sending it again.

Last week I told you about my son harrowing the fields. I have taken a picture of the harrows so you can see them. Evil looking, aren’t they?! The spikes you can see drag the dead vegetation out and allow air get into the soil, so we get a better growth of grass ready for the hay crop.

I am back to snow watch at the moment, watching every forecast there is. The weather is definitely going to go much colder so it looks possible. There is a weather warning for snow and ice which covers this area, but it looks at the moment like it is going to be a small amount of snow followed by a lot of rain. The old farmer that my son works for is keeping the new lambs in, and he tends to know the weather. We will see!

My son has been working lambing for the last 5 days and is doing the same on into the next couple of weeks. They have just moved the last lot of sheep down from the high fields into the sheds and there were 350 in that lot. This week they had one of the ewes (female sheep) give birth to 4 lambs which is rarely seen, it’s usually only twins. Four lambs is way too much for the ewe to cope with so my son had to learn how to skin a dead lamb to put the skin on one of the 4 lambs. The mum who gave birth to the dead lamb is given the one of the 4 lambs, wrapped in the dead lamb’s fleece, so she has more chance of accepting it. The four lambs have a better hope of surviving if they are divided between other ewes so they can have more milk.

***** NEWS FLASH ******

WE HAVE HAD A FALL OF SNOW!!! We have had a good covering of snow, deep enough that the dogs have had an amazing time, racing round the garden, digging holes in the snow, playing ‘tag’ with each other. Gwen and Mali raced around trying to catch the snowflakes in their mouths. I think we are one of the few areas in the country, other than Scotland, to get a decent fall of snow this time. The snow fell for about 7 hours as big white feathers but has stopped now. I think its going to melt quite quickly, but the dogs (and I) enjoyed it while it lasted.

This is ending up being the longest Blitherings to write…there has been lots going on. My middle daughter has been home from university and we’ve been talking through her next piece of work. She has to do a piece on Film Noir which I think I almost understand now, but I don’t think I could pass a test on it. It has to follow the Hays Code….I’m learning here!…which is a 1920’s code written to ensure decency in films, and have lots of shadow, contrast and sharp images. It’s really fascinating learning about the interests of your children, stuff that is outside your knowledge or understanding there available to discuss and learn about. I do love that.

Clyde, the cane corso (who is frightened of dachshunds, shhh!), came back to stay with his family. Their baby, our sort-of-grandson, was 1 year old recently. How did he get to a year old already?? We are going to take him for his first pair of shoes for his birthday because he is just starting to stand up and balance. I don’t think it will be long before he is properly walking. Then I think he’s going to need a pair of wellies very quickly so that he can go running in the fields. He’s such a cuddlesome baby though, with a good chortle when he finds things funny, particularly cats. We have quite a few cats as well, I must start introducing you to them soon.

We still have one more dog to go too….shall I do that now? I think we should.

My husband would say this was leaving the best til last…she is his dog.

Anya. Usually said with a scream and maybe even a bad word with it. She is a Hungarian Vizsla. She is a medium-sized hunting dog with short ginger fur, crossed with a kangaroo, with some added velociraptor just to spice things up a bit. She has a lot of nicknames…Wombat Whiskers, The Muppet, Boiiing, The Evil Sister, Maggot, The Big Ginger Nuisance. I’m sure there is more if I asked the rest of the family. I’m sure some of them may not be approved by the Hays Code!!

She is the first dog that my husband has had all to himself. He swears his undying loyalty to this dog despite her muppety ways. I just think that sometimes, deep in his heart, he wishes he had got a Normal Dog. She is a series of strangeness and contrasts…she really does hate people but the people she has decided to like she has to greet with full-bodied bouncy enthusiasm. She has dished out bruises, scratches and has even chipped my tooth in the name of greeting thoroughly. Greetings are no less than 20 minutes long and require full, individual attention from the greeted. She then has to physically attach herself to anyone she loves, lie across them, lean on them etc.

If she doesn’t like you, she will bark loudly until she decides you aren’t going away and at that point she will very actively ignore you…the sort of ignoring where you completely know you are being ignored, complete with loud sighs, breathy whinges, sitting with her back to you and, her personal masterpiece, belching loudly, frequently and strangely humanly.

She is bred for hunting. She has incredible stamina and can run for miles and miles, for hours at a time. She also demands my husband carries her in from the car so she doesn’t get her paws wet in the winter!! She will absolutely refuse to get her delicate little mudstompers even a centimetre out of the car when all she has to do is walk from the car to the house. You can barely hold her back from leaping with excitement and running to the first muddy ditch to roll and ditch-snorkel if she thinks that she’s going to go for a decent run across the fields.

In order to protect her from some of the rancidness of her ditch-snorkelling and because every so often she re-discovers her inner princess and thinks that the world is just too cold for her, my husband has bought her the most ridiculous amount of coats….a completely crazy amount! She has 4 indoor fleeces that are her ‘pyjamas’, that are made in a solid colour with a leopard, zebra or tiger print collar to contrast. There are her summer weight t-shirts in bold colours for keeping her from getting too hot. There are her winter outdoor fleeces to keep her warm on walks. There are her town-going ‘posh’ coats that have a nice bit of tweed on them, so that maybe, if you saw her at a distance and your eye sight wasn’t that great, you would mistake her as sophisticated.

My husband’s favourite coat on her is one of her outdoor fleeces. The rest of the family all find it quite funny. The thing about vizslas is that they are pretty much all one colour…their fur is ginger, they have a ginger nose, their toe nails match and so, sort of, do their eyes. He has bought her a bright orange fleece. The problem is, he thinks she looks lovely in it, we all think…she looks like a traffic cone in it!!! See what you think….

I don’t think I am going to be back next week, the

Trigeminal neuralgia is still a bit grim and the treatment isn’t

working as quickly as I would like. I am really sorry, I will get back to the group as quickly as I can.

I hope you are all now getting these letters. The technical problem around getting the documents printed out has been figured out between Chaplaincy and my husband.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

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.

Kebra Negast

9. CONCERNING THE COVENANT OF NOAH

And then Noah the righteous man died, and Shem reigned in wisdom and righteousness, for he was blessed by Noah, saying, “Be God to thy brother.” And to Ham he said, “Be servant to thy brother.” And he said unto Japhet, “Be thou servant to Shem my heir, and be thou subject unto him.” 2 And again, after the Flood, the Devil, our Enemy, did not cease from his hostility against the children of Noah, but stirred up Canaan, the son of Ham, and he became the violent tyrant (or usurper) who rent the kingdom from the children of Shem. Now they had divided the earth among them, and Noah had made them swear by the Name of his God that they would not encroach on each other’s boundaries, and would not eat the beast that had died of itself or had been rent [by wild animals], and that they would not cultivate harlotry against the law, lest God should again become angry with them and punish them with a Flood. And as for Noah, he humbled himself, and offered up sacrifice, and he cried out, and groaned, and wept. And God held converse with Noah, who said [unto Him], “If Thou wilt destroy the earth a second time with a Flood, blot Thou me out with those who are to perish.” And God said unto him, “I will make a covenant with thee that thou shalt tell thy children they shall not eat the beast that hath died of itself or that hath been torn by wild beasts, and they shall not cultivate harlotry against the law; and I, on My part, [covenant] that I will not destroy the earth a second time with a Flood, and that I will give unto thy children Winter and Summer, Seedtime and Harvest, Autumn and Spring. 

Isaiah 40

1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:

7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

9 O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!

This is the first part of psalm 40 that I’m going to give you to study. This portion of the psalm talks joyously of the Word of the Lord being established and the prophesies that had been made about the protection and care of God’s people. Their striving and struggle will come to an end at JAH’s will, and JAH’s presence will be felt. It is a similar to the ideas in the chapter of the Kebra Negast, the people have cried out from the punishment from JAH and He has forgiven and comforted them. Their boundaries and land have been re-established in JAH’s care of them.

Looking at the quote by H.I.M. Haile Selassie I at the top of the page, this is the ideal by which His Imperial Majesty lived. He gave the best and the most of himself and encouraged the same from his people. It was with this striving that he established in 1963, the Organisation for African Unity and became its first president. Here is a part of his acceptance speech…

The Wise Words Of His Imperial Majesty

This is indeed a momentous and historic day for Africa and for all Africans. We stand today on the stage of world affairs before the audience of world opinion. We have come together to assert our role in the direction of world affairs and to discharge our duty to the great continent whose 250 million people we lead. Africa is today at midcourse, in transition from the Africa of Yesterday to the Africa of Tomorrow. Even as we stand here, we move from the past into the future. The task on which we have embarked, the making of Africa, will not wait. We must act, to shape and mould the future and leave our imprint on events as they slip past into history.

We seek, at this meeting, to determine whither we are go and to chart the course of our destiny. It is no less important that we know whence we came. An awareness of our past is essential to the establishment of our personality and our identity as Africans.

This world was not created piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no earlier than any other geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less than other men, possess all human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues and faults. Thousands of years ago, civilisations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous.

The obscurity which enshrouds the centuries which elapsed between those earliest days and the rediscovery of Africa is being gradually dispersed. What is certain is that during those long years Africans were born, lived, and died. Men on other parts of this earth occupied themselves with their own concerns and, in their conceit, proclaimed that the world began and ended at their horizons. All unknown to them, Africa developed in its own pattern, growing in its own life and, in the nineteenth century, finally re-emerged into the world’s consciousness.

The events of the past 150 years require no extended recitation from us. The period of colonialism into which we were plunged culminated with our continent fettered and bound; with our once proud and free peoples reduced to humiliation and slavery; with Africa’s terrain cross-hatched and chequer-boarded by artificial and arbitrary boundaries. Many of us, during those bitter years, were overwhelmed in battle, and those who escaped conquest did so at the cost of desperate resistance and bloodshed. Others were sold into bondage as the price extracted by the colonialists for the ‘protection’ which they extended and the possessions of which they disposed. Africa was a physical resource to be exploited and Africans were chattels to be purchased bodily or, at best, peoples to be reduced to vassalage and lackeyhood. Africa was the market for the produce of other nations and the source of the raw materials with which their factories were fed.

Today, Africa has emerged from this dark passage. Our Armageddon is past. Africa has been reborn as a free continent and Africans have been reborn as free men. The blood that was shed and the sufferings that were endured are today Africa’s advocates for freedom and unity. Those men who refused to accept the judgment passed upon them by the colonisers, who held unswervingly through the darkest hours to a vision of an Africa emancipated from political, economic, and spiritual domination, will be remembered and revered wherever Africans meet. Many of them never set foot on this continent. Others were born and died here. What we may utter today can add little to the heroic struggle of those who, by their example, have shown us how precious are freedom and human dignity and of how little value is life without them. Their deeds are written in history.

Africa’s victory, although proclaimed, is not yet total, and areas of resistance still remain. Today, We name as our first great task the final liberating of those Africans still dominated by foreign exploitation and control. With the goal in sight, and unqualified triumph within our grasp, let us not now falter or lag or relax. We must make one final supreme effort; now, when the struggle grows weary, when so much has been won that the thrilling sense of achievement has brought us near satiation. Our liberty is meaningless unless all Africans are free. Our brothers in the Rhodesias, in Mozambique, in Angola, in South Africa, cry out in anguish for our support and assistance. We must urge on their behalf their peaceful accession to independence. We must align and identify ourselves with all aspects of their struggle. It would be betrayal were we to pay only lip service to the cause of their liberation and fail to back our words with action.

To them we say, your pleas shall not go unheeded. The resources of Africa and of all freedom-loving nations are marshalled in your service. Be of good heart, for your deliverance is at hand.

As we renew our vow that all of Africa shall be free, let us also resolve that old wounds shall be healed and past scars forgotten. It was thus that Ethiopia treated the invader nearly 25 years ago, and Ethiopians found peace with honour in this course. Memories of past injustice should not divert us from the more pressing business at hand. We must live in peace with our former colonisers, shunning recrimination and bitterness and forswearing the luxury of vengeance and retaliation, lest the acid of hatred erode our souls and poison our hearts. Let us act as befits the dignity which we claim for ourselves as Africans, proud of our own special qualities, distinctions, and abilities. Our efforts as free men must be to establish new relationships, devoid of any resentment and hostility, restored to our belief and faith in ourselves as individuals, dealing on a basis of equality with other equally free peoples.

Today, we look to the future calmly, confidently, and courageously. We look to the vision of an Africa not merely free but united. In facing this new challenge, we can take comfort and encouragement from the lessons of the past. We know that there are differences among us. Africans enjoy different cultures, distinctive values, special attributes. But we also know that unity can be and has been attained among men of the most disparate origins, that differences of race, of religion, of culture, of tradition, are no insuperable obstacle to the coming together of peoples. History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity.

There are those who claim that African unity is impossible, that the forces that pull us, some in this direction, others in that, are too strong to be overcome. Around us there is no lack of doubt and pessimism, no absence of critics and criticism. These speak of Africa, of Africa’s future and of her position in the twentieth century in sepulchral tones. They predict dissension and disintegration among Africans and internecine strife and chaos on our continent. Let us confound these and, by our deeds, disperse them in confusion. There are others whose hopes for Africa are bright, who stand with faces upturned in wonder and awe at the creation of a new and happier life, who have dedicated themselves to its realisation and are spurred on by the example of their brothers to whom they owe the achievements of Africa’s past. Let us reward their trust and merit their approval.

Prayer

Princes shall come out of Egypt,

Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hand unto God.

Oh thou God of Ethiopia, thou God of divine majesty,

thy spirit come within our hearts to dwell in the path of righteousness.

That the hungry be fed, the sick nourished, the aged protected, and the infant cared for.

Teach us love and loyalty as it is in Zion.

Selah.

Hi,

I’m really sorry, the second week in a row where I’m not going to be able to hand you the Blitherings in person. Last week it was because we had a whole department meeting, this week it’s because of me. I have a problem with the nerves in my face, its called Trigeminal neuralgia, and every so often I have to get treatment for it and that every-so-often is now. It’s going to take about 3 weeks for the treatment to start working, but I will carry on sending you the services and the Blitherings and I will let you know when I am back. I hope you are all back on the wings and where you should be, that you have all recovered from the various illnesses and bugs that are going round and that you’ve all started your ‘3 good things’.

This week I have had to get all the paperwork sorted in time for the XL bully ban, so it seems like the right time to introduce you to Clyde. I’m sure you’ve seen all the awful stories about dangerous dogs and in particular XL bullies. Some of them look really scary, I will admit but Clyde didn’t get the memo about being scary. Clyde is a 14 stone cane corso. He’s huge! When he stands in the kitchen it’s like sharing the space with a small donkey. But he has a guilty secret and I’m about to share it with you…he’s afraid of dachshunds!

Clyde belongs to a family who come to stay with us at times. He is a complete sweetheart with only one problem…. He looks at Dilys, my mini sausage dog, as if she is a mirror. He thinks he is the same size as her, so he climbs up onto my lap as if he weighs the same as her. He doesn’t!! He is fourteen stone! That is a lot of dog to be sat on a lap, believe me. He also likes to give kisses and his tongue is bigger than my

face.

Last time he came to stay with us Dilys was asleep in the basket by the stove in the kitchen and Clyde decided to investigate. He tiptoed up to the basket and sniffed….he tiptoes a bit like a hippopotamus would if it was on stealth-mode (not very tiptoe-y) and Dilys wasn’t fooled. Dilys stuck her snoot out of the blanket and snarled….when I say she snarled, if you saw her it would make you laugh. She only reaches Clyde’s ankles and she is pretty much completely blind. She’s so lazy that the most energetic thing she does is eat her food…and, it seems, snarl at Clyde, but he’s more likely to be knocked out by her doggybreath than he is to be hurt by her teeth.

But Clyde was terrified. Clyde did one of those bugs bunny runs where all his legs were in panic mode and he couldn’t run away fast enough. He ran away from the scary dachshund as fast as his panicking legs would carry him and hid behind the settee. The dachshund nose retreated back under the warmth of the blanket.

Now Clyde had a huge dilemma. He knows he is a lap dog and it’s important to sit on laps to maintain his reputation. I was sat on the settee, lap empty, all ready for a Clyde…at least that’s what Clyde thought. But between the lap and him is the scariest, hugest dragon. So Clyde crept up the arm of the sofa, along the back of the settee, watching very carefully to check that the nasty dachshund didn’t see him. He crawled round, with his eyes closed, pretending he wasn’t there til he landed with a galumph on my lap. Wow!! He weighs a ton! Every time Dilys thought about it she growled in his direction and Clyde shook and closed his eyes so the sausage dog couldn’t see him. Now we are wondering which of these two needs registering with the Dangerous Dogs Act and think it’s probably Dilys because of her breath.

This week my son has been moving a muck pile for a farmer so we can spread it on our land to improve the soil and help the hay grow. As you can imagine, Mali was uninvited to that activity…can you imagine the baths she would need after that?! While he was moving it he came across this…a nest of baby rats.

Hopefully the muck will give us a good crop of grass this year to cut into hay. We usually turn the bales that are on the headlands and under the trees, that don’t dry as well, into haylage… those are the big round bales that are wrapped in plastic. The ones that are from the open field and dry better are left as hay. Once the muck is spread onto the field and the fields have dried up a bit, my son will harrow the fields. For those who haven’t met a harrow before, it is an evil looking 10ft spiky implement that you tow behind the tractor which removes dead vegetation and allows the air to get into the soil. My son loves harrowing. He gets to drive up and down the fields for hours with Mali, listening to music or podcasts… nothing more complicated than that, and the fields look so much better afterwards.

Last week was a flat-out busy one, my middle daughter had an assignment to do and I had to drive her round to sort out all her research, drive down to her college to pick up the work she forgot to bring with her, talk to the people who were contacts of mine to explain what she needed and ask if they were prepared to help her. All sorts of things that took a lot of time. Then I had to sort out ‘essay snacks’, constant cups of herbal tea, persuade her away from coffee (because if she drinks too much coffee she won’t sleep for weeks). She did a couple of all-nighters and the her piece of work was done. She’s now gone back to college to start on the next term’s work.

It’s going to be very odd not coming into Berwyn to see you all for a few weeks. I will send the service sheets in and I hope you get them. When I get back I have some good news about resources for our group and some outside support from a real Rastafari chaplain!!

Blessings,

Elizabeth