Pass it on……
Dear Friends
Please find an introduction to this week’s Newsletter from Mary Greaves
With all that is going on in the world today it’s easy to loose sight of the positives that are still out there. I used to play a game with young children called “pass it on.” We would sit in a circle and someone would choose what to pass on to the child next to them. It might be a wave, a handshake, a heart made with fingers, it then went around the circle until everyone had received it.
One of the things we liked to pass on was a smile and maybe it’s something we could consider in our lives today. A single smile possesses a remarkable power to spread positivity and happiness from one person to another, and one of the great aspects of a smile is it’s universality. Regardless of language, culture or background, a smile is a universally understood symbol of happiness and friendliness. When we receive a smile from someone, our instinctual response is to smile back, it’s a cycle that perpetuates itself, much like a chain reaction.
Moreover, a single smile can transform as it travels from one person to the next. Each interaction has the potential to alter the course of someone’s day, turning a bad day into a good one or a moment of sadness into a moment of happiness. Smiles are also incredibly contagious, one person’s smile has the power to uplift not only the immediate recipient but also those in the vicinity, much like the “pass it on” game spreading its message through a group of participants.
So next time you receive a smile, remember to pass it on to someone else. You may never know the profound impact your smile can have on someone’s day, and, in turn, on the world.
It’s worth a try
We started this week with the Big Listen. Celia Eccleston and Stephen Robinson are the two parish members of the Synod. Together with the volunteer table leaders they led the first part of the Diocesan Synod, Our Way Together, with about forty members of the Parish Community taking part. Beginning in the Shrine the atmosphere was prayerful and the contributions around the table were deep and personal. Hopefully we can grow into this common journey as a parish in the coming two years of Our Way Together.
God Bless
Fr Bryan and Fr Reginald