A day without a sermon

No sermons was preached by me today.

This morning I led a service at my smaller church, Alwington Methodist Church. It included a Christmas presentation by our small but talented group of youngsters, the Alwingtones. It was excellently done and contained an interesting mix of traditional Nativity and modern music. Next Sunday evening I will be there again for the Carol Service.

This evening I had no service to lead which was a good thing as it meant that I wa free to go with my family to the Royal Hotel for a party out on for a group of people with what are often termed 'learning disbilities.' This group meet every month at the hall at the Bideford Methodist Church where I am minister. The organistaion is not a church organisation but many of the people involved belong to the church.

Anyhow, it was a great evening. The folk who came are a remarkably sunny group. I am constantly amazed at how much these people have to teach the rest of us about living.

With that in mind, I recommend an article by Kim Fabricius concerning a lecture by Professor Frances Young regarding severe learning difficulties. Too often we are inclined to get sidetracked as to what people should be. Surely, the first needs of humanity are to love and be loved. I saw plenty of that tonight. I cannot help but feel that when we judge the lives of people with learning disabilities, we would do well to focus on what we can learn from them.