Tittle Tattle Newsletter
Sponsored by Harden Congregational Church
Issue 9 Week beginning 24th May
Is Anyone Listening?
Do you sometimes think to yourself when you switch onto the daily news bulletins that there are an awful lot of people out there talking but not listening? There are many expressing opinions but few coming up with solutions. It’s a combination of journalists asking what they believe are searching questions, politicians reverting to party political points or people enjoying the good weather and ignoring the lockdown rules. You can be left with the impression that no, nobody is listening!
There is a difference between hearing and listening. We all hear what’s being said by the medics, the scientists and those trying to come up with balanced solutions, but do we actually listen?
Isn’t it the case that you can end up with a much greater understanding of any dilemma posed and potential answers to address it if you listen to all the evidence and arguments, and you can then contribute, in a positive way, to the solutions.
It occurred to me that if Jesus was trying to help us understand the problems we face he would probably teach us by using a parable as he taught the crowds who came to listen to him. He did this as he knew that this was the best way to communicate very profound truths, about the nature of God and the way we should follow. One such parable is about listening; the parable of The Sower.
‘A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Some fell on the rock: and it as grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil and when it grew it produced a hundred fold. As he said this, he called out. ‘Let anyone with ears to hear, Listen!’
They all heard but few listened! Let us listen and learn from each other.
A poem about choices……….
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
[Robert Frost]
HARDEN HUB- HERE TO HELP
Are you struggling to get fresh fruit and vegetables? The Harden Hub, based at Harden Congregational Church, can help!!
Volunteers have come forward to finance the cost of the produce, do the shopping, deliver the food to the Hub, put food in bags and deliver to households each Friday since the beginning of the Lockdown. Last week we delivered to twelve households in the village
We are delivering fruit and vegetables in a mixed bag to your doorstep if you need it.
Are you –
a) over 70 and have no-one to shop for fresh produce for you
b) classed as vulnerable and have no-one to shop for fresh produce for you
c) an individual, couple or family who have suffered a loss of income due to the virus outbreak
To register for your weekly delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables to your door please send your name and
address to
or phone Helen on 07932 156337.
There is no charge for the food or the delivery.
Helen Keighley (Minister, Harden Congregational Church)
Village Undertakers Wilsden
Village Undertakers, Wilsden remain open as usual 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
A look at our website at www.villageundertakers.co.uk gives up to date information on the current policy adopted by Bradford Council regarding funerals as well as a guide to our prices for the services we offer.
Ring Robert Waddington on 07599 46 26 49.
Never too old to learn!
What new interests have you discovered during the lockdown? Mine include the following:-
- You learn all sorts of things when you take the opportunity to listen and observe. I have lived all my adult life with interests in history, law, literature and drama. I have never been of scientific bent and shared the broad view of Magnus Pike that ‘if it squirms, it’s biology; if it stinks, it’s chemistry; if it doesn’t work, it’s physics and if you can’t understand it, it’s mathematics.’ Recently however, I have been fascinated by the scientific briefings on the coronavirus and the world-wide exploration of drugs and vaccines. So now I tend to watch the daily briefings on TV, not to hear the politicians but to listen to the information from the scientists and medics and to appreciate their knowledge and skill. It is also interesting to hear them acknowledging that they don’t know everything and they have a lot to learn. Join the club!
- Whilst appreciating the wonder of the natural world I have never paid particular attention to the detail of it and what makes it tick. I have just accepted that it happens.
Out on our many walks during the last nine weeks or so, over fields and moor, one new thing I have learned is that the oak tree is one of the last trees to come into leaf in Spring. There are many oaks on Harden Moor and whilst every other species of tree and plant was sprouting new growth in April, the oak trees, big and small, all looked dead as if smitten by some deadly disease. We felt quite upset; oaks being a symbol of everything English etc. It was all going wrong! Then in late April we noticed the hint of leaf buds and a week later we were greeted with the sight of a hundred oak trees in full bloom. I did a little research and discovered that oak trees do indeed develop at various times in the Spring but can develop later depending on weather conditions and latitude. It must be cold on those moors. Ah well I have the time to explore the topic, in a little more detail.
Rainbow Children
Harriet has been outside she has experimented with animals and water.
She has found out which animals will go down the water shoot and which don’t. She also discovered that if she turned the whale upside down then it would go down.
She tried lots of different animals including the dinosaurs turning them on their side if they wouldn’t go.
Later she experimented with sound turning the buckets and other items upside down. She used a spoon to tap them, and discovered they made different sounds.
We have started a ‘Corona snake’ in Harden Park. She is made up of painted stones. Please decorate and add your own stones to the end. We want to see how long she can get!!
Please enjoy visiting ‘Corona’ but don’t touch or remove any of the stones.
Tips for painting your stones
- Sharpies, nail varnish or acrylic paints work well or you can use clear varnish to seal other products so they are weather resistant.
- Thinking of our environment and of the local wildlife, please don’t embellish your stones with anything, especially glitter.
Answers to
Missing Body Parts Quiz
hacknEYEd
mARMalade
bewitCHINg
arcHIPelago
battLEGround
astoniSHINg
potaTOEs
mercHANDise
freewHEELing
childbEARing
horRIBle
deLIVERance
naNOSEcond
orCHESTra
arGUMent
criSPINESs
thANKLEss
pLUNGer
Food Quiz
- Bread
- Brown
- Mint
- Tomato
- Worcestershire
They are all sauces!
Friends in other countries
Hungary.
His friends are in argenTINA, denMARK, RUSSia, suDAN and uniTED states
A ? to put you to sleep
Forty [winks]
Quizzes
Calendar Foods
If we eat Fish on St. David’s Day, Crab on US Independence Day and Goat on Christmas Day, what do we eat on Halloween?
Odd words out
Find the odd word out in each of the following lists:
- ARM, ELECTRIC, LEAGUE, PUSH, ROCKING, WHEEL, VICE
- ART, DOG, FREE, HALFWAY, PUBLIC, PUBLISHING, ROSE
- DANCE, GLASS, GROUND, OCEAN, SECOND, SHOP, TRADING
Towns/Cities
Name the towns and cities below
- Three singing sisters
- A clay workers pub counter
- Opposite of have
- Male sheep’s lowest point
- Completely mad
- Where magpies play
- The ladies or gents
- Jam or ham
- An old car
- Dog walking accessories
- Result of an auction
- Gas boiler or place for posh hats
- Said to have influenced Shakespeare
- Fast and nimble in movement
- A place for ablutions
- Male meadow
- A person shown the way out
- An opener for a pristine door
- People pebble
- Game between two teams from same area
- The left side of a nation
- Dirty marks
- Churchill, Darwin and Jesus are sited here
- Be dressed in
- A Kent flatfish
- Sport played by either 13 or 15
- Mother’s garden doorway
- Store and supply a fortified wine
- Where the sister was devoured
- Seen in herds
- A gloomy honey maker
- Head cook out in a meadow
Contributions
If you would like to contribute any information or articles of interest to the Newsletter
please contact Sheila Driver deepseadriver@aol.com
or Kay Johnson congstittletattle@gmail.com
Prayer
Calm me, O Lord as you stilled the storm
Still me, O Lord keep me from harm
Let all the tumult within me cease
Enfold me, Lord, in Your peace