(Notices and articles for the newsletter can be put in the "shoebox" in the church vestibule or posted to the church.)

Excerpts from our latest publication

The appearance of things changes according to the emotions, and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.

- Kahlil Gibran

From the minister

Visions and vuvuzelas

By the time you read this, England’s "bored" football team either will or will not have managed to remain in the World Cup competition in South Africa. The rebellious French team, whose actions have been called a "stain on the honour" of their country will either have stayed for the second round or will have had their sabres broken in Paris. Diego Maradona’s Argentina team will or will not have pulled off another "hand of God" victory.

For all you readers who have remained impervious to the hype of the four-yearly tournament, I offer congratulations. I’m with you now. Partway through the Spain v Honduras match I had a tiny apotheosis and realised I didn’t care at all who won the game. I feel liberated today, though I do wonder how I will avoid that other orgy of competition called Wimbledon.

Over two thousand years ago, Pythagoras was faced with a similar puzzle at the early Greek Olympic Games. He observed people coming in their flocks to watch and cheer their favourite athletes and, being the mathematician he was, divided them into three categories. The first of these types was those who came to make money. In those days this would probably have meant small wine or olive stalls selling snacks to the crowds, and the punters with bets on runners and jumpers. These days, in our World Cup equivalent, we have manufacturers of sporting equipment, advertisers on television of cars, beer and insurance, and — not to be forgotten — the Sun newspaper with its logo-emblazoned vuvuzelas. If you don’t know what this last item is, I salute you.

The second type was perhaps more familiar: those who came for honour. This would include all those footballers accustomed to earning five times the annual national average income each week of the year, whose taste for a legacy of glory has made them put up with weeks of running around a pitch each morning and nothing to do afterwards except play darts and watch videos. It is a search for glory that makes otherwise sensible people hang flapping flags from their cars and do incessant horn honking after a victory.

The third type of participant, said Pythagoras, was those who came to the games to learn, to seek wisdom. This would be done, presumably, by observing the melee of motives and growing in understanding. To get a feel for the human condition. Maybe that’s what happened to me during that match the other night.

Or maybe, if England show the right stuff, I’ll be looking around for my own vuvuzela. Does anyone know where I can pick one up cheap?

- Art Lester

The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can't be organised or regulated. It isn't true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth.

- Ram Dass