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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Rev Guy Goodall

Good morning.

Saturday morning – greet it with a smile, joyful anticipation. I was once taught that there are certain skills behind greetings and farewells, especially when using the phone, lessons the teacher never applied himself. Whenever answering the phone, his welcome suggested that he was utterly bored and, at the end of the call, his farewell suggested the whole conversation was a complete waste of his time and my time. That’s all I can remember of the conversations we had!

Beginnings and endings are of great significance for example, a baby’s cry kicks off the process of breathing that will last a lifetime, life ending with that final breath. A significant amount of history can be lived in between those two breaths.

The overwhelming majority of us will greet someone today, on the bus, the shops, or if we have to work, the office or factory floor. Likewise, we shall express some form of farewell. How we do that will go some way to shape the rest of the day for others. Make it personal, and if the memories are good they will also help keep the conversation in mind, enriching an ongoing relationship. Some work hard at their greetings to make people feel good about themselves. Those simple words of Hi and Bye have within them an immense amount of power, and should be uttered with considerable care and forethought.

Help me, Lord, to remember that my opening words can make someone feel valued and good about themselves, and when our conversation is over, may our closing words fill us both with hope and encouragement.

Amen