Thought for the day
George Herbert's Sighs and Grones read by Richard Wallace
Sighs and Groans
by George Herbert
O do not use me
After my sins! look not on my desert,
But on thy glory! then thou wilt reform
And not refuse me: for thou only art
The mighty God, but I a silly worm;
O do not bruise me!
O do not urge me!
For what account can thy ill steward make?
I have abused thy stock, destroyed thy woods,
Sucked all thy magazines: my head did ache,
Till it found out how to consume thy goods:
O do not scourge me!
O do not blind me!
I have deserved that an Egyptian night
Should thicken all my powers; because my lust
Hath still sewed fig-leaves to exclude thy light:
But I am frailty, and already dust;
O do not grind me!
O do not fill me
With the turned vial of thy bitter wrath!
For thou hast other vessels full of blood,
A part whereof my Saviour emptied hath,
Ev'n unto death: since he died for my good,
O do not kill me!
But O reprieve me!
For thou hast life and death at thy command;
Thou art both Judge and Saviour, feast and rod ,
Cordial and Corrosive : put not thy hand
Into the bitter box; but O my God,
My God, relieve me!
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We've seen lots of amazing work in the visitor services department so far this year. SMR stewards have generated over £4,500 donations between January and April 2026 and welcomed over 5000 visitors to the Church. We are welcoming new tour guides to the front of house team with the eventual goal to expand the number of tours we are able to offer to the public. Janet and Reuben have both done their first tours and have received wonderful reviews from visitors. If you are interested in volunteering on the front of house team please contact me on lucy.marshall@stmaryredcliffe.co.uk . We have had some amazing feedback from our outreach events as we aim to welcome not only those familiar with SMR but also those that have never been before. These have included film screenings, talks and most recently the Redcliffe Sessions which raised just under £150 for our Lent charity partner, CALM. Thank you to all those who have supported these. The next Redcliffe Session will be in support of SMR and will feature Bristol band Dogsbody on guitar, cello and violin, and songwriter, Alex Pester on 13th June. I am very excited looking into the rest of 2026 for our future events run both in house and by external hirers, more information of which can be found on our website. If you are interested in volunteering at any future SMR events please let me know! Lucy Marshall Visitor Services Coordinator 06.05.2026
