On Sunday, 9 June, Messy Church Geraldine took a look at the story of the Good Samaritan.

After dramatising the parable with an impromptu play directed by Rev'd Hugh McCafferty, the takeaway message, said Elsie (11), was "Be kind to each other, even your enemies, because we are all the same."

Building on that message, 22 children, together with around a dozen grown-ups, set about painting around 200 rocks with happy and colourful messages. In a race against the pending sunset and the threat of rain, the rocks were dried, sealed, and then laid in the Kindness Rocks garden in front of St Mary's church, where a prayer was said that God might give joy to those who painted them and those who take or receive the gift of a rock from the garden. Even though it was dark and cold by the time the project was completed, the children were very pleased with the result of their efforts. One of our older parishioners, who was excited to take a rock home to show her husband, said with a huge smile on her face, "I've never painted anything before!"

The Kindness Rocks garden will be advertised to the community, with the invitation to take one for yourself or a friend or add one to the garden and, if you have time, join the Facebook group (Kindness Rocks Geraldine) and share a picture of yourself with your rock.