who are you looking to follow?

 

Splintered Messiah by Stewart Henderson

I don’t want a splintered Messiah

In a sweat stained greasy grey robe

I want a new one

I couldn’t take this one to parties

People would say ‘Who’s your friend?’

I’d give an embarrassed giggle and change the subject.

If I took him home

I’d have to bandage his hands

The neighbours would think he’s a football hooligan

I don’t want his cross in the hall

It doesn’t go with the wallpaper

I don’t want him standing there

Like a sad ballet dancer with holes in his tights

I want a different Messiah

Streamlined and inoffensive

I want one from a catalogue

Who’s as quiet as a monastery

I want a package tour Messiah

Not one who takes me to Golgotha

I want a King of Kings

With blow waves in his hair

I don’t want the true Christ

I want a false one.

 

Empty Churches

 

Ann-Marie writes 

A Hertfordshire village church

Tucked away

What a treasure when you come across it!

With a timber turret built as a bellcot by the Victorians

A beautiful red brick Tudor porch, hiding the original Norman door

A Jacobean bust,  with Bible verses for the good of the soul

And a rare mosaic pavement from the very early fourteenth century

 

 Defeated? A sonnet to empty churches

Come on. You lot have survived worse things:

Black Death, Plague and two World wars,

The Reformation (Cromwell clipped the wings

Of angels in the roof); and there are scars

 

On ancient faces, marble noses cropped

And poppy heads beheaded like the King;

And modern vandals too. But you've not stopped

Your ageless plain ability to sing

 

Of something quite indifferent to the now;

Built with a trusting love and potent faith

You stand there still in testament to how

Beauty is not a wafted fleeting wraith,

 

A ghost which chance can whimsically destroy;

You can be filled, if not by faith, with joy.

                                            Anon, June 2020

 

‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength’ Isaiah 30:15

Exit Music

 

Captain Sir Tom Moore left instructions for his funeral that the song “My Way” by Frank Sinatra should be played. No-one can deny that Tom did things in his own way, impressing and inspiring the nation as he did so. He was very much the man of the moment, though not by self-promotion as the song implies in certain of its lines. He said that he particularly appreciated the line about “regrets – too few to mention”. It’s a good way to go…..

There would have been a time when most funerals would have organ voluntaries at the beginning and end, but even in church that is becoming rare. Given that the music frames the ceremony it does seem reasonable that something appropriate should be chosen, if desired. When we are at the crematorium, the downloading system means that we can request just about anything ever recorded. That can make decisions either very easy or, in all fairness, rather difficult.

We are free to choose; I recall one person who was amazed that he could request Widor’s Toccata for the end of his father’s funeral. Going out on a high note! Some evoke an era which was important to the family or an attitude which represents the person we remember. Songs such as Oh Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison, Skin by Rag n’Bone Man or Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller all speak of a loved one at a particular special time.

In the end – at the end? – that Exit Music feels best when it reflects the personality, the love and hopefully the faith of the person whose life we are celebrating. Maybe they chose it, or perhaps we choose it. It may or may not have lyrics, for the music alone can express deep emotion. In these days when we cannot sing together, we often have an additional piece of music – maybe a hymn, or another significant piece – to listen to and contemplate. It’s actually a great opportunity, given the circumstances. For all of us, like Captain Tom, we will ultimately leave a feeling with those who survive us, and our Exit Music – based on our lives - will hopefully not leave regrets but a profound sense of thankfulness.

I told you I was old!

 

Captain Sir Tom Moore’s funeral takes place this weekend, and due to restrictions it will be a very quiet event with only eight family members attending. The restrictions in visiting the sick and the dying, and the limits on funeral attendance, have been such a shocking aspect of the lockdowns. Captain Tom knew this was coming and said that it appears that there will be complete strangers remembering him sadly – but he thought of himself looking down on everyone and smiling. He also said there would be a need for more jam sandwiches than anticipated, but he wouldn’t be able to help.

Captain Tom served in India and Burma, and the former location gave him a particular fondness for Spike Milligan who had Irish and Indian connections. Tom used to love the Goon Show, which was then a rather outrageously silly show on the BBC. This was before Monty Python, The Young Ones and – well, many a jocular treat, most of which seem to feature Romesh Ranganathan or Hugh Dennis these days. Spike Milligan had left instructions for his gravestone to say “I told you I was ill”. Tom has requested a similar epitaph: “I told you I was old”. Great humour, even if I can think of some yet more applicable texts from the Gospels. More seriously, he asked for a simple white stone, similar to those marking the graves of his fallen comrades in the war.

When one thinks of an indomitable spirit, Captain Tom comes very much to mind. His military career was surely the most obviously heroic aspect of his life, but one day he decided that at the turn of a century of life he would try to raise a little money for those battling the virus in the NHS. It was a humble enterprise, though quite a challenge at 99, but it snowballed; wonderfully. Isn’t it surprising what a strong spirit, which keeps right on to the end, can achieve?

Dear Lord, thank you for the unexpected hope which Captain Tom represents, for his resistance to the onset of the virus and his care for those who give medical help to the stricken. Thank you that he instilled generosity and hope in so many people at a time when our situation felt dire. Thank you for his humour and his strength in doing what he could to help others at a time when no-one would have expected such a crowd-funding exercise. Help us to remember all that is good in his example and at all times in life be bearers of hope to others. In Jesus’ name.

Keep on Keeping on

 

                                                       Photos by Lisa Meakins

 

Many of us have become well versed in contemplation, quiet, reflection and introspection over the last year. While for others we have been going at breakneck speed and won’t be slowing anytime soon. As we reflect on Jesus’ wilderness experience and remember that Jesus became one of us, overcoming the distance between divinity and humanity, we hope to rediscover the humble saviour who walks alongside us whatever the pace, whatever the circumstances, speaking words of love.

 

Our current safety measures of social distancing can be read as a parable of how we have already been increasingly ‘socially distant’ from one another for years,  becoming in many ways disconnected from those around us as we focus on our own individual needs. What lessons can be drawn from our common experience of living at a distance from each other? What have we learned about holiness, communion, freedom and love as we live out the parable of social distancing?

 

Jesus becoming one of us was a phenomenal act of social reconciliation that burst into the normal run of history. Divinity met humanity in a theological, political and cultural kaleidoscope. His life contained sorrow, indignity, oppression, slander, violence and suppression and yet it was also beautiful, daring, loving, inspiring, enriching and vibrant.

 

Jesus, a man of great sorrow and joy, overcame the social distance between us to make us a people of hope, his very a life a parable of divine love.

This Lent let us feel that blessing of Jesus with us and be renewed as it wraps around us and binds us together.

Dear God, we pray for our churches, our workplaces, our schools, and our communities.

We ask for your help in being a light in every place you’ve given us to walk. Give us care and wisdom as we live and work with one another. Help us to look to another’s needs before our own, and to always be ready to serve those around us by the power of your love within us. Even in every dark and broken place, for the times we feel like we’re barely making it through, give us your joy Lord, your grace, and the powerful presence of your peace.

 

Fasting?

 

Fast from hurting words and say kind words.

Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.

Fast from anger and be filled with patience.

Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.

Fast from worries and have trust in God.

Fast from complaints; contemplate simplicity.

Fast from pressures and be prayerful.

Fast from bitterness; fill your hearts with joy.

Fast from selfishness and be compassionate.

Fast from grudges and be reconciled.

Fast from words; be silent and listen.

Pope Francis 

 

Wilderness Time

 

Forty Days and Forty Nights 

Yes, it’s a very long time on your own. Well, we know what that’s like now, don’t we? If we ever felt that it would be great to spend some serious time on our own, we have had it in abundance. Most of us, anyway, and we have all felt the virus’ effects in numerous ways.

Jesus had purpose in entering the wilderness and in fasting. They were ways of spiritual engagement which many religious people used in those days, but this nevertheless feels extreme. It happens immediately after he is affirmed as God’s beloved Son, authenticating his mission as the Messiah, the Suffering Servant. Dealing with the reality of such a calling needed clear focus, away from the worldly distractions of food, finance, people and relationships.

Jesus confronts the negative sides of life, the focus on our own needs and neglect of God’s Word for us, using his abilities for spectacular pseudo-divine stunts or even accepting that you seem to be able to get a long way in life by being immoral and unethical. In a weakened state, he resists the temptation and takes the Way of the Cross, the way of sacrificial love.

Were the temptations specific to Jesus? Of course, they were certainly about his own mission but we can all experience similar temptations. For selfishness can afflict us so easily, the church can find itself tempted to attract attention through emotional manipulation or false claims, and we can regrettably become too accommodating to the ways of the world around us.

The temptations are also about each of us. The ultimate temptation is to think that they aren’t. We become comfortable enough with our compromises and accommodations, and we allow the Good News which Jesus brings to us to become less than joyful and fulfilling. Above all, we may ask the odd question but allow ourselves to cruise through life without engaging with the deeper issues. What really matters? What is my life’s purpose? Who am I in God’s eyes?

Lent is a time when we can face our questions and each come into touch with our true self. God wants us to grow, not to stagnate! Like Jesus, we can rely on God through the most pressing trials,  and trusting Jesus who went this way before us we can come out stronger with our situation clearer, with a positive vision of the future and the hope of Heaven.

Temptation

Forty days alone,
a wilderness of thoughts,
tempting and inviting thoughts,
which could so easily have distracted you
from your task, your mission,
your vision.
Yet you emerged, stronger and more attuned
to all that had to be done,
despite a time constraint
that to our eyes would have seemed hopeless.
We too live in stressful times.
Demands are made of our time,
that leave so little
for the important things of life.

We are easily distracted
in the wilderness of our lives,
by every call to go this way or that,
to turn stone to bread
leap from mountains,
and do all that would keep us from the truth.
We listen to the voices of this world,
and ignore the one who endured all this
and so much more,
and emerged triumphant,
that we might not have to suffer so.
Forgive us, Father,
when we get distracted from our task.
Forgive us those times when we try
to be all things to all men,
and fail to be anything to anyone.  

John Birch

Dust

 

                                Image: “Ash Wednesday Cross” © janrichardsonimages.com

 

BLESSING THE DUST

 

All those days

you felt like dust,

like dirt,

as if all you had to do

was turn your face

toward the wind

and be scattered

to the four corners

 

or swept away

by the smallest breath

as insubstantial—

 

did you not know

what the Holy One

can do with dust?

 

This is the day

we freely say

we are scorched.

 

This is the hour

we are marked

by what has made it

through the burning.

 

This is the moment

we ask for the blessing

that lives within

the ancient ashes,

that makes its home

inside the soil of

this sacred earth.

 

So let us be marked

not for sorrow.

And let us be marked

not for shame.

Let us be marked

not for false humility

or for thinking

we are less

than we are

 

but for claiming

what God can do

within the dust,

within the dirt,

within the stuff

of which the world

is made

and the stars that blaze

in our bones

and the galaxies that spiral

inside the smudge

we bear.

 

—Jan Richardson

from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons

 

Vita Breve, our Personal Recital

 

Doug writes:

We couldn’t resist Stephen Hough’s new album, Vita Breve. Remembering his concerts in All Saints at the Hertfordshire Festival of Music a few years ago the appeal of this new collection made it a must-have. Remembering his impeccable playing on the Yamaha piano which he had arranged to be installed specially, and the hyper-enthusiastic applause after his epic Beethoven, we splashed out again. Yes, life is short – but at least we now have something of a Hough collection.

Stephen Hough has decided to engage with the theme of death, which we often ignore – despite the daily dose of figures in these hard times. Liszt’s “Funerailles” from Harmonies poetiques and religieuses and Chopin’s Piano Sonata no2 in B flat minor – known as the funeral march – set the scene, with his own Sonata No.4 (Vita Breve) following, ending with a version of J.S. Bach’s Ave Maria from Prelude No1, often used at….final celebrations.

Hough notes that the reality of death is not shied away from in the arts, and we should not either. He certainly doesn’t. As he says, it is “the final piece on everyone’s recital programme”. I am going to listen to it on Ash Wednesday, because it is both a reminder and an uplifting contemplation of the fact that death is our mortal lot but we have hope in the hard-won victory of Christ who battles against sin and temptation and lays down his life as a sacrifice. Vita Breve – yes, we remember and learn; eternity is beyond this mortal existence and we are invited to the great all-embracing feast where pain, sin and suffering are no more – but life with the God of Love.

 

(Stephen Hough’s recent albums, including Vita Breve, are available on the Hyperion website. MP3s can be downloaded and CDs purchased, but there is no streaming facility).

Images of the grave in darkness are contrasted with the eternal light of Christ and underscored with the ancient Kiev chant, the Kontakion of the Departed, and the chimes and chant of the Orthodox monks in Ukraine.

Give rest, O Christ, to thy servant with thy saints:
where sorrow and pain are no more;
neither sighing but life everlasting.
Thou only art immortal, the creator and maker of man:
and we are mortal formed from the dust of the earth,
and unto earth shall we return:
for so thou didst ordain,
when thou created me saying:
“Dust thou art und unto dust shalt thou return.”
All we go down to the dust;
and weeping o’er the grave we make our song:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

 

Pancakes Today?

 

  

 Shrove Tuesday or ‘Pancake Day’ is the day before Lent. The name comes from the word “shriven” meaning to confess your sins and receive forgiveness. Forgiveness for sins is at the heart of the Easter story and many Christians choose to use Lent as a time to think about their own behaviour and to recommit themselves to God. Some choose to give up things during the period of lent such as unhealthy foods or treats or dedicate part of Lent to fasting. This year it may be good to take something up, like reading a book for Lent or having a retreat at home.  

 

Pancakes are a great recipe for using up ingredients. In some countries there is a celebration feast with lots of rich foods before the period of Lent begins. As you make your pancakes why not pray and thank God for all the good and rich things in your life.

 

Dear God,

As we prepare our pancakes help us to remember the good and rich things you bless us with each day.

Help us prepare our hearts for Lent and recommit to connecting with you. Show us where there are things that need to be removed from our lives and areas where we need to say sorry to you.

Amen

The Lord's Prayer with reflection

 

 

                                           Photos by Ann-Marie 

 

Our Father who art in Heaven
Not distant above the earth, but ever present within our Heaven here on earth

Hallowed be Thy name
May we never lose the reverence Your authority deserves, whilst we bask in the tenderness of Your love.

Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Lord we long to be part of that Place where Your rule is willingly in action by all who dwell there.

Give us this day our daily bread.
Father Your manifold blessings poured out upon us, constantly remind us that You are sufficient for all our needs.

And forgive us our trespasses.
Lord, how we need this reassurance as we so often choose what suits us, rather than what we hear Your Spirit telling us is best.

As we forgive those who trespass against us.
This means totally, unconditionally and without exception or future reference, for this how You deal with us.

And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Father You know our weaknesses, You’ve forgiven us so many times; nudge us away from all that will cause us to fall. And if that isn’t possible, Lord, pick us up, change us and bring us back to You.

For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory.
Everything, everyone, everywhere is Yours. You alone have the right and ability to claim allegiance from us and take the glory Lord; remind us in the birdsong, sunrise and mighty surging sea.

For ever and ever. Amen