Tuesday 16th JuneThought for the DayOne of the Bible stories I can remember from my earliest school days is the parable "The good Samaritan". It is a story of help in an emergency coming from the least likely source and an example of loving compassion and generosity. How do you react in an emergency? • Do you run away? • Do you run around like corporal Jones in "Dad's Army", shouting "Don't panic! Don't panic!"? • Do you just freeze? • Or do you react in a calm and collected way, doing the necessary things in a generous and thoughtful manner?The problem with emergencies it that they come out of the blue, they are unique and they always seem to happen at the most awkward time. This year we have the coronavirus to contend with, which is an emergency that has affected the whole world. It is an enemy that we cannot see and cannot easily control. Jumping up and down in frustration will do no good whatsoever and will only raise our blood pressure. Most of us are in the same boat, with self-isolation social distancing, cancelled holidays and cancelled everything and worst of all not seeing when we might get back to “normal”, whatever that might be in the future. In my study I had a copy of that great wartime poster "Keep Calm and Carry on" for many years. Sometimes we really do need just to keep calm, because we cannot help others if we are not in control of ourselves.Luckily, in this country, we do not have the same number of disasters and emergencies, that countries such as Haiti and Bangladesh have to contend with. When we do have them we have the benefit of marvellous emergency services, an infrastructure that allows rapid response and a degree of national wealth that allows us to regain equilibrium in time.For many years I represented the Church of England in Warwickshire on committees that prepared ministers of religion, of all faiths, to help with pastoral care if emergencies and disasters should occur. I have been trained in how to be part of the emergency team and in dealing with the media, and I have a luminescent jacket with “CLERGY” on the back to wear with my dog-collar, which is somewhere in the garage. However, none of us know how we would react in a real emergency situation. The answer as far as I am concerned is that I know that my God goes with me wherever I go. Fortunately for most of us in this country we live in a reasonably safe and stable environment, but perhaps the example of the good Samaritan should inspire us all; the slogan on that wartime poster, "Keep calm and carry on", should help us when things are tough on a personal basis, and finally remember to let God go with you in all things that you attemptFr. Terry
About Evelyn Underhill’s LifeEvelyn Underhill was born in Wolverhampton on December 6, 1875, the only child of (Sir) Arthur Underhill, barrister, and a bencher of Lincoln’s Inn, by his wife, Alice Lucy, younger daughter of Moses Ironmonger, Justice of the peace of Wolverhampton. She was educated at home, except for three years at a private school in Folkestone, and later she went to King’s College for Women, London, where she read history and botany. Her interests included bookbinding, yachting, country life and folklore, cats and visiting art treasures in France and Italy. Evelyn Underhill began writing before she was sixteen and her first publication, A Bar-Lamb’s Ballad Book, of humorous verse concerned with the law, appeared in 1902. In 1907 she married Hubert Stuart Moore, a barrister, whom she had known since childhood. She shared her husband’s interest in wood and metal work and made many of the designs which he carried out.In the year of her marriage she converted to the Christian faith, although not to Anglicanism, for her attraction was then towards Rome. However, she found that the Catholic Church of that time frowned on her intellectual freedom and she desired to have some more personal spiritual input. Through her first important book, Mysticism (1911), she made the acquaintance of Baron Friedrich von Hugel to whom “under God,” she wrote, “I owe…my whole spiritual life.” Ten years later she formally put herself under his spiritual direction and she remained his pupil until his death in 1925.From the time of her conversion Evelyn Underhill’s life consisted of various forms of religious work. She was fond of quoting St. Teresa’s saying that “to give Our Lord a perfect service Martha and Mary must combine.” Her mornings were given to writing and her afternoons to visiting the poor and to giving spiritual direction to others. As she grew older the work of direction increased until it finally became her chief interest. In 1921 she became a practising member of the Anglican communion. In 1924 she began to conduct retreats, and a number of her books refer to these. Her other publications include three novels, two books of verse, a number of works on philosophy and religion, and reviews and articles for the Spectator and other publications. While working on Worship (1936), written for the Library of Constructive Theology, she became deeply interested in the Greek Orthodox Church and joined the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius.During World War I (1914-1918) Evelyn Underhill worked at the Admiralty in the naval intelligence (Africa) department, but her views changed and in 1939 she found herself a Christian pacifist. She joined the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship and wrote for it an uncompromising pamphlet, The Church and War (1940).Evelyn was the first woman to lecture at an Oxford college in theology, the first woman to lecture Anglican clergy, and one of the first women to be included in Church of England commissions. These accomplishments, along with her work as a theological editor and her role as a spiritual director and retreat leader, made Evelyn Underhill a prominent figure in her day. She had a vivid, lively personality with a keen sense of humour. She was interested in every side of life and had a passion for efficiency in everything she undertook. In her dealings with people, and especially with her pupils, she was always a little shy, having a great hatred, as she said, of “pushing souls about.” This love of souls coupled with the determination to help them to grow at God’s pace and not at their own or hers, won her the love and trust of all who went to her for help.Evelyn Underhill died at Hampstead on June 15th, 1941. She had no children.So, what can we learn from Evelyn? Firstly, that each of our lives is a journey and that there will be changes along the way. When we fully acknowledge the Lordship of Christ and learn to trust God with all of our heart, who knows what adventure in faith the Holy Spirit will lead us on to next? Caleb was a youthful and vigorous 85-year-old when he inherited Hebron, a full 45 years since he had been sent out by Moses to ‘spy out’ the land of Canaan, so God hasn’t finished with any of us yet!Evelyn spoke up for her beliefs. Her spirituality included prayer, meditation, reading and writing, but it also worked out in practical ways like helping the poor and needy and campaigning against needless violence. Jesus was most forthright in Luke 12, when he told his disciples that they must acknowledge him, to speak up for God, to trust in the Lord and to believe that the Holy Spirit would give them the words to say. In these times, will we speak up for Jesus?Lastly, Evelyn realised the benefit of being accountable to others for her spiritual life and the importance of retreats. We can all benefit from having a spiritual director, someone whom we can trust to guide us in our life of faith. Also, by going on retreat, whether physical or even virtual, we can learn to reflect on what God is saying to us individually, as a church and as a nation in these days. AmenMary TynanMany thanks to the Evelyn Underhill Association for the information about her life.
Music Sunday 14th June 2020Music Sunday is an opportunity for all to come together to celebrate and to give thanks for the role of music in the life of the Church, and the way in which music is something that can draw church and community together.Over the years in our parish Church music has been one of the vital components of our DNA as a group of pilgrims. We have held hundreds of thousands of musically inspired worship services, requiems, funerals, weddings, baptisms, concerts and civic services that have been the main stay of our witness. We give thanks to god for this witness, and indeed today we give thanks to God for our present set of musicians and choir who have extended their role and gone into the virtual realm. Who would have thought that a year ago?Today we give thanks for our choir who are co - leading the service today and we give thanks to God that we can sing his praises in spite of the difficulties of this present moment, knowing he is our strength and shield, our stronghold and comforter.One woman’s voice : the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-56)Mary’s Song of PraiseAnd Mary said,‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me,and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear himfrom generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm;he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things,and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors,to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.A Women’s voice in the New TestamentDid you know in the New Testament, it is even harder to find women’s words than in the Old. Mary is recorded as saying astonishingly little, although she is present during so much of it. In Luke she speaks four times, once in John, and we have none of her words in Matthew and Mark, though she sends Jesus a message that she’s arrived (Mark 3, 31). So the exchange with Elizabeth in Luke 1, is very precious, even though it repeats whole lines out of previous songs, psalms and prayers. Elizabeth’s words are incorporated into the Hail Mary, and the Magnificat is part of Evening Prayer a staple of our rhythm of life.It is by far the longest piece of female speech in the New Testament…. And it is brief…. I will say no more!… parallels before and afterAs a literary document, it is interesting to compare the Magnificat to Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2. Mary’s song is not special because it is so original; rather, it is important that it is part of a tradition of obedience to God, of joyful surrender to his will. It is special because it is the fulfilment of the salvation story and not just an isolated event. Jesus in his sermon on the mount uses the same phraseology in his Beatitudes. Even the order is the same : Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God, blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied (Luke 6:20).Setting the wordsAs well as being all one tense, the Magnificat is all one mood, of exultation. We need to remember what Mary is like at this point. She is very young. She is enthusiastic, exuberant, committed and joyful. She doesn’t know very much about what’s going on yet, but her faith in God is so complete that she is prepared to leave it all to him; think about this, Can you say that?She knows that her situation is unorthodox, to say the least, but that does not concern her, and, thanks to Joseph, it is not allowed to become an issue. She will treasure every piece of information as it comes along, but she has not yet met Simeon and heard about the sword that will pierce her. A woman’s prayer from belowIn the whole text, there is only one word indicating the speaker’s gender : ‘He looks on his servant in her nothingness’ or (different translation) ‘he has regarded his lowly handmaiden, or servant.’ But what is distinctive about this song is that it written from below throughout. This is a person without any power or rank speaking, and celebrating God because he is wonderful and does marvellous deeds; and is doing them, for her, now.Living in the momentThe references to God’s actions are all in the present tense, not the future : this lowly person is totally confident that all this is happening right here, right now. Think about that, and how it affects you also, now as then God is concerned for you and your welfare, please do call out to him and ask him to intervene for you in your current situation.Notice this prayer / statement is in stark contrast to the appeals for help in the psalms, which are usually looking forward for relief;• O Lord, hasten to my help’• O Lord, do not delay• O Lord make haste to help us.The text does not move forwards or back; there is no narrative, there is no sense of time other than the present. Mary describes what is happening at this moment to her. There is one gesture towards the future: ‘Henceforth all ages will call me blessed’, but this is an immediate future which starts now, just as the one reference to the past is ‘the mercy promised to our fathers’, a past which is still continuing into now and for ever.A world turned upside downApart from the absoluteness of the present tense, the other striking thing about the words of the Magnificat is their celebration of the reversal of human order. Mary starts with a statement of fact: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’ and then starts to celebrate the topsy-turvey world; could anyone ever think this sort of world would appear. Well think what has happened in these past weeks and how things have turned our thinking upside down! Each day we see things we thought would have been impossible only a few weeks ago. These truly are biblical days in which we live and God is on the move!God looks at his servant (Mary) and he is perfectly aware of her status; (as he is ours) but guess what, ‘henceforth all ages will call me blessed’. This is so extreme that it would be embarrassing or foolish if it were not true. Then Mary refers again to God, because her future standing is not because of her, but because of him. We need to be ever mindful of this, it is God at God in us and for us.God is working wonders for her, he is wonderful, and his kindness is for everyone.And it isn’t just Mary for whom he is turning the world upside down.• ‘He scatters the proud-hearted, casts the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly’. Again the claim is outrageous : from their thrones; - so not just pretty important people, but the mighty of the earth, the sort of person Mary would only ever have seen at a distance, or possibly only heard about. Across our world at this moment, people are waking up to a new world, people are indeed calling it a reset. Make now bones about it those with power now will hold onto it with all they have and with all in their means.Pray friends for God to work in their lives to too, to see a different way for humanity to live together.You may say it’s just fanciful dreams and we will get back to normal soon…… Will we?Will it be the same as before?I hope not, this for us is a once in a lifetime opportunity to declare the Kingdom of God is amongst us and that God is here.We have sung today, O Praise ye the Lord! - this day we shout this out, a clarion call to all those seeking for truth and justice and love.We will sing; ‘Let all the world in every corner sing, My God and King!’ - Let us do our part to bring in the Kingdom of God and make the world a better place.We finish with “To God be the Glory” we remember we are his servants, the people of his pasture and give him thanks for his grace and mercy in our lives.PRAYER: Dear Lord, I do not know what the future holds. Sometimes, that lack of knowledge terrifies me, and I begin to doubt your goodness. I do not know Your plans for me, but I know they are greater than anything I can imagine. Like Our Mother, help me surrender to Your all-knowing will and say, “Be it done unto me according to Your Word.” Lord, I believe. Only help my unbelief. In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen
St BarnabasActs 4.32-37Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. There was a Levite, a native of Cyprus, Joseph, to whom the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’). He sold a field that belonged to him, then brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.Though not named among the twelve apostles or the evangelists, Barnabas emerges in the Acts of the Apostles as one of the most significant of their number. He sold his estate and gave the proceeds to the Church, since all things were to be held in common, and clearly became a leader. He is described as a Levite from Cyprus so, like his friend Paul, was from the Greek world rather than that of Palestine, and he introduced Paul to the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. He was sent to Antioch apparently to guide the Christians there in their relations with non-Jewish converts, promoting the concept of all being one in Christ. He broke with Paul to go to Cyprus and tradition has it that he was martyred there in the year 61 Exciting HolinessBarnabas showed sacrificial devotionThroughout Acts we see in Barnabas a man who was willing to suffer, leave home, risk his life for the gospel. But where did that all begin? The answer is that it starts right here in Acts 4.36-37, when he sold his field and laid the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles.Some of us or indeed many of us as Christians have a desire to do great things for God some day, but are finding it difficult in our current situation at the moment. In the Bible we see that greatness grows. It has to do with the principle of sowing and reaping. For Barnabas’ first act of devotion he chose to make it financial. He must have felt that his possessions where the barrier to his calling, and Jesus talked about money and possessions a lot for that reason. It can be a powerful distraction. Barnabas sorts this out early in his life and so sets a course for passionate devotion to Jesus.It is especially interesting that Barnabas was a Levite. The Levites were not supposed to have property at all. While the other tribes had a portion of the Land, the Levites were spread out among the Israelites to bring godly influence to all the people.To be truthful, I need to do a lot to declutter my life, and when I have had a good clear-out, I know that I feel spiritually cleansed and emotionally freed from clinging on to things that no longer have any relevance in my life. It gave me the ability to see the wood through the trees, so to speak.Do you need to de clutter your life, do you need to see the wood through the trees to enable you to have that closer walk with God? Maybe that is our challenge while we are in our current situation. As Barnabas sells his property and then give the money to the apostles, maybe that is a sign for us, in enhancing God’s work for the needy, poor, lonely and lost. Amen. Pauline Cummins
