Doing Christmas properly

I’m a great believer in a traditional Christmas. One in which the Advent wreath comes from the woods, the he Christmas tree is as large as possible and the lights on it are real candles.

My enthusiasm for tradition has of course been helped this year by our snowfalls creating those traditional Christmas card scenes and giving me the ideal opportunity to snowball the choir. In short, I believe Christmas needs to be done properly.


Now I do realise that on closer inspection many of our most cherished traditions have more to do Victorian Britain than first century Bethlehem. And therein lies the danger. For in our enthusiasm, we can turn Christmas into an ideal of yesteryear. Worse still it can become a child’s fairytale that could never true in any age.

To avoid such traps, to do Christmas properly, we need to pay attention to the details of what we have just heard in our gospel reading. So- who have we met? A Roman Governor, worrying about the state of the public finances. An anxious father, trying to keep a roof over his families’ head. A pregnant teenager, wanting the best for her child. And shepherds, struggling through the night shift. And then finally, there is a child born into poverty and homelessness. These are real people, facing everyday experiences. This, it seems, is no Fairy tale...

But the real surprise in this story is not how human they all are but that one of them is so much more. The real miracle is that on this Holy night, God became human in Jesus Christ. That same God who created us to be in relationship with him, who saw us turn our back on him in the Garden of Eden and who sent the prophets to call us back to him. This God now sends his son to become one of us.

And in doing so all those divisions are overcome, all that separates us from God is wiped away and we are re-united with our creator and renewed in his image. On this Holy night God made his home among us that we might for ever dwell in him. And as he shares in the poverty of our flesh so we share in the riches of his divinity.

So on this Holy night come- join with the angels in their praise, the Shepherds in their worship and Mary as she treasures all these things. Because if we are really to do Christmas properly, we must share in this Holy Communion through which we are once again reunited with Christ. For all of this was made possible by the mystery of Christ’s incarnation wrought for us and for our salvation on this Holy night.

Amen.

Shocking scenes in Westminster

On the news last night I saw four sights that I have never before witnessed.  The first shock was seeing protestors breaking-in to the Treasury on Whitehall.  The second was to see fires burning in Parliament Square and the final shock was to see members of our Royal family coming under attack. All of which is deplorable.

Earlier in the day I had tweeted that I hoped their would be a rebellion tonight but this wasn’t what I had in mind.  I was, of course, hoping that enough Lib Dem and Conservative MPs would rebel against the government and that the huge increase in tuition would not be passed.  Tragically, it was. 

As I watched Nick Robinson’s report on the government, ‘winning the vote in the chamber but losing the argument outside’, it seemed a bit of an understatement.  I am in the happy position of having three degrees.  I can’t help feeling that this is a privilege that few students leaving school this Summer will be able to enjoy.

My tuition fees were covered by my local authority for the first degree in Biblical studies, by a scholarship for the second one in systematic theology and by the Church for the third one in Pastoral Theology.  Now you are probably thinking that these are pretty useless and self-indulgent and I remember my father being uncertain whether I would ever find gainful employment.  But I did, indeed in the twenty-two years since I first graduated (is it that long?!) I have never been out of work.  Over that time these degrees have fuelled my imagination and have been the bedrock of a career in the voluntary sector, often in faith based organisations.

The vote last night means that students starting degrees in September are likely to graduate with a debt of around £30,000 (according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies) and will spend the next thirty years paying it off.  The NUS have led the way in pointing out that such debts will deter students from poorer background and that the mitigating strategies of government are unlikely to have a significant effect.  This is, of course, not really news and previous government reports have acknowledged that potential debts are a particular disincentive to poorer students, lone parents and ethnic minorities.

So this then was the fourth and most troubling thing that I witnessed last night- the privatisation of higher education in the UK.  To be more accurate it was probably the spending review on the 20 October that brought this about.  Last night, however, the reality hit home. 

For school leavers this Summer, I imagine fewer will consider studying for abstract degrees like theology, let alone higher degrees, and faced with huge debts they may well think twice before embarking on a career in the voluntary sector- supporting something called the big society.

BBC question and answer on student fees

The Institute for Fiscal Studies
NUS

Christingle Service 2010

Children, candles, carols and christmas, all in one fun packed service!

Of Gods and Men

A wonderful film exploring the dynamics of community, dialogue and struggle.

Cancun briefing from FoE

Take action here

Vampires do Alpha

A cairn along the way

Today we are confirming seventeen members of our congregation. Over the last few weeks we have met to discuss the Creed, the Bible, prayer, the Eucharist and ethics. Each time that we have met we have heard from differing members of the congregation who have been brave enough to share their own journey of faith.

Over these weeks I have been reminded of my own confirmation on 27 February 1982. I remember the exact date so easily because it is engraved on a beer tankard that I was given as a confirmation present. It seemed somewhat incongruous at the time but as it still sits on my desk, it might have been a more perceptive gift than I then realised.

I remember hoping that I would feel utterly different after the service, that my doubts would be silenced and that the trouble I occasionally got myself into in school might lessen. It turned out, however, to be a much more gradual experience.

The journey of faith is indeed a long one and confirmation is a cairn on that journey. Confirmation is a marker and celebration of where we have come to and stands as point that we can look back on in future life. It is a moment when we pray not for the will power to be good but for the strengthening of God’s Holy Spirit which is the only power required to live the Christian life.

And so this morning we will join with Bishop Christopher as we pray; ‘Defend O Lord, these your servants with your heavenly grace, that they may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more until they come to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.’

Seven days a week, fifty-one weeks a year

In the weeks before Christmas St Stephen’s, together with other churches in Dulwich organise an appeal for local homeless charities. This year, we are supporting the Manna day centre.

Hidden away in the back streets behind London Bridge Station and overshadowed by the fast-rising Shard skyscraper, the Manna day centre has been offering practical help to homeless people for over twenty years.

Each morning the doors open at half past eight for breakfast. Along with a hot meal, those visiting the centre can have a shower, see a dentist or a nurse, get housing advice or even choose items of furniture to help set-up home. Later in the morning lunch is served and most days over two hundred people come through the door.

The centre is run by Bandi Mbubi, “We try to offer a range of services to people here. If you have no fixed address it can be very hard to get to see a GP. For me this is a way of showing practical Christian love. As it says in James, what is faith without deeds?”

Bandi is enthusiastic – and he needs to be, as numbers visiting the centre seem to be rising. When asked about possible cuts in funding, Bandi remains optimistic, “We decided never to take more than 15% of our funding from the government. For the rest we rely on donations, particularly from the Christian community. We were championing the ‘Big Society’ long before the government. So, we hope for the best.”

One of those using the centre is Tony, who has been on the streets for eight years. “At the Manna centre you get treated with respect. It is tough on the streets, there are a lot of people with mental health problems and people coming to London thinking that the streets are paved with gold, but it’s not like that. A few years ago, I came to the centre in pain, saw one of the nurses, got to see a GP and ended up getting a hip replacement by a top surgeon.”

The centre is open seven days a week, fifty one weeks of the year, only closing when Crisis at Christmas open-up their temporary shelters. Bandi explains, “Winter is hard for the homeless. Those on the streets become ill, those in temporary housing often cannot afford the heating. Before we close for Christmas we have a big Christmas meal, usually with three sittings. For those who come this really is special and everyone who comes receives a wrapped present – often donated by schools and churches. It’s what Christmas is about.”

Financial donations for the Manna Centre or wrapped Christmas presents can be left at St Stephen’s during December. Gifts that help keep out the cold such as jumpers, socks or gloves, are always welcome, as are jeans or trainers, either new or second-hand. Presents that lift the spirits – good quality sweets or chocolate for example – are much appreciated. The Church is open for services and between 9-2 on Wednesday and Friday and 10.30 -11.30 on Saturday.

Thoughts for All Souls

As I think back to the death of my father, the first year after losing a loved one can be very hard. We want to chat about things with them, we consider the plans we had made. Birthdays and anniversaries seem hollow and we are confused by their absence from our lives. All this is perfectly natural when we are parted from those whom we love.

Yet slowly, with the help of friends and family we begin to move on. We find that we can talk of them without a catch in our throat. Slowly, we find new ways of being a family and make new friends. Eventually maybe, we can toast the departed on those special days as we remember the celebrations we shared. Slowly, hurt is replaced by hope.

As we sift our memories and remember our loved ones, it is important to remember them at their best; their happiest, healthiest and most generous. In our reading from 1 Peter we are told that such memories are but a dim reflection of how we will be in heaven.

So, however vulnerable our loved ones were here on earth, in heaven we are told they will be imperishable, undefiled and unfading as the salvation of their souls is completed and they become who God always meant them to be. This is the glory in which our loved one’s now share.

When we meet with friends and family and remember those whom we have lost, we sometimes wonder whether they too may be raising a glass of their favourite tipple.

Fanciful as this may sound, Luke’s Gospel tell us that this is not far from the truth. For Christ invites us all to a heavenly banquet. And this is an invitation which we would be foolish to ignore, it is a banquet where all will be fed and where their will not be a spare seat in the house. This is the celebration in which our loved one’s now share.

And so through our hurt, this hope slowly grows. A living hope founded on the resurrection of our Lord. The disciples who fled from Christ’s death, who disowned him in his hour of need, struggled to come to realise that Christ had conquered death. Those who first saw the empty tomb were dumbstruck and yet slowly they realise that he lived on. Slowly their hurt has replaced by hope. It took root in their hearts and grew.

So my prayer for all of us gathered here tonight is that the light of Christ, rising in glory may dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds. Amen.

Gunpowder, treason and plot

“Remember, remember the fifth of November- gunpowder, treason and plot!” So goes the old nursery rhyme and this Friday our youth club will do just that when we go to Crystal Palace to enjoy the annual fireworks display. Guy Fawkes famously stockpiled gunpowder under the House of Lords as part of a plot to blow up Parliament.

The other week our present government published their National Security Strategy, outlining today’s security threats. Top of that list were attacks on computer networks, closely followed by ‘flu pandemics and terrorism. It all goes to show that threats to our parliamentary democracy are nothing new and that we all have to be vigilant.

That vigilance should not perhaps be limited to security. For our Parliament to work also requires us to be informed and involved, so that we can hold our politicians to account. General elections are a fairly infrequent way of doing that. If, however, you want to have your say in the meantime, you could do worse than attend the regular surgeries for our own MP, Tessa Jowell , held in Kingswood House 13.30-15.00. (next one: 15 November.)

Such vigilance is a natural outworking of the Book of Common Prayer’s intercession;
“We beseech thee also to save and defend all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governors; and specially thy Servant Elizabeth our Queen; that under her we may be godly and quietly governed: And grant unto her whole Council, and to all that are put in authority under her, that they may truly and indifferently administer justice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of thy true religion, and virtue. “

Something to consider as you light the blue touch paper and stand well back.

Angelic

A few years ago I visited Ethiopia and was able to witness the wonders of a little known corner of Christendom, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It has an art form and liturgy quite different from our western traditions yet witnessing to the same Gospel.

One of their most beautiful Churches is Debre Birhan Selassie. It’s ceiling is covered with wide eyed angels with African faces. Scores of them are featured wing to wing in vivid reds, blues and oranges overlooking the worshippers below.

We probably do not think much about angels but they feature regularly in the Bible as God’s messengers and as heavenly creatures standing in worship before the throne of God. As such they are a model for our own worship here on earth.

This week the church celebrates the feast of St. Michael and All Angels and as we stand to sing our hymns this morning you may wish to look up to St Stephen’s angels standing atop our pillars. In moments when I am particularly moved in worship, I sometimes imagine these angels taking flight and looping through the arches as they give glory to God. Isaiah famously had a vision of something similar;

“I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Lift high the cross

This week, on Tuesday, the Church celebrates Holy Cross Day otherwise known as the ‘Exaltation of the Holy Cross’. This marks the day when the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was dedicated in 335 and a fragment of the true cross was brought out of the church for people to venerate.

The cross is an incredibly powerful image venerated by Christians around the world. This is perhaps surprising given that it was an instrument of torture and execution used by a number of the Emperors to make quite clear that they held the power of life and death.

Yet in Christ’s crucifixion the tables are turned. As the disciples saw Christ breath his last they may well have feared that the authorities had finally beaten this ‘Galilean prophet’. But in three days Jesus is raised from the dead, glorified as the risen Christ. Finally we see that God is the victor above and beyond earthly rulers and despots. It is he who is the source of life and who has overcome death.

Maybe you where a cross around your neck, maybe you see them on Churches as you travel to work, maybe you have one on the wall at home. If so take a moment on Tuesday and join with others in saying this special prayer for Holy Cross Day;

Almighty God, who in the passion of your blessed Son made an instrument of painful death to be for us the means of life and peace: grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ that we may gladly suffer for his sake; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Party people

My dear friend the Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, Revd. Giles Fraser, has been on the radio again. This time to suggest that too many weddings are about narcissism and self-promotion and can end-up as expensive, overblown vanity projects. Well, I think that is a bit ‘bah, humbug’!

Here at St Stephen’s, the wedding season is in full swing with seven weddings taking place this month alone. I have to say that I love taking weddings and even find myself getting a bit emotional, as I hear the couples exchanging their vows.

When I think back to the day that Helen and I were wed it really was a special day and yes, we did push the boat out and had a lot of friends and family around us but I don’t regret a bit of it. Especially not the keg of Timothy Taylor Landlord ale which we ordered especially to ensure that our guests were suitably refreshed for the barn dance.

Celebrations are important and in a society that is, at times, worryingly insular anything that brings together family and friends, celebrates lifelong commitment and builds up our community has got to be a good thing.

As it says in the opening preface to the wedding ceremony, “Our Lord Jesus Christ was himself a guest at a wedding in Cana of Galilee” and it is worth remembering what he did there. Our’s is a God who is in favour of parties.

holy-days

This week the Church remembers one of the great theologians of the Orthodox Church, Gregory of Nyssa.

Gregory was a Bishop in what today is part of Turkey. He was a great orator, philosopher and theologian and, together with his brother Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, he is known as one of the Cappadocian Fathers.

I was able to learn more of Gregory and his theology when visiting Turkey last summer where he is revered as the father of mysticism who taught much about the unknowability of God. Gregory understood the spiritual life as the journey of the soul towards God. He taught that the soul of the believer is aware that it is the object of God’s love and that this love marks the soul, draws it towards God and ignites it with love.

As I travelled through Turkey, I learnt not only about Gregory but also about Paul’s missionary journeys and about other saints who were central to the development of early Christian thought. Along the way, I was reminded that Christianity began as an eastern religion that only slowly spread to the west and our own shores.

This summer you too may be off to foreign climes and may have the opportunity to worship in beautiful Churches and to learn about interesting saints. If so, I would encourage you in a Holy curiosity that might well turn your holiday into something of a pilgrimage as well.

With best wishes for a Happy and holy holiday!

State of Independance

Today Americans the world over will celebrate Independence Day with fireworks, parades and baseball games.

It was on this day in 1776 that the Declaration of Independence was finally approved by Congress. That Declaration famously stated, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Born out of the grievances of colonists regarding taxation and representation, the declaration has many historical influences. Some see it as the application of the thought of liberal philosophers and the enlightenment whilst other look further back to the Magna Carta.

Meanwhile, some take an even longer view looking to the Old Testament as the foundation of the declaration and there is certainly something to be said for this. The Bible teaches that humanity is created in the image of God and in the ten commandments and the wider law we can see that this has implications for the way we should order society.

As the Old Testament prophets warned, however, any nation that claims to have God on their side is likely to be on shaky ground and that applies as much to the divine right of kings as it does to the pursuit of happiness.

In amongst all of these influences, however, we can all join with Americans today as we pray that God might bless America.

The laughing Christ

Today is Trinity Sunday. A festival that invites us to consider what images of God we hold dear. Perhaps it is a Crucifix, or an illustration in a Children’s Bible or perhaps it is a work of art which we have seen in a gallery.

These pictures are often more powerful than we imagine. They shape our image of God and the way in which we pray and think about him. Indeed the Old Testament contains many warnings about images of God and the way in which they can never contain him. Of course, the supreme image of God is Jesus Christ and it is through him that we know who God is.

The image above is called the ‘Laughing Christ’ and is one that I find particularly powerful. The Bible does not report that Jesus laughed but he did go to weddings, tell stories, play with children, tie his questioners in knots and have to deal with those were surprised by God’s love. I doubt that he could have done this and kept a straight face.

So as we celebrate God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit today let us also give thanks afor a God who cries, smiles and laughs with us.

All shall be well

As we come to terms with our hung parliament many may be feeling a little disappointed. Over the last few weeks hopes have been raised of democratic renewal and clear government to help the country through difficult economic times. As I write this in the cold light of Friday morning, it is not yet clear how this might be achieved.

This weekend whilst the politicians will be considering how best to move forward the Church will remember an English saint from the fourteenth century; Julian of Norwich. Julian famously experienced sixteen visions of the love of God when dangerously ill. Following her recovery she wrote these down in her book, ‘Revelations of Divine Love’. This was the fist book written by a woman in the English language and she is now considered one of our greatest mystics.

If you find today’s headlines unsettling then spare a thought for Julian. She was writing during outbreaks of the plague and the peasants revolt and many in the Church understood these as God’s punishment for our sin. For Julian, however, it was the love of God that held the world together. Her confidence in that love led her to proclaim that, despite current trials, in God’s loving mercy all shall be well.

“Though shalt not be overcome, was said full clearly and full mightily, for assuredness and comfort against all tribulations that may come. God willeth that we take heed of these words, and that we be ever strong in sure trust, in weal and woe. For he loveth and enjoyeth us, and so willeth he that we love and enjoy him and mightily trust in him; and all shall be well.”

The government we deserve?

As I write this on polling day, I’m not sure how the election will end. A diplomat once said, “Every country has the government it deserves.” As we come to terms with our new political landscape, I wonder whether you agree?

Now that the counting is over and the ballot boxes have been put away we may heave a sigh of relief that the News can now move on. But I’m not sure that the issues raised during the campaign will go away quite so quickly. Indeed democratic reform, painful tax and spending decisions and our foreign policy are all likely to require our attention long before the next election.

When Jesus was interviewed by Pilate about his leadership ambitions he said that his Kingdom was not of this world. When quizzed on his tax policy he said that we should pay our taxes to Caesar but also render our dues to God. When asked about human relations- international or otherwise- his sound bites were all about love. One small word which has radical implications. Unfortunately, those implications rarely fit with the agenda of one political party.

As you voted last week your pencil may have hovered over differing boxes, maybe you felt torn between tactics and policies and quite possibly what you hoped for in the polling station hasn’t quite materialised across the country? If any of these are true it might that your cross on the ballot papers might prove to be the beginning of a political journey rather than it’s end. As the saying goes, politics is too important to be left to politicians.

How to vote...

I want to use this post to tell you how to vote.

After this week of manifestos it won’t be the first time that someone has tried to win you over to their way of thinking. Down the centuries Christians have, of course, taken widely differing political stances.

One of the most thought through examples of this is catholic social teaching. This is based on the idea that love is the supreme judge for any social policy. Flowing from this is a commitment to the values of justice, freedom and truth which should guide our decision making. These in turn lead to five inter-connected principals all of which should promote the ‘common good’ or human flourishing of all.

Now how this translates into any of the manifestos before us is slightly more tricky. Help, however, is at hand as Churches Together in Dulwich are hosting an evening to quiz the candidates on Wednesday 28 April (8pm, Methodist Church Hall on Half Moon Lane. Near the corner with Beckwith Avenue). The candidates for the four main political parties have all confirmed their attendance, so it will be an opportunity for you to put your questions directly to them.

After all that has happened over the last year, it seems important to hold our candidates to account and let them know that the Churches are an active and engaged part of their constituency. I will be chairing it, (doing my best impression of David Dimbleby) so do please come along with others to make your voice heard.

Oh, and how to vote? Well you put a cross next to the name of your favoured candidate, of course!

The miraculous egg

Last week our youth club were decorating eggs for Easter.

This involved gently inserting needles in the eggs, blowing out the contents (which were then made into omelettes) and microwaving the egg before dipping them in food dye. As you can imagine there were several possibilities for disaster here. Fortunately, however, no eggs were thrown, no children impaled themselves on the needles and no outbreak of salmonella has been reported!

Eggs have fascinated humanity since antiquity. They were revered in ancient Egypt, China and in Persia where they were seen as a symbol of the universe. Meanwhile, in the pagan world the egg was revered as a symbol of springtime and miraculous rebirth.

The Church reinterpreted this understanding the egg as a symbol of the tomb from which Christ was miraculously resurrected. Records show that in 1290 Edward I spent eighteen pence to have four hundred and fifty eggs covered in gold leaf to be given as Easter gifts. The eggs that Fabergé made for the Czar were famously a little more pricey.

So if this Easter morning you have already marvelled at your breakfast egg or failed to stop your children digging into their chocolate one, why not treat it as part of your Easter devotion to the empty tomb from which Christ arose this day.

With best wishes for a happy Easter!

Passiontide

Today is Passion Sunday and as you look around Church you will see that many of our decorations are now covered. For in these last two weeks of Lent we enter a deeper stage of our pilgrimage, traditionally known as Passiontide.

Passion as a deep, driving and unsettling expression of love is an evocative word which we can find in the tabloid press as often as in a Church news sheet. Sometimes it is hard to connect these two uses and in many ways it seems safer to keep ‘unruly passions’ a long way from the ‘Passion of our Lord’. As we approach Easter, however, and the supreme example of God’s love, such neat distinctions can be hard to maintain. Indeed some of our most profound Christian mystics and poets, such as John Donne, see no distinction at all.

Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to'another due,
Labor to'admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly'I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me,'untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you'enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

Avatar

The other week I went with the youth club to see the film ‘Avatar’ which looks set to strike gold at the Oscars this year. At a rumoured cost of $500m it is a spectacular 3D exploration of our relationship to nature.

Set in the future, an inter-galactic mining company is digging up a planet to get at it’s mineral deposits. Whilst the company claims to want the best for the local population, it’s private army and armour plated excavators tell a different story.

The film introduces us to a paradise world in which the local population communicate with their ancestors through the trees and with animals by linking their minds and uniting their wills. This includes the ability to fly through floating mountains on the backs of pterodactyls and in 3D that is quite a ride!

Meanwhile, the private army cannot breath the same air and seem able to bond only with machines and terrifying robot soldiers. It all comes to a head when the richest mineral deposit is found underneath a gigantic tree where one of the tribes has it’s ancestral home.

Now I won’t tell you any more because you should really go and see it for yourself. If, however, your recollection of 3D films is of those funny green and red glasses that didn’t really work, then think again. I found myself gripping the seat to stop myself falling and batting away floating objects that seem to have drifted out of the film and into the cinema. All in all, this is a film which offers a stimulating perspective and I’m not just talking about the special effects.

Matters ecumenical

This Sunday falls in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; an event which Fr. Ted might have described as, “an ecumenical matter”- a box into which tricky issues could be placed- rather than explained.

The word ecumenical has a Greek root meaning ‘the whole world’ and it has been used to describe the movement which seeks the unity of all Christians. The idea being that the unity of the Church should act as a signpost for the wider reconciliation of the whole of humanity.

Now you may feel that the multiplicity of Churches mean that we are not doing a very good job, however, unity and uniformity are not the same thing. When I attend other churches I am often struck by the particular gift of differing traditions and that is something which might be lost if we all tried to be the same. Instead we need to realise that when it comes to faith, we only ever possess part of the picture. Indeed, through learning and sharing with other Christians we often gain a deeper and richer vision of the glory of God.

These ecumenical practices do, I believe, have something to offer to the wider world. A world in which we need to do more to celebrate our global diversity, exercise humility and be better at giving and receiving from one another. Indeed, as we are beginning to see in Haiti, these are far from abstract ideas but are in fact powerful forces which can save lives.

When did we see you hungry?

The other week, on my way to morning prayer, I passed a young man sleeping rough in the woods.

I went back after prayers with a couple of mugs of tea and we had a chat. He explained that things hadn’t worked out where he was living in Crystal Palace, that he had been homeless for four months and that he wasn’t sure where he would be sleeping that night.

Last week, at the Churches Together in Dulwich (CTiD) Advent service, we heard about a project which works to help people like the young man that I met. It is called the Robes Project and is a network of seven Churches who each commit to providing a night shelter, for one night of the week, during the coldest months of the year.
It is one of several local projects supported by the CTiD homelessness appeal, (details of which can be found in the enclosed leaflet). St. Stephen’s is part of this appeal and will be having a special collection in aid of it at our Festival of Lessons and Carols on 20th. December. That doesn’t of course stop you from making other donations of money, time or any of particular items which they list!

This morning we enter the season of Advent when the Church begins to look towards Christmas. Advent is traditionally a time of prayer and reflection as we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ; a child who was born in a stable and grew-up to be an adult who had nowhere to lay his head.

As we prepare for his coming, I would commend this appeal to you.

Trick or treat?

I have vivid memories of one Halloween party which I attended as a child. This involved hearing a scary story interspersed with opportunities to reach into bags and boxes containing jelly, cabbages and the like which were tactile props for an unsettling tale. It’s probably done me no lasting damage but it has certainly stayed with me for many years.

Last night, together with the Kingswood Estate Tenants Association, myself and members of the youth club ran an alternative Halloween party at Langbourne school. This tried to offer a different take on All Hallows Eve with a fancy dress competition themed around saints, angels and superheroes. As well as saving the estate from marauding bands of ‘trick or treaters’, it also tried to offer a more positive way of celebrating this ancient autumn festival.

Its roots can be found in the pagan rite of ‘Samhein’ in which Farmers sought to placate evil spirits so that their crops could be safely gathered in for the winter ahead. In a shrewd piece of missionary one-upmanship, the Church took over this date for the celebration of All Saints and the commemoration of All Souls. These offer us important opportunities to remember the faithful departed and to gain a deeper understanding of the heavenly glory to which we are called.

Indeed, the truth that underlies both of these services is that death is not the end because ours is a resurrection faith in which our Heavenly Father is both our beginning and our end.

Some things bright and beautiful

This week the season of ‘mists and mellow fruitfulness’ finally seems to have arrived. Whilst walking in the woods, Oscar and I have noted the changing colours, acorns constantly dropping around us and a particularly good harvest of chestnuts.

The chestnuts have also caught the attention of our growing Parakeet population and one evening last week I witnessed a flock of fifty fly over our house. These bright green arrivals with their vivid red bills and high pitched call do tend to divide public opinion. Indeed last week I read that, whilst currently protected, in future people will be able to apply for a licence to shoot ‘problem parakeets’; so much for all things bright and beautiful!

The poet and priest Gerard Manley Hopkins had a few things to say about such colourful wildlife. I am guessing that he probably never saw a Himalayan Parakeet but I can’t help wondering whether he might have welcomed their arrival? Whilst we may not want to thank God for this particular species, autumn nevertheless remains a vivid season to praise God for pied beauty…

GLORY be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

Pied Beauty
Gaerard Manley Hopkins

Business as usual?

In our service this morning we will hear the story of the prodigal son. He famously demands half of his father’s wealth and leaves for the big city and a life of wild parties. Soon however he runs out of money, his friends desert him and he is left feeding pigs- just to survive.

One year on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, this cautionary tale of living beyond one’s means sounds familiar. As commentators have reminded us this week, a decade of cheap credit led governments, banks and individuals to all borrow far too much. And so, like the hard times faced by the prodigal son, we are now experiencing the biggest economic crisis for 100 years.

This week the debate has been whether we have learnt the lessons of our, ‘irrational exuberance’ or whether we are still pretending that it is business as usual? Are each of us saving more, have the banks changed their ways, might capitalism be renewed? Joining the debate, the Archbishop of Canterbury suggested that there remains a lack of closure and a need for repentance.

Indeed, repentance is what the story of the prodigal son is really about. As it continues we see the son, coming to his senses, returning to his father and asking forgiveness. Seeing his son in the distance, the father runs to embrace him and welcomes him home.

Realising our mistakes, saying that we are sorry and mending our ways may not sound like much of a macro-economic strategy but, as this gospel story reminds us, repentance does have the power to liberate us from self pity, to enable us to take responsibility and to help us to move on.

The Plight of the bumblebee

I’m sure that along with many in the congregation, I have been worried by the recent serious decline in the country’s bee population. Some estimates suggest that we have lost a third of that population over the last three years.

In recent months, as I have walked through the woods to Morning Prayer, I have come across a number of bumblebees in difficulty and on more than one occasion have gently moved them off pathways with an encouraging word, usually along the lines of, “Go bumblebee, go!”

Now you may fear that your Curate is losing his marbles but a world without bees would be a very different place. Indeed, as they pollinate 70% of the food we eat, some suggest that humanity could only outlive bees by four years.

If you are interested to know more, I can recommend the ‘Save the honeybee’ campaign by the Soil Association (www.soilassociation.org) which is collecting signatures to ban a particularly strong pesticide- neonicotinoids. Whilst this pesticide has been banned in France, Germany and Italy our own government is yet to act.

Whatever the causes of this decline, it is impossible to deny our connection with our natural world. This connection was famously highlighted by St. Francis of Assisi who spoke of ‘Brother Son’ and ‘Sister Moon’. For Francis the world around us is something to which we are spiritually related and which God wishes to redeem as much as he does humanity.

Such a medieval insight may yet save not only the bumblebee but also ourselves.

My first wedding...

Yesterday I conducted my first two weddings, not that I told them that until it was all over!

As I prepared for these last week I was struck by the privilege of being able to preside at such joyous occasions, the beauty of the language and how marriage stands as an enduring sign of faith, hope and love.

In stark contrast none of us could open our newspapers this week without having been struck by the grief of families affected by war, the spread of swine ‘flu and the latest figures on the state of our public finances.

It’s hard to know where these two realities meet and one wonders whether they can both be true at the same time? In my wedding preparations, however, I found a prayer that seemed to address this very question and which offers marriage as a sign to the world;

Almighty God, in whom we live and move and have our being,
look graciously upon the world which you have made
and for which your Son gave his life,
and especially on all whom you make to be one flesh in holy marriage.
May their lives together be a sign of your love to this broken world,
so that unity may overcome estrangement,
forgiveness heal guilt,
and joy overcome despair;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Corpus Christi

This last week the Church celebrated ‘Corpus Christi’, a day of thanksgiving for Holy Communion. As I approach presiding at my own first Mass, it is a sacrament that I have been reflecting on much recently.

Down the centuries, the Church of England has not wanted to restrict believers to one interpretation. Indeed, our differing words for the sacrament witnesses to its richness of meaning. For some it is the ‘Lord’s Supper’- a memorial of Jesus’ Last Supper with the disciples, for others it is ‘Holy Communion’- a place where we meet God in a very special way, others use the term ‘Eucharist’- a word that comes from the Greek for thanksgiving and still others use the Word ‘Mass’- from the Latin words at the end of the service which sends us out into the world.

In a typically diplomatic observation Elizabeth I famously said, “His was the word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it; and what His word doth make it, that I do believe and take it.” In many ways each of these understandings have something to offer us as we hear of Christ’s actions of taking bread, blessing it, breaking it and giving it to his disciples.

Like me, you too may have had moments at the altar rail that have been particularly powerful yet which you struggle to define. And so, as we mark Corpus Christi, I would not worry too much about exact definitions but would commend to you the advice of Cyril of Jerusalem (c.350AD) who encouraged communicants to, “Make your left hand as a throne for your right hand, as you prepare to receive a King.”