Thought for the day
Pentecost - Sunday May 31
Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, and lighten with celestial fire; thou the anointing Spirit art, who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.
Thy blessèd unction from above is comfort, life, and fire of love; enable with perpetual light the dullness of our blinded sight.
Show us the Father and the Son, in thee and with thee, ever one; then through the ages all along this shall be our unending song: 'Praise to thy eternal merit, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.'
Veni, creator Spiritus attributed to Rabanus Maurus (c776-856),
John Cosin (1594-1672)
The disciples in the upper room, waiting.
There is a lot of waiting going on at the moment.
Thoughts for the day for Thursday May 28
Jottings, really.
In a cycle ride through the centre of Glasgow yesterday, our son glimpsed a stag, replete with a full set of antlers, in a fairly well built up area down by the River Clyde. Is it over-optimistic to think about wildlife reasserting its place in a locked-down Scotland?
On the other hand but on a similar theme, the Economist, a periodical usually dedicated to the encouragement of the free market economy and the wholehearted pursuit of monetary profit, last week ran a whole issue and a podcast on the importance of keeping ecological issues at the forefront of debate as the country emerges from lockdown. As it said, we have all recently had a devastating lesson in how one major event can turn society upside down and shatter what we assumed were comfortable certainties. Public opinion is primed:the politicians need to do it! I was sightly less cheered by the sources quoted as indices of public thought on the subject. They were (1) Mumsnet, and (2) the comments made by "certain Church of England bishops". In that order.
Recovering from this, I was inspired by receipt of their occasional newsletter from the Community of St Mary the Virgin in Wantage. This encouraged me to take a look at their website, which proved to be a place of wonder. There is something about their spirituality which can't be put into words except to say that it is unique. I read about a roll of the blue polycotton material used to make the sisters' habits being used to make scrubs and donated to a "scrubhub" for the NHS in Swindon. I heard reflections from the sculptor Nicholas Mynheer about his progress in creating a two metre high statue of the virgin and child, for the front of the Convent, using stone from a limestone quarry near Bath. He describes it as a process akin to prayer. Cutting away the stone is a kind of loss, but the purpose of the cutting away the stone is to reveal the figure within it. "The beauty of stone is that you can hint at things .."
And Sister Stella, the Mother Superior, has recorded her report to the Community Trustees on how a small community of mainly elderly and fragile nuns has managed lockdown and found a renewed sense of vocation and peace and joy in the experience. Which is where these "thoughts for the day" began - with my conviction that the religious communities ought to have some wisdom to offer us when coping with enclosure and seclusion. They can - they've done it for years. But I can't summarise this - you have to read it - https://csmv.co.uk.
With love and prayers
Isobel
Thought for the day for Tuesday May 26
Well, today is the feast day of St Augustine of Canterbury. On the basis therefore that the church in Draughton is dedicated to St Augustine, here is a picture of him.
All is not straightforward however. It is a well-known point of interest – not to say problem – in the C of E that we actually pay tribute to two Saints called Augustine. The earlier, St Augustine of Hippo Regius in North Africa (b.354, d.430), was a great thinker and a prolific writer whose work crystallised much of the body of Christian doctrine at an early stage in its development. The latter, our subject for today, was a Benedictine monk sent somewhat later to England by Pope Gregory the Great in 597, to “convert” the British Isles (various Roman missionaries had established themselves here previously, but it seems that the islanders had (already) got into bad habits of which Rome did not approve). According to that great British historian, the Venerable Bede, this second St Augustine made many converts and had great success. It is just possible however that Bede was here exhibiting pro-Roman bias! What is certain is that Augustine 2 (of Canterbury) made an important contribution to the history of the church in these islands by establishing the archbishopric which still bears that name.
The picture however is not at all problematic; it comes (via Wikimedia Commons) from a work called “A Chronicle of England B C 55 – A D 1485”, written by J W E Doyle, with engravings by Edmund Evans. As such, it has a peculiar Englishness all of its own, and clearly shows the Canterbury saint, preaching to (or possibly blessing) King Ethelbert of Kent and his consort, Queen Bertha, with various other Old English characters in attendance. Ethelbert is stroking his beard and thinking hard - you can almosts hear him saying reflectively "Hmm"!
It is also clear that the church celebrates St Augustine of Canterbury on this day, May 26. What might possibly be in question is the dedication of St Augustine’s church in Draughton. Last time I asked around I didn't find anyone to tell me which St Augustine was actually commemorated here.
Draughton church is not all that old – presumably somebody knows?
Isobel
Thought for the day for Friday May 22
The interesting thing about trying to structure my life according to Benedictine principles is that it is not, if I am honest, getting all that much easier. So I looked again at the relevant portions of the Benedictine Rule.
The first thing that caught my eye was interesting but irrelevant to the matter in hand (and this probably nicely locates the problem – I think I could probably fairly claim to elevate displacement activity to the status of an Olympic sport (this is a quote from my father-in-law’s funeral tribute. One of his work colleagues said about him that he had probably elevated jay-walking – across one of the busiest main roads in the City of London – to the status of an Olympic sport.)
Music and faith
In chapter 19 of the Rule, I found:
“We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord watch the good and the bad in every place, but we should believe that this is especially true when we are celebrating the divine office. And so we must always bear in mind the words of the prophet when he says, “Serve the Lord with fear” (Psalm 2:11), “sing wisely” (Psalm 47:7) and “in the sight of the angels I will sing to you” (Psalm 138:1). Let us then consider carefully how we ought to behave in the sight of God and his angels, and let us stand to sing in such a way that there is no discrepancy between our thoughts and the words we are singing.”
This is quite an ask, especially in those Benedictine Houses (I think there still are some) who sing Mattins at three in the morning. I have never known how people manage to do that. It (singing with intention) is however a good thought, for when we (a) are allowed back into church, and (b) are able to sing in there, which I gather may be yet another step further on! Meanwhile, Christopher and I have taken to singing Compline to each other across the kitchen table most evenings, and we find that a lovely and calming thing to do. We may yet record ourselves doing it, so as to be able to share the joy!!
Thought for the day for Wednesday May 13
It must be Wednesday because the dustbin was emptied yesterday! Christopher confirms this.
Both today's bible readings for Morning Prayer (Numbers 12 and Luke 5:12-26) contained references to leprosy. It is well-known that in bible times, this word covered a variety of illnesses, some deadly and others much less serious skin diseases - but the passages acquire new resonances in the present situation. We can now understand with our hearts as well as our minds why Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days when her skin suddenly turned white, and why Jesus was breaking the Judaic law, and caused shock, when he touched the leper "in one of the cities" (it doesn't say where), in order to heal him. I am concerned though in the present situation, that we have no option but to avoid each other in just this kind of way. Being "treated like a leper" is not nice, and I had notice that "social distancing" can actually be quite difficult social territory. Asking someone to get away from you can sound quite aggressive, even unintentionally, especially if you are a cyclist riding between two pedestrians, and for less assertive people, "please move over" can be embarrassing to say.
Pope and saint Gregory the Great (540 - 604) apparently had a sensible comment on how we might read miracles of the kind recorded by Luke here; he said "we must understand the miracles of our Lord and Saviour, dearly beloved, so as to believe that they have truly been done, but also that their meaning signifies still something more to us." St Gregory will have considered this in depth, as he wrote a four-part work called the Dialogi, or "Dialogues", which was an account of the lives of various mostly Italian saints, including many miracles which his holy men had performed. It was intended to boost faith, and it seems to have succeeded, because it was very popular, though I'm sure it would not have the same effect today, in an age less interested in signs and wonders than seventh-century Italy. The second book of the "Dialogues" is important because it recounts the entire life and works of St Benedict of Nursia, and is the only and most useful near-contemporary source for him. Today however we value Benedict more for his Rule, and its lasting impact of Western civilisation, than for the various interesting events we are told he initiated!
One more thought on the Lucan passage: one can ponder long and hard on the connection between the two sayings of Jesus to the paralysed man "Friend, your sins are forgiven you" and "stand up, take your bed and go to your home" - that is, on the connection between spiritual and physical healing. We are experiencing that too, though, in lockdown; keeping physically fit is one thing, staying positive is another. It is true that we might say that "positive" is a description of an emotional state rather than a spiritual one, especially in a time when the word "spiritual" has lost quite a lot of its currency, but the boundary between the spiritual and the emotional states might also be a good thing to ponder, if you need some food for thought for today!
Thought for the day for Friday May 1
First, importantly, as you may already know, the Church of England has now launched a helpline called Daily Hope. This operates on a freephone number (0800 80480440) and offers a hymn, reading and prayer to those who prefer telephone to internet. Please do share this information with anyone who might find it useful.
And what next?
One of the basics of the Benedictine Rule is honesty, in the sense of making a realistic assessment of what we can and can’t do, rather than indulging in fantasies of omnipotence or self-indulgent trains of thought about the great things we could achieve if only other people did not get in the way. One of the great opportunities of the “lockdown” was the opportunity to take (no, necessity of taking) a step back to look at what had been going on in our lives and, now, to start to look at what we might take away from the experience, going forward. This will be happening at all levels, individual and national and in the church.
 |
So at the individual level, do you want to go back to exactly where you were before, or should some things be different? Personally I am beginning to relate strongly to a saying which is actually St Augustine, not St Benedict: “It is better to need less than to want more” (or, as my grandmother would probably have put it, you ned to cut your coat to suit the cloth). This is about simplicity of life and living lightly on the earth. |
A rainbow – apart from dreaming about somewhere over it, this is also the sign of God’s covenant with humanity
For instance, I need to have a stronger framework of prayer, a more balanced life, more open communication with those around me, and a greater awareness of other people’s difficulties – loneliness, for instance.
|
At the political and social level, I am sure that comparisons are already being made with the country’s recovery from the two great wars of the last century. We have to pray for respect for our politicians, who after all are not making too bad a job of a truly ghastly situation, and for an open and honest debate which does not give way to vested interests and in which people give space to each other’s needs rather than pushing exclusively each for theirown. The Houses of Parliament (Monet) |
 |
And the church? We are in for an interesting time as we work out (eventually) how to begin to inhabit our buildings again, and how to cope with the financial cost of the shutdown. At a deeper level than that though, we need to reflect on what we think the church is actually for. Revd Lucy Winkett, a sensible lady who doesn’t make pretentious claims and who is the Rector of St James’s Piccadilly in central London, has put together the following thoughts in the Church Times.
 |
First, Lucy makes a distinction between religion and spirituality, with religion as the more definable of the two. Then, she says, religion can provide structure through: the recitation of scripture; the practice of ancient rituals; the repetition of eternal truths made new today; the building of community, and the provision of a framework for diverse beliefs. It can also teach us not to be afraid of silence, so that we don’t have to fill each moment with distraction or occupation. (Apart possibly from the diverse beliefs, this all sounds quite Benedictine to me). But what do you think? What about your life, what about society, and is that a fair summary of the value of the church today? Answers on a postcard please, by next Friday (no, that’s a joke!) Blue sky thinking for the church? |
A prayer for today:
Father, give to us, and to all your people, in times of anxiety, serenity; in times of hardship, courage; in times of uncertainty, patience, and in all time, a quiet trust in your wisdom and love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
With love and prayers
Isobel
Pentecost - Sunday May 31
Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, and lighten with celestial fire; thou the anointing Spirit art, who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.
Thy blessèd unction from above is comfort, life, and fire of love; enable with perpetual light the dullness of our blinded sight.
Show us the Father and the Son, in thee and with thee, ever one; then through the ages all along this shall be our unending song: 'Praise to thy eternal merit, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.'
Veni, creator Spiritus attributed to Rabanus Maurus (c776-856),
John Cosin (1594-1672)
The disciples in the upper room, waiting.
There is a lot of waiting going on at the moment.
Thoughts for the day for Thursday May 28
Jottings, really.
In a cycle ride through the centre of Glasgow yesterday, our son glimpsed a stag, replete with a full set of antlers, in a fairly well built up area down by the River Clyde. Is it over-optimistic to think about wildlife reasserting its place in a locked-down Scotland?
On the other hand but on a similar theme, the Economist, a periodical usually dedicated to the encouragement of the free market economy and the wholehearted pursuit of monetary profit, last week ran a whole issue and a podcast on the importance of keeping ecological issues at the forefront of debate as the country emerges from lockdown. As it said, we have all recently had a devastating lesson in how one major event can turn society upside down and shatter what we assumed were comfortable certainties. Public opinion is primed:the politicians need to do it! I was sightly less cheered by the sources quoted as indices of public thought on the subject. They were (1) Mumsnet, and (2) the comments made by "certain Church of England bishops". In that order.
Recovering from this, I was inspired by receipt of their occasional newsletter from the Community of St Mary the Virgin in Wantage. This encouraged me to take a look at their website, which proved to be a place of wonder. There is something about their spirituality which can't be put into words except to say that it is unique. I read about a roll of the blue polycotton material used to make the sisters' habits being used to make scrubs and donated to a "scrubhub" for the NHS in Swindon. I heard reflections from the sculptor Nicholas Mynheer about his progress in creating a two metre high statue of the virgin and child, for the front of the Convent, using stone from a limestone quarry near Bath. He describes it as a process akin to prayer. Cutting away the stone is a kind of loss, but the purpose of the cutting away the stone is to reveal the figure within it. "The beauty of stone is that you can hint at things .."
And Sister Stella, the Mother Superior, has recorded her report to the Community Trustees on how a small community of mainly elderly and fragile nuns has managed lockdown and found a renewed sense of vocation and peace and joy in the experience. Which is where these "thoughts for the day" began - with my conviction that the religious communities ought to have some wisdom to offer us when coping with enclosure and seclusion. They can - they've done it for years. But I can't summarise this - you have to read it - https://csmv.co.uk.
With love and prayers
Isobel
Thought for the day for Tuesday May 26
Well, today is the feast day of St Augustine of Canterbury. On the basis therefore that the church in Draughton is dedicated to St Augustine, here is a picture of him.
All is not straightforward however. It is a well-known point of interest – not to say problem – in the C of E that we actually pay tribute to two Saints called Augustine. The earlier, St Augustine of Hippo Regius in North Africa (b.354, d.430), was a great thinker and a prolific writer whose work crystallised much of the body of Christian doctrine at an early stage in its development. The latter, our subject for today, was a Benedictine monk sent somewhat later to England by Pope Gregory the Great in 597, to “convert” the British Isles (various Roman missionaries had established themselves here previously, but it seems that the islanders had (already) got into bad habits of which Rome did not approve). According to that great British historian, the Venerable Bede, this second St Augustine made many converts and had great success. It is just possible however that Bede was here exhibiting pro-Roman bias! What is certain is that Augustine 2 (of Canterbury) made an important contribution to the history of the church in these islands by establishing the archbishopric which still bears that name.
The picture however is not at all problematic; it comes (via Wikimedia Commons) from a work called “A Chronicle of England B C 55 – A D 1485”, written by J W E Doyle, with engravings by Edmund Evans. As such, it has a peculiar Englishness all of its own, and clearly shows the Canterbury saint, preaching to (or possibly blessing) King Ethelbert of Kent and his consort, Queen Bertha, with various other Old English characters in attendance. Ethelbert is stroking his beard and thinking hard - you can almosts hear him saying reflectively "Hmm"!
It is also clear that the church celebrates St Augustine of Canterbury on this day, May 26. What might possibly be in question is the dedication of St Augustine’s church in Draughton. Last time I asked around I didn't find anyone to tell me which St Augustine was actually commemorated here.
Draughton church is not all that old – presumably somebody knows?
Isobel
Thought for the day for Friday May 22
The interesting thing about trying to structure my life according to Benedictine principles is that it is not, if I am honest, getting all that much easier. So I looked again at the relevant portions of the Benedictine Rule.
The first thing that caught my eye was interesting but irrelevant to the matter in hand (and this probably nicely locates the problem – I think I could probably fairly claim to elevate displacement activity to the status of an Olympic sport (this is a quote from my father-in-law’s funeral tribute. One of his work colleagues said about him that he had probably elevated jay-walking – across one of the busiest main roads in the City of London – to the status of an Olympic sport.)
Music and faith
In chapter 19 of the Rule, I found:
“We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord watch the good and the bad in every place, but we should believe that this is especially true when we are celebrating the divine office. And so we must always bear in mind the words of the prophet when he says, “Serve the Lord with fear” (Psalm 2:11), “sing wisely” (Psalm 47:7) and “in the sight of the angels I will sing to you” (Psalm 138:1). Let us then consider carefully how we ought to behave in the sight of God and his angels, and let us stand to sing in such a way that there is no discrepancy between our thoughts and the words we are singing.”
This is quite an ask, especially in those Benedictine Houses (I think there still are some) who sing Mattins at three in the morning. I have never known how people manage to do that. It (singing with intention) is however a good thought, for when we (a) are allowed back into church, and (b) are able to sing in there, which I gather may be yet another step further on! Meanwhile, Christopher and I have taken to singing Compline to each other across the kitchen table most evenings, and we find that a lovely and calming thing to do. We may yet record ourselves doing it, so as to be able to share the joy!!
Thought for the day for Wednesday May 13
It must be Wednesday because the dustbin was emptied yesterday! Christopher confirms this.
Both today's bible readings for Morning Prayer (Numbers 12 and Luke 5:12-26) contained references to leprosy. It is well-known that in bible times, this word covered a variety of illnesses, some deadly and others much less serious skin diseases - but the passages acquire new resonances in the present situation. We can now understand with our hearts as well as our minds why Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days when her skin suddenly turned white, and why Jesus was breaking the Judaic law, and caused shock, when he touched the leper "in one of the cities" (it doesn't say where), in order to heal him. I am concerned though in the present situation, that we have no option but to avoid each other in just this kind of way. Being "treated like a leper" is not nice, and I had notice that "social distancing" can actually be quite difficult social territory. Asking someone to get away from you can sound quite aggressive, even unintentionally, especially if you are a cyclist riding between two pedestrians, and for less assertive people, "please move over" can be embarrassing to say.
Pope and saint Gregory the Great (540 - 604) apparently had a sensible comment on how we might read miracles of the kind recorded by Luke here; he said "we must understand the miracles of our Lord and Saviour, dearly beloved, so as to believe that they have truly been done, but also that their meaning signifies still something more to us." St Gregory will have considered this in depth, as he wrote a four-part work called the Dialogi, or "Dialogues", which was an account of the lives of various mostly Italian saints, including many miracles which his holy men had performed. It was intended to boost faith, and it seems to have succeeded, because it was very popular, though I'm sure it would not have the same effect today, in an age less interested in signs and wonders than seventh-century Italy. The second book of the "Dialogues" is important because it recounts the entire life and works of St Benedict of Nursia, and is the only and most useful near-contemporary source for him. Today however we value Benedict more for his Rule, and its lasting impact of Western civilisation, than for the various interesting events we are told he initiated!
One more thought on the Lucan passage: one can ponder long and hard on the connection between the two sayings of Jesus to the paralysed man "Friend, your sins are forgiven you" and "stand up, take your bed and go to your home" - that is, on the connection between spiritual and physical healing. We are experiencing that too, though, in lockdown; keeping physically fit is one thing, staying positive is another. It is true that we might say that "positive" is a description of an emotional state rather than a spiritual one, especially in a time when the word "spiritual" has lost quite a lot of its currency, but the boundary between the spiritual and the emotional states might also be a good thing to ponder, if you need some food for thought for today!
Thought for the day for Friday May 1
First, importantly, as you may already know, the Church of England has now launched a helpline called Daily Hope. This operates on a freephone number (0800 80480440) and offers a hymn, reading and prayer to those who prefer telephone to internet. Please do share this information with anyone who might find it useful.
And what next?
One of the basics of the Benedictine Rule is honesty, in the sense of making a realistic assessment of what we can and can’t do, rather than indulging in fantasies of omnipotence or self-indulgent trains of thought about the great things we could achieve if only other people did not get in the way. One of the great opportunities of the “lockdown” was the opportunity to take (no, necessity of taking) a step back to look at what had been going on in our lives and, now, to start to look at what we might take away from the experience, going forward. This will be happening at all levels, individual and national and in the church.
|
So at the individual level, do you want to go back to exactly where you were before, or should some things be different? Personally I am beginning to relate strongly to a saying which is actually St Augustine, not St Benedict: “It is better to need less than to want more” (or, as my grandmother would probably have put it, you ned to cut your coat to suit the cloth). This is about simplicity of life and living lightly on the earth. |
A rainbow – apart from dreaming about somewhere over it, this is also the sign of God’s covenant with humanity
For instance, I need to have a stronger framework of prayer, a more balanced life, more open communication with those around me, and a greater awareness of other people’s difficulties – loneliness, for instance.
|
At the political and social level, I am sure that comparisons are already being made with the country’s recovery from the two great wars of the last century. We have to pray for respect for our politicians, who after all are not making too bad a job of a truly ghastly situation, and for an open and honest debate which does not give way to vested interests and in which people give space to each other’s needs rather than pushing exclusively each for theirown. The Houses of Parliament (Monet) |
|
And the church? We are in for an interesting time as we work out (eventually) how to begin to inhabit our buildings again, and how to cope with the financial cost of the shutdown. At a deeper level than that though, we need to reflect on what we think the church is actually for. Revd Lucy Winkett, a sensible lady who doesn’t make pretentious claims and who is the Rector of St James’s Piccadilly in central London, has put together the following thoughts in the Church Times.
|
First, Lucy makes a distinction between religion and spirituality, with religion as the more definable of the two. Then, she says, religion can provide structure through: the recitation of scripture; the practice of ancient rituals; the repetition of eternal truths made new today; the building of community, and the provision of a framework for diverse beliefs. It can also teach us not to be afraid of silence, so that we don’t have to fill each moment with distraction or occupation. (Apart possibly from the diverse beliefs, this all sounds quite Benedictine to me). But what do you think? What about your life, what about society, and is that a fair summary of the value of the church today? Answers on a postcard please, by next Friday (no, that’s a joke!) Blue sky thinking for the church? |
A prayer for today:
Father, give to us, and to all your people, in times of anxiety, serenity; in times of hardship, courage; in times of uncertainty, patience, and in all time, a quiet trust in your wisdom and love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
With love and prayers
Isobel