Praying for The King

 

It was a week ago this afternoon that the world heard the sad news of The Queen’s passing; and what a tumultuous time it has been since.  ‘Operation London Bridge’ has been very moving in so many ways and continues to be with the Laying in State currently in progress in the ancient Westminster Hall.

Along with the coins, banknotes and stamps, Service Books will eventually have to be updated with prayers for The King and his family.  Interceding for the monarch is a tradition we Christians share with our Jewish cousins, whose prayerbooks mention the sovereign or president of the particular country in which the congregation is based.

It's sometimes said The Queen never put a foot wrong, although I doubt if she herself would have agreed with such a blanket statement.  In reality, no monarch is ever infallible, and Elizabeth II never claimed to be, as ‘humility’ was a hallmark of her reign.

That’s the reason we pray for the King or Queen.  The national anthem is, in essence, a prayer. And it was good to hear the King make reference, on his visit to Northern Ireland, of the way his late mother prayed for that part of her kingdom.  It seems it was mutual; we prayed for her and she for us.

The British expression of monarchy is that of a Royal Family, and every family has its ups and downs.  None of us have every met a perfect family.  So, our prayers for the new King and his family surely need to be flavoured with kindness, compassion and understanding. 

The Media all too quickly, and gleefully, seem to rush to judgement when it comes to our leaders.  Yet the truth is that those in the public eye, from the Sovereign to local mayors, constantly try to do their best even in the goldfish bowl of intense scrutiny and knee jerk criticism. So, when they do make mistakes (as we all do from time to time) we need to hold them to account in a measured and just way.

Today the late Queen, so beloved by millions around the world, lays in state before her funeral on Monday in the Abbey Church where she was both married and crowned.  In watching the livestream from Westminster Hall, it has been touching to see folk pause by the catafalque to curtsey, bow, cross themselves or simply pray.  My hope is that as these sad days, naturally and rightly, fade and happier times come, that we will still pray for those who serve us in the public sphere; and what better prayer to utter for our new sovereign that that of God save the King.

Autumnus

 

If it’s true that Brits like nothing better than talking about the weather, perhaps it’s also fair to say the changing seasons always seem to catch us by surprise.  At home we have been remarking on how quickly the nights have been drawing in, as if this hadn’t been my experience every September now for sixty-one years!

Many people, and I’m one of them, love Autumn.  Last weekend I sat at breakfast looking out of the window on the mist hanging low in the garden, and it seemed like an announcement that summer was on the wain and the Fall was beginning.

Of course, to refer to this season as ‘The Fall’ seems so American.  I was, therefore, interested to discover that it was a common term in Britain until the end of the 1600’s.  Only then, a mere three hundred years ago,  did we finally opt instead for Autumn instead, based on the Latin Autumnus.

I find it both ironic and reassuring that nature ‘dies’ so slowly and beautifully during September and October.  To be honest I find a walk in the countryside, amid the golds and reds of autumn, so much more inspiring than the monochrome green of summer – but I know that’s just my personal take, so no Letters to the Editor please!

If our lives reflect the seasons, then many of us at AFC are in the autumn rather than spring of our years.  Yet, just like my countryside walks, I’m constantly impressed by the vibrancy of the colours that make up our church community.  I’ve lost count of the number of times people have shared with me how they’ve tried something ‘new’ in retirement and I’m constantly humbled by the continuing energy and faithfulness of so many ‘older’ folk in our congregation.

Autumn days can be good days, days of dignity and beauty; a season to inspire.

So, enjoy The Fall of 22!

Kitchen - the heart of the home

 

This week, and next, we are having a new kitchen installed at The Manse.

The first part of this process was ripping out the old one, which was done with impressive efficiency on Bank Holiday Monday.  It was odd to see the room in which we have spent so many hours over the last ten years reduced to a shell, its insides now nothing more than a pile of rubbish awaiting collection on the front lawn!

Various workmen have visited us since: electricians, plumbers, gas engineers and as I write the plasterer is hard at work.  During this time, we have ‘decamped’ our usual kitchen activities to the Utility Room, grateful for the continuing good weather and our liking for salads and barbeques!

I’ve learnt that kitchens come in all shapes and sizes and even have names: the ‘Single File’, ‘Double File’, ‘U kitchen, or ‘Island kitchen’.  All I really know is that ours is going to be a ‘white’ kitchen.

But, truth to tell on day four of our re-vamp we are already missing it and appreciating once again that in so many ways it is the heart of the home.  So, we are looking forward to putting the tins back onto their shelves and finding new places for the crockery and saucepans.  And, as my brother said to me this week, it will be exciting to see numbers once again actually on the cooker dials – perhaps it will improve my culinary efforts.

In the bible food, if not kitchens, holds an important place.  There are many stories of meals being prepared, ingredients sought, and conversations held around a meal table.  Jesus visited homes as a dinner guest, once specifically saying that the conversation was even more important than the food (a lesson for all of us with a Martha tendency!)

I note from our own church’s life that we too place some emphasis on eating together, be that at LunchBreak, Tea at Three or our occasional church lunches after morning service. 

Well, now we are a house without a kitchen, and it definitely feels as if something very important is missing.  Food, conversation, fellowship – all make life better.

As the much-loved American food writer Julia Childs once said: A party without food is just a meeting.

August's View from the Pew: Oasis, Waterloo: London

 

Here is my blog review from our visit to Oasis, Waterloo, London on 7th August 2022

https://viewfromthepewsabbatical.blogspot.com/2022/08/16-oasis-waterloo-london-7th-august-2022.html

Can we have our ball back?

 

On Sunday the whole country seemed to revel in the glow of the success of the Lionesses at Wembley.  Perhaps Prince William caught the national mood as he hugged the team members before presenting them with their winner’s medal.

Our eldest son was in the stadium and said the atmosphere amongst the 87,000 spectators was electric.

Yet the story of women’s football sounds like it comes from a different planet, even more so when we realise the prejudice shown against them was just a hundred years ago.

It was in 1894 that Nettie Honeyball (what a wonderful name!) founded the British Ladies Football Club.  The game was popular amongst women, but it took the tragedy of war to bring it to significant prominence.

For, during the First World War the role of women on the Home Front changed dramatically simply because of the absence of so many men who were away fighting.  It was during this period in North East England that the Munitionettes’ Cup was established.  On Boxing Day 1917 a Women’s Football International was held between England and Ireland before a crowd of 20,000.  And then a Women’s Cup Final in 1918 was played before no less than a staggering 22,000.

Now, none of this success and enthusiasm went down well with the English Football Association who, in 1921 issued a statement which read: the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not be encouraged.

That started a ‘ban’ on the women’s game that lasted from 1921 until 1970.  Similar restrictions were also introduced in countries such as Germany and Brazil.

The FA made it impossible for women’s teams to play on any grounds that belonged to the Association.  Some teams tried to continue by playing on rugby pitches but, basically, the momentum of the women’s game was lost.

Historians conclude that jealousy played a big part in this prejudice as the ‘gates’ at women’s games were financially significant, and the FA had no control over these monies.  So, rather than seek a mutually beneficial way forward, the men took the women’s ball away.

What a difference a century makes, and how ‘absurd’ it all sounds now to read of the reasoning behind the ban.

Part of the dignity of being human and made, as the Bible rather poetically says, ‘in the image of God’, is the ability we have to change our minds and in that process to see the world differently and afresh with new perspectives.  Such a process leads to progress!

In a book the AFC Book Discussion Group are currently reading, Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes: Yes, we do have setbacks, but you must keep everything in perspective.  The world is getting better.  Think about the rights of women or how slavery was considered morally justified a few hundred years ago.  It takes time.  We are growing and learning how to be compassionate, how to be caring, how to be human.

Wonderful words of hope from a man who knew what it meant to live in bleak times.

Such a way of thinking meant that, following the success of England in the 1966 World Cup, the Football Association eventually said ‘yes’ in 1970 to those from the women’s game who had been demanding for decades that they  have their ball back!

Blog holiday now until September – have a lovely summer!

A Sense of Place

We’ve spent my day off this week exploring the streets of Spitalfields.

We were there because one of our sons has just set up a stall, selling re-cycled clothing, at the Vintage Market in Brick Lane.  So, we thought we’d do the ‘parental’ thing of giving encouragement to a venture we barely understand!

Like many areas of London this patch, between Shoreditch in the north and Whitechapel to the south, has many layers of history.

Back in 1612 Spitalfields saw the foundation of the very first Baptist Church in England.  It was led by Thomas Helwys who, just a few years later, was thrown into Newgate jail for his ‘dissenting’ views in matters of faith.  Us Baptists have always been part of the awkward squad!

Towards the end of the 1600’s Spitalfields saw the influx of thousands of French refugees who we have come to know as Huguenots.  Louis XIV’s Edict of Nantes declared that France would no longer tolerate their Protestant belief, so 50,000 of them settled in Britain, many in the East End of London.  The Huguenots were tremendously industrious and made the area famous for their silk merchandise.  They settled so well because Spitalfields was outside the legal and financial jurisdiction of The Guilds and Companies of The City.  An obvious sign of the success of the Huguenots was the establishment of ten small Protestant Meeting Houses in which they worshipped.

As if to teach them how the English really built churches, the Parish of Spitalfields commissioned Nicolas Hawksmoor to come up with a truly grand and monumental design for the new Christ Church, standing at the centre of this community.  We had lunch in the church grounds this week and the building still towers over everything around it – it’s truly massive.  Recently Christ Church has become one of the many satellite congregations of Holy Trinity, Brompton.  It’s contemporary worship style and heavy support from HTB has re-energised it so much so that it now regularly holds three services on a Sunday.

Another example of ‘thinking outside the box’ is the recent establishment of a Community Café on Brick Lane, Spitalfields, sponsored by Baptist Home Mission and set up as a ‘crossing point’ between church and community.

Oh, and of course, Spitalfields is also the famous location of many Jack the Ripper cases.  We even did the tour!

Well, it’s a fascinating place with a long history and a contemporary multi-cultural feel.

The Bible regularly invokes a ‘Sense of Place’ as shorthand for various observations and messages about faith and life.

We talk of The Garden of Eden in terms of a lost paradise.  Whilst Sodom and Gomorrah stand for all that is beyond the pale.

And isn’t it significant that Jesus was born in the, comparatively, insignificant town of Bethlehem and died on a cross outside the capital, Jerusalem, at Golgotha, a place of shame.  All making the point that this King never lived in a palace or sat upon a cushioned throne.

There is a modern Call to Worship that says:

This is the place
and this is the time;
here and now,
God waits
to break into our experience;
to change our minds,
to change our lives,
to change our ways……

This is the place
as are all places;
this is the time
as are all times.
Here and now
let us praise God.

And it’s surely an inspiring thought that God is with us at all times and in all places.

Money - you just can't give it away!

 Last week Bill Gates, the world’s 4^th richest individual, vowed to give almost all his money away.  Eventually, he wants to fall of the ‘rich list’ and he says this feels, to him, like an ‘obligation’ to society.  To that end he has made a further donation of £17bn to his Foundation which is combating diseases like Malaria across the world.

Yet, it seems just giving money away isn’t as easy as it sounds.  After all Bill Gates made this same promise back in 2010 and since then, with a decade’s growth on the stock markets, his wealth has doubled.  So, even more to give away now!

Andrew Carnegie, sometimes thought of as the Father of Modern Philanthropy, had a similar experience.  From his humble beginnings in Dunfermline, Scotland, he ended up one of the richest men in America.  He gave away $350m in his lifetime (his money helping to fund the discovery of insulin) yet at his death in 1919 he still retained, apparently to his great disappointment, some  $30m.

It was the St Paul, writing to young pastor Timothy who said The love of money is the root of all evil, and I also note he spoke of such avarice as ultimately bringing many sorrows.

Money itself is, of course, neutral.  It’s its use, or our insatiable quest for more and more of it, that can be so destructive.

The Bible doesn’t shy away from talking about money and the good it can do.

In the Jewish Scriptures there’s the idea of a Temple Tax, meaning that all men over the age of 20 paid half a shekel to the Temple and half a shekel to God annually (about four days wages) on top of their free will offerings.

In Jesus’ day we are told that a group of women financially supported his ministry.  Luke even lists three of them by name: Mary Magdalene, Joanna (who husband, intriguingly was the Administrator in Herod’s household) and Susanna.  The Greek word used to describe them is the root of the word Deacon, meaning one who serves.

The Church has not always been good with money, gaining a reputation for filling its own coffers at the expense of the poor.  In the time of the Prince Bishops in England that meant Cathedrals and Abbeys owned huge swathes of land, whilst on the Continent Martin Luther spoke out against a greedy Church selling Indulgences to pay for building work in Rome.

Today, the debate about money, and especially taxes, rumbles on and is central to the current leadership race in the Tory party.

Having enough money can bring all of us a reassuring sense of security.  Striving to make taxation fair, and government spending well targeted, is seen by many Christians as a matter of justice, one that stands at the centre of our faith. And, if recent reports of the actual unhappiness encountered by some lottery winners is to be believed, it seems St Paul was right; money can bring many sorrows.

Yet, alongside Mary, Joanna and Susanna, I guess that most of us truly want to use our money wisely and well.  And like Bill Gates and Andrew Carnegie (although I suspect in much smaller quantities!) we will hope that the money we give away may be a blessing to others.