"Against the Odds" biographies (1)

Lent reflections 
used at St Andrew's Dawson Street Crook by Ray Anglesea

At our Spring URC Ministers Retreat a hymn was sung at Evening Prayer from the URC hymn book – Percy Dearmer’s hymn (528) “Jesus good above all other.” I noticed the word in the final line of verses 1 and 5 – “give us grace to persevere,” – “and with joy we’ll persevere” 

Persevere. Often people ask me how I am. I usually reply, “Ok, bashing on, observing the 11^th commandment, Thou shalt bash on.”

For most of us the Christian life is about bashing on, about perseverance. Often it is a long haul, persisting often amid setbacks and frustrations and continuing to ask and to seek and to knock at the door. Alas the Christian faith is not like the final act of a Pantomime at the Durham Gala Theatre where everything is effortlessly changed so that there is no more uncertainty, no more struggle, no more darkness and despair. That might indeed be the case if the Christian gospel was one of cheap grace – of forgiveness without repentance, of healing without vulnerability, of progress without setbacks and gain without pain. However, it is not – it is one of costly grace and in the words of the 20^th century German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a person must knock.”

Yet perseverance often brings out the best in people’s character – traits such as discipline, self control, gratitude, zest, optimism, curiosity, courage and conscientiousness – what we might call grit: the ability to keep going, to keep bashing on, despite repeated failures and setbacks. People with perseverance and grit grow. People without it are either defeated by life’s challenges – or more likely – become risk averse. They play it safe - although anyone like me who spends time listening to life stories often comes to marvel at humankind’s resilience and survival instincts. And that experience of resilience or survival, changes people, for good or ill, for joy or sorrow.

I am often fascinated by the stories of people who persevered, who overcame repeated failure and rejection. The lonely single mother close to destitution who sat in coffee bars writing children’s novels to earn some money only to find that the first 12 publishers to whom she sent the manuscript rejected it. She kept going. Her name is J. K. Rowling. Another book written for children was rejected by 21 publishers. The book was eventually published. It was called Lord of the Flies, and its author William Golding eventually won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The most famous failure of our time must be the late Steve Jobs. Three blows of fate shaped his life: dropping out of university, being fired from the company he founded, Apple, and being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Rather than being defeated by them, he turned them all to creative use, eventually returning to Apple and developing 3 of the iconic inventions of our time, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. In 1962 four young men were told at the Abbey Road studios that guitar bands were on their way out. The verdict was “The Beatles have no future in showbusines.” J.K Rowling, William Golding, Steve Jobs and the Beatles were not as far as I know religious people, but some people just persevere, they have learned to embrace failure instead of fearing it.

Such people inspire me. On my Christian journey I have discovered that God has faith in me rather than I have faith in God. He lifts me every time I fail. He forgives me every time I fail. He believes in me more than I believe in myself. He mends my broken heart. I never cease to be moved by the words of Isaiah: “Even youths grow tired and weary and the young may stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength, they soar on wings like eagles, they run and don’t grow weary, they walk and don’t grow faint.”

This year I thought we might look at a number of biographies of some distinguished Christians each Sunday in Lent who have persevered in their faith that “great cloud of witnesses” that the author of the book of Hebrews has it, who despite constant setbacks, have continued in the faith and who act as a beacon, whose integrity to the gospel positively inspires us on our journey of faith. We shall end at the start of Holy week with a twentieth Christian Martyr, one who gave his life for the gospel that he loved.

Here are my list of candidates:-

Sunday 9^th March: Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Sunday 16^th March: Gladys Aylward (1902-1970)

Sunday 23 March: Etty (Esther) Hillesum (1914-1943)

Sunday 30^th March: Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Sunday 6^th April: George Eliot (1819-1880)

Sunday 13^th April: Oscar Romero (1917-1980)

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Nelson Mandela

Sunday 9^th March

The Old Testament is based around two stories. One is about liberation, the other about salvation. The first story we call Egypt. It’s about how God led the chosen people out of oppression to freedom. The second story we call Babylon. It’s about how the chosen people were in exile, but yet discovered a God who grieves our oppression more than we do. The story of Nelson Mandela brings together these two stories. In prison for 27 years, he knew the experience of Babylon, of being in exile and of losing his land and his liberty. But in prison God crafted in him the character that would become the template for how black South Africans would be delivered from oppression. And so on his release he took on the mantle of Egypt, he led his people like Moses and showed them the way to the promised land of a Rainbow Nation. The great miracle of the exodus from Egypt was the parting of the Red Sea, and in the miracle of the peaceful transfer of power in South Africa we can see an echo of that miracle of God.

It would be hard to name a world figure in the last 30 years more universally respected than Nelson Mandela. Great injustice is overcome only by great courage. Evil can never be placated, it must be defeated: that means struggle, and struggles demand courage.

Nelson Mandela showed his courage by his determination in the face of evil and by his humanity in the experience of victory. What is more, such courage and humanity were learned and demonstrated in the mists of conflict and suffering. He was that rarest of leaders, those who learn from terrible events so as to exhaust all their lessons, rather than being shaped by them into bitterness and hatred.

In the film Invictus, which tells the story of the new South Africa against the backdrop of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the victorious captain Francois Pienaar stands on the platform to receive the trophy. In a country where rugby represented the old regime, President Mandela leans toward the captain, and, recognising the unifying power of this victory, says, ‘Thank you for what you have done for South Africa.’ In a moment that crystallises the grace and pride of the new rainbow nation, Francois Pienaar pauses and responds, ‘President Mandela, thank you for what you have done for South Africa.’

Throughout history, this story of liberation has been one to which those who are suffering oppression have turned. It is hard to remember today the full evil of apartheid. Mandela was was baptised in a small Methodist stone church in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, he later attended a Methodist Church School and recalled how at school, and in every part of his life, he felt its injustice. Oppression was his life, and those of the vast majority of the people of South Africa. Even though Mandela led his revolution through political maneuvers, in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, he reflected on the work of the church in South Africa regarding the overthrow of apartheid: “The Church was as concerned with this world as the next: I saw that virtually all of the achievements of Africans seemed to have come about through the missionary work of the Church.”

But Mandela had courage that showed itself in leadership. He stood out, resisted, and fought. He faced the insult of being labelled a terrorist for fighting for his own people, the absurdity of trial for treason against an utterly wicked regime. At the height of the Cold War, with South Africa seen by many as a dependable ally protecting the seas around the Cape of Good Hope, he had little overseas support. One of the great pressures of conflict is loneliness: he faced solitude and isolation and continued the struggle.

Resisting evil is a call of God. Christians disagree about whether force is justifiable, but are at one that resistance is essential. Easy to say, how hard to act! More than that, the act of resistance opens our souls to harm. In fighting hatred, we risk becoming what we resist. History is full, especially in the 20th century, of evil overthrown - to be replaced by worse.

Archbishop Tutu commented, "I often surprise people when I say this. Suffering can lead to bitterness. But suffering is also the infallible test of the openness of a leader, of their selflessness. When Mandela had gone to jail, he had been one of the most angry. The suffering of those 27 years helped to purify him and grow the magnanimity that would become his hallmark. Jail helped Mandela learn how to make enemies into friends. It also gave him an unassailable credibility. When you speak of forgiveness, 27 years in prison sets you up very nicely.”

"27 years in prison sets you up very nicely." Only someone like Tutu has the right to say that, because he took the same risks. 27 years, add it to your age, think about what you would be like at the end. 27 years of hard labour, pointless oppression, petty insults. Yet in that school of hatred he learned to treasure the ideal of a just nation. That is a second aspect of his uniqueness. His courage was undefeated, indomitable, extraordinary. His capacity to go on becoming more human was breathtaking. His guards grew to respect and even love him. One called him a father figure, whose absence was a bereavement. Robben Island was defeated by someone who could take everything it threw at him, and by melting courage into forgiveness, create the gold of reconciliation.

In the Exodus story God brings freedom, but the Israelites have to struggle and trust. So it is with us. Jesus Christ gives us freedom. We must take it and struggle for it and stand for it, as did Nelson Mandela. And yet there is more.

Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples looks for (in St Matthew’s gospel), a natural limit to forgiveness. Jesus' answer says there is no limit. Don't do the arithmetic, learn the point. We are called to forgive forever. Few manage it. Nelson Mandela was one of the few. He did not merely call for resistance, he led it. He did not merely demonstrate and call for forgiveness, he put in place a constitution and governing system that faced evil and defeated it with truth and reconciliation. Leadership is not seen merely in policy, but making policy practice. It is what Jesus calls his followers to do along with him.

And there lies the challenge. Where do we find those who carry on his and persevere in the work of reconciliation?

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Gladys Aylward

Sunday 16^th March

Gladys May Aylward was a British missionary to China whose story was told in the book The Small Woman by Alan Burgess published in 1957. In 1958, the story was made into a Holywood movie the Inn of the Sixth Happiness, starring Ingrid Bergman. 

Born in London she worked for several years as a parlormaid, and then attended a revival meeting at which the preacher spoke of dedicating one's life to the service of God. At the age of 26, she became a probationer at the China Inland Mission Centre in London, but failed to pass the examinations. As she worked at other jobs and saved money she heard of a 73-year-old missionary, Mrs. Jeannie Lawson, who was looking for a younger woman to carry on her work. Gladys wrote to Mrs. Lawson and was accepted if she could get to China. She did not have enough money for the ship fare, but did have enough for the train fare, and so in October of 1930 she set out from London with her passport, her Bible, her tickets, and two pounds ninepence, to travel to China by the Trans-Siberian Railway, despite the fact that China and the Soviet Union were engaged in an undeclared war. She arrived in Vladivostok and sailed from there to Japan and from Japan to Tientsin, and thence by train, then bus, then mule, to the inland city of Yangchen, in the mountainous province of Shansi, a little south of Peking (Beijing). Most of the residents had seen no Europeans other than Mrs. Lawson and now Miss Aylward. They distrusted them as foreigners, and were not disposed to listen to them.

Yangchen was an overnight stop for mule caravans that carried coal, raw cotton, pots, and iron goods on six-week or three-month journeys. It occurred to the two women that their most effective way of preaching would be to set up an inn. The building in which they lived had once been an inn, and with a bit of repair work could be used as one again. They laid in a supply of food for mules and men, and when next a caravan came past, Gladys dashed out, grabbed the rein of the lead mule, and turned it into their courtyard. It went willingly, knowing by experience that turning into a courtyard meant food and water and rest for the night. The other mules followed, and the muleteers had no choice. They were given good food and warm beds at the standard price, and their mules were well cared for, and there was free entertainment in the evening--the inkeepers told stories about a man named Jesus. After the first few weeks, Gladys did not need to kidnap customers -- they turned in at the inn by preference. Some became Christians, and many of them (both Christians and non-Christians) remembered the stories, and retold them more or less accurately to other muleteers at other stops along the caravan trails. Gladys practiced her Chinese for hours each day, and was became fluent and comfortable with it. Mrs. Lawson sadly suffered a severe fall, and died a few days later. Gladys Aylward was left to run the mission alone.

During her time in Yangcheng Aylward for a time she served as an assistant to the Chinese government as a "foot inspector" by touring the countryside to enforce the new law against footbinding young Chinese girls. She met with much success in a field that had produced much resistance, including sometimes violence against the inspectors. Aylward became a Chinese citizen in 1936 and was a revered figure among the people, taking in orphans and adopting several herself, intervening in a volatile prison riot and advocating prison reform, risking her life many times to help those in need. The people began to call Gladys Aylward "Ai-weh-deh," which means "Virtuous One." It was her name from then on.

In 1938, the region was invaded by Japanese forces. Japanese planes bombed the city of Yangcheng, killing many and causing the survivors to flee into the mountains. Five days later, the Japanese Army occupied Yangcheng. The Mandarin gathered the survivors and told them to retreat into the mountains for the duration. He also announced that he was impressed by the life of Ai-weh-deh and wished to make her faith his own. As the war continued Gladys often found herself behind Japanese lines, and often passed on information, when she had it, to the armies of China, her adopted country.  As the war progresses Gladys was determined to flee to the government orphanage at Sian, bringing with her the children she had accumulated, about 100 in number. With the children in tow, she walked for twelve days. Some nights they found shelter with friendly hosts. Some nights they spent unprotected on the mountainsides. On the twelfth day, they arrived at the Yellow River, with no way to cross it. All boat traffic had stopped, and all civilian boats had been seized to keep them out of the hands of the Japanese. Eventually a boat was found and the party crossed, and after a few more difficulties Ai-weh-deh delivered her charges into competent hands at Sian, and then promptly collapsed with typhus fever and sank into delirium for several days.

As her health gradually improved, she started a Christian church in Sian, and worked elsewhere, including a settlement for lepers in Szechuan, near the borders of Tibet. Her health was permanently impaired by injuries received during the war, and in 1947 she returned to England for a badly needed operation. She remained in England, preaching there.

In 1957, Alan Burgess wrote a book about her, The Small Woman later to become the film we all know.  When Newsweek magazine reviewed the movie, and summarized the plot, a reader, supposing the story to be fiction, wrote in to say, "In order for a movie to be good, the story should be believable!" 

Gladys Aylward, the Small Woman, Ai-weh-deh, died 3 January 1970 just short of her 67th birthday, and is buried in a small cemetery on the campus of Christ's College in Guandu, New Taipei, Taiwan.  Shortly after her death, an Edmonton secondary school formerly known as Weir Hall was renamed Gladys Aylward School in her honour (now renamed Aylward Academy).

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Etty (Esther) Hillesum

Sunday 23 March 2014

Etty Hillesum was from a Dutch Jewish family. After leaving school she studied law and languages at university in Amsterdam, making a living as a housekeeper and by giving private lessons in Russian. Etty was intelligent, outgoing and inquisitive. She felt she could be all over the place at times, lacking self-discipline and depth. Her diary opens with her describing the gap between the outwardly social and confident young woman her friends knew and the inwardly tortured and muddled person she sometimes felt herself to be. Helped by a psychotherapist friend she began a spiritual search, spending regular times in meditation. She began to keep a diary, through which she expressed the ups and downs of her relationships, her quest for a more centred life and, increasingly, her reliance on God.

With the Nazi occupation of Holland Etty’s daily life became subject to more and more restrictions. She refused to go into hiding, not wishing to abandon her fellow Jews, and preferring to stay with the truth she had come to: that life remains rich and beautiful if only you remain open to receive it as it is. Eventually she was moved to a transit camp for Jews in Eastern Holland from where she continued to write letters to her friends. She was later transferred to Auschwitz.

Etty Hillesum wrote in her diary: "Sometimes when I stand in some corner of the camp, my feet planted on earth, my eyes raised towards heaven, tears run down my face, tears of deep emotion and gratitude." Not a young girl's summer camp diary; the camp she speaks of was a Nazi death camp. What Etty Hillesum stands for is gratefulness against all the odds. This makes her shine as an example for all of us, a witness to sheer enthusiasm for life.

According to the Red Cross, Etty died, aged 29, at Auschwitz on 30 November 1943. Her brother Mischa died on 31 March 1944, also at Auschwitz. Etty's father and mother either died during transport to Auschwitz or were gassed immediately upon arrival. The date of death given was 10 September 1943.

Her letters and meticulous diaries survived in the hands of friends and were eventually published. What is striking in reading them is how as her outer life became more restricted, her inner self expanded enabling her to face the reality of the suffering within and around her and still find life meaningful.

In the words of Pope Benedict XVI, in his first general audience on after his resignation:“...I am also thinking of Etty Hillesum, a young Dutch girl of Jewish origin who died in Auschwitz. At first far from God, she discovered him looking deep within her and she wrote: “There is a really deep well inside me. And in it dwells God. Sometimes I am there, too. But more often stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then he must be dug out again” (Diaries, 97). In her disrupted, restless life she found God in the very midst of the great tragedy of the 20th century: the Shoah. This frail and dissatisfied young woman, transfigured by faith, became a woman full of love and inner peace who was able to declare: “I live in constant intimacy with God"...”

Benedict XVI. "General Audience (Ash Wednesday), 13 February, 2013

Against the Odds

Shared by Ray Anglesea on the first Sunday in Lent at St Andrew's Dawson Street, Crook

I would like to draw your attention this morning to my Lent reflections for this year, contained in your many leaflets handed out this morning! The Sunday reflections are entitled “Against the Odds.” I thought we might look at a number of biographies of some distinguished Christians each Sunday in Lent who have persevered in their faith that “great cloud of witnesses” that the author of the book of Hebrews has it. Christians who despite constant setbacks, have continued in the faith and who act as a beacon, whose integrity to the gospel positively inspires us on our journey of faith.

At our Spring URC Ministers Retreat a hymn was sung at Evening Prayer from the URC hymn book – Percy Dearmer’s hymn (528) “Jesus good above all other.” I noticed the word in the final line of verses 1 and 5 – “give us grace to persevere,” – “and with joy we’ll persevere” Persevere. Often people ask me how I am. I usually reply, “Ok, bashing on, observing the 11^th commandment, Thou shalt bash on.” Bashing on, not giving up, and getting there. Here’s a thought “A river cuts through rock not because of its power but because of its persistence.” I like the phrase “Triumph is just "umph" added to try.”

For most of us the Christian life is about bashing on, about perseverance. Often it is a long haul, persisting often amid setbacks and frustrations and continuing to ask and to seek and to knock at the door. To bang on that door. Alas the Christian faith is not like the final act of a Pantomime at the Durham Gala Theatre where everything is effortlessly changed so that there is no more uncertainty, no more struggle, no more darkness and despair. That might indeed be the case if the Christian gospel was one of cheap grace – of forgiveness without repentance, of healing without vulnerability, of progress without setbacks and gain without pain. However, it is not – it is one of costly grace and in the words of the 20^th century Lutheran German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed by the Nazi’s two weeks before the end of the second world war “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a person must knock.”

Yet perseverance often brings out the best in people’s character – traits such as discipline, self control, gratitude, zest, optimism, curiosity, courage and conscientiousness – what we might call grit: the ability to keep going, to keep bashing on, despite repeated failures and setbacks. People with perseverance grow. People without zest are either defeated by life’s challenges – or more likely – become risk averse. They play it safe - although anyone like me who spends time listening to life stories often come to marvel at my friends and families resilience and survival instincts. And that experience of resilience or survival, changes people, for good or ill, for joy or sorrow. Today’s autobiography in your growing pile of leaflets reflects the life of Nelson Mandela, former President of the Republic of South Africa. The National Service of Thanksgiving to celebrate his life and work was held in Westminster Abbey last Monday. In prison he kept the faith, he didn’t give up on his dream, prison crafted in him the character that would become the template for how black South Africans would be delivered from oppression; on his release he led his people to the promised land of a Rainbow Nation. He persevered. 

I am often fascinated by the stories of people who persevered, who overcame repeated failure and rejection, who survive despite the odds of what life threw at them. Winston Churchill seemed so dull as a youth that his father thought he might be incapable of earning a living in England. Charles Darwin did so poorly in school that his father once told him, "You will be a disgrace to yourself and all your family.” Albert Einstein's parents feared their child was dull, and he performed so badly in all high school courses except mathematics that a teacher asked him to drop out. Phil Martin who founded a British pub chain in 1979 named his company after the teacher who said he would not make anything of his life. The pub chain is called JD Weatherspoon which in 2012 had operating income of £107m, and a profit of £45m in the same year.

Or take the lonely single mother close to destitution who sat in coffee bars writing children’s novels to earn some money only to find that the first 12 publishers to whom she sent the manuscript rejected it. She kept going. Her name is J. K. Rowling. Another book written for children was rejected by 21 publishers. The book was eventually published. It was called Lord of the Flies, and its author William Golding eventually won the Nobel Prize for Literature. The most famous failure of our time must be the late Steve Jobs. Three blows of fate shaped his life: dropping out of university, being fired from the company he founded, Apple, and being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Rather than being defeated by them, he turned them all to creative use, eventually returning to Apple and developing 3 of the iconic inventions of our time, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. In 1962 four young men were told at the Abbey Road studios that guitar bands were on their way out. The verdict was “The Beatles have no future in showbusines.” J.K Rowling, William Golding, Steve Jobs and the Beatles were not as far as I know religious people, but some people just persevere, they have learned to embrace failure instead of fearing it.

Last Sunday night, 12 Years a Slave won the Oscar for best picture, recognising Steve McQueen’s skilful adaptation of Solomon Northup’s own story. Northup wrote about his abduction and consequent struggle to both survive and live during his time as a slave. The film explores complex themes; it shows how plantation owners used biblical texts to justify oppression, while a Canadian abolitionist, convinced that all are made in the image of God, plays a key role in helping Northop’s release.

Young William Wilberforce, a slave trade abolitionist, was discouraged one night in the early 1790s after another defeat in his 10 year battle against the slave trade in England. Tired and frustrated, he opened his Bible and began to leaf through it. A small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor. It was a letter written by John Wesley shortly before his death. Wilberforce read it again: "Unless the divine power has raised you up... I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that (abominable practice of slavery), which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might."

At the start of his parliamentary campaign, Wilberforce, in concluding his three hour speech detailing the facts of slavery, said, ‘Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way but you can never again say that you did not know.’ Yet the combination of blindness and wilful ignorance meant that it needed 20 more years to abolish the slave trade and then decades to root it out of North America.

Such people inspire me. On my Christian journey I have discovered that God has faith in me rather than I have faith in God. He lifts me every time I fail. He forgives me every time I fall. He believes in me more than I believe in myself. He mends my broken heart. I never cease to be moved by the words of Isaiah: “Even youths grow tired and weary and the young may stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength, they soar on wings like eagles, they run and don’t grow weary, they walk and don’t grow faint.”

Perseverance. I hope some of my examples of inspiring people may help you are as you continue in your faith and as you gingerly step out into Lent, your personal journey this year to the cross. Perseverance is commitment, hard work, endurance, not giving up, trying again and again, to keep on going even when you become discouraged. Bashing on. As Bonaparte said victory belongs to the most persevering.

So may God grant you the wisdom, patience, hope and love that is needed for the long road ahead this Lent, as you persist in your faith, as you live authentically in the place God has set you, as we wait and persist in hope, because God is good. And if you can be hopeful, patient and good as we persevere – trust me - all shall be well.

Readings: Genesis 2.15-17, 3.1-7; Matthew 4.1-11

Flood liturgy

A power-point liturgy with reflections prepared by Ray Anglesea to remember and support communities flooded during this year’s winter storms.

Howden le Wear Methodist Chapel.

16^th February 2014

During a week of strong gales, heavy rain and floods when one Environment Agency figure described water levels as “verging on the biblical,” it might seem appropriate this morning to defer from our lectionary reading to look at a story in the bible dominated by severe weather conditions – Noah and his Ark.

Those of you who are The Times readers may have seen Peter Brookes cartoon (8^th February2014) of a man from the Environment Agency dressed in waterproof clothing and carrying a hammer and nails standing in front of the ark in the pouring rain. He tells the giraffes and elephants waiting to go on board, "OK ... we're ready to launch!" despite the fact that the ark is just a wooden frame with no hull or deck.

“Granny, were you in the ark with Noah?” asked the little boy, assuming his grandmother to be of a very great age. “No, I was not!” she replied indignantly. “So how come you didn’t drown then?” retorted her grandson.

Call to worship. The Lord on high is mightier, than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea (Psalm 93 v4). Be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46.10).

Prayer: O Lord God, most merciful, most secret, most present, most constant, yet challenging all things, never new and never old, we come this morning to sing our praises, to hear your word and o tlisten to your voice. We come to pray for our nation and for all people recently affected by recent severe weather conditions.

Hymn: MP 200 Great is thy faithfulness

Prayers of Thanksgiving

God of all blessings, source of all life, giver of all grace: We thank you for the gift of life: for the breath that sustains life, for the food of this earth that nurtures life, for the love of family and friends without which there would be no life.

We thank you for the mystery of creation: for the beauty that the eye can see, for the joy that the ear may hear, for the unknown that we cannot behold filling the universe with wonder, for the expanse of space that draws us beyond the definitions of our selves.

We thank you for setting us in communities: for families who nurture our becoming, for friends who love us by choice, for companions at work, who share our burdens and daily tasks, for strangers who welcome us into their midst, for people from other lands who call us to grow in understanding, for children who lighten our moments with delight, for the unborn, who offer us hope for the future.

We thank you for the emergency services, military, environment agency personnel, community supporters, neighbours and friends who are helping to relieve the misery for those communities affected by recent flooding. We thank you for their generosity of time and care, their good humour and concern and for all that they are trying to do.

We thank you for this day: for life and one more day to love, for opportunity and one more day to work for justice and peace, for neighbors and one more person to love and by whom be loved, for your grace and one more experience of your presence in this service of Holy Communion, for your promise: to be with us, to be our God, and to give salvation.

For these, and all blessings, we give you thanks, eternal, loving God, through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.^[c]

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸ Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields^[d] with fire.
¹⁰ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

¹¹ The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Reading: Genesis 6-9 (3 readers from the congregation)

It really is a ridiculous sight! A giant boat, standing hundreds of miles from the sea. People came from far and wide to look at it, and stood there laughing till the tears rolled down their cheeks. They knocked on the hull of the Ark. “Have you heard the long-range weather forecast?” they shouted. “Bright and sunny for the next six months!” And they ran off laughing as loudly as they could.

Now that may have been the first, but it certainly wasn’t the last misleading weather forecast. For it didn’t stay bright and sunny for long. Rather it rained and rained and rained – as it had to if God was to carry out his threat to destroy every living creature.

The story of the universal flood from which the human race is saved when a hero builds a boat isn’t peculiar to the bible. Flood stories in the broadest sense have been documented in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Syria, Europe, India, New Guinea, Central America, North America, Australia and South America.

The story of Noah, iconic in the Book of Genesis, and as a consequence a central motif in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, invites the greatest attention. In all three scriptures the Flood comes as punishment for wrongdoing by man, part of a “give-up-on-this-lot-and-start-over” resolution governing divine relations with the human world. In the bible version the reason for the flood is that the human race has become unimaginably wicked. In fact, the flood story is a story of un-creation. When the waters are released they cover the whole earth, they’re allowed to burst out from the places to which they had been assigned and limited, as we read in the first chapters of Genesis - and the order that’s at the heart of creation becomes disordered.

It’s that message then that human disorder can undermine the prefect order of God that permeates the story of Noah and is ark. But it’’s also a tale of human faith and obedience. For even where only a few faithful people are found God can use their faithfulness to bring healing to others.

So Noah went on building his ark. Why? Because in a world that according to the book of Genesis, was corrupt and filled with violence, there was only one man who was blameless and utterly obedient – and that was Noah. And God was able to use him to save the human race from complete destruction. Noah’s family was allowed to come into the ark too and, presumably because they’d behave themselves, every kind of bird, mammal and reptile as well. Noah had a hard time of it – apparently there were no less than 900 compartments to this ark, each 6 cubits square and filled with creatures of every occasion. No wonder Noah was kept so busy going round them all - he never got a wink of sleep.

Poem: The Floods: Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936).

Hymn:  MP 48 Be still and know that I am God

I ought to  admit that there are parts of the story of Noah’s Ark that I find rather disturbing. Yes I know it’s unlikely to be historically true despite the fact that enthusiasts still descend from the summit of Mt Ararat in Turkey waving slivers of wood claiming they have discovered remains of the ark. And yes the deluge could not have covered the whole world nor could the ark have contained two of every kind of creature. What I find worrying is that what’s missing from the story of Noah is any compassion for other humans, albeit sinful ones. For elsewhere in the book of Genesis for example when God is planning to destroy the sin-city of Sodom, Abraham pleads with the Almighty to hold fire. Noah’s only concern was to build an ark and then sail away in it. And he did...... and the writer of the book of Genesis piles on the agony, the point is made relentlessly: the water prevailed .........the waters prevailed mightily upon the earth, the waters prevailed mightily above the mountains........And the punch line of the story – God blotted out all living things – the flood was all God’s doing,

Music: For the beauty of the earth: John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers

Offertory Hymn: MP 251 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

Offertory Prayers

Prayers of Confession

Gracious God, we confess that we have been caught up in the ways of the world. Instead of looking to commandments and rules as a way to guide our life, we use them to punish and restrict others. Forgive us for our judgments and misconceptions. Forgive us for not working on ourselves, on our own lives. Call us back to Your way of life, a way of love, commitment, respect, and forgiveness. Call us back to a way of life that honours You and creation, and guides us to better love our neighbours as ourselves. In the name of Jesus the Christ, who ended sacrifice and death  and fulfilled the promise of new life, we pray. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as you choose again this day to love God and to love one another  know that God has forgiven you that which is past and offers to you a new and full life. Praise be to the name of God, now forever. Amen.

Sermon

So you’re a believer, what does this story do for you? Are you quite happy to believe that the God you worship was once able to engineer such a global catastrophe in order to punish sinful humanity? Do you see the story of the flood as the historical trailer for an eternal judgement in which God will display his holiness by punishing all perpetrators of wickedness? Or do you find the idea that God could do such a thing repugnant and unacceptable – that such a scale of punishment is out of all proportion to human misdeeds?    

Surely what the Hebrew storyteller is doing here is making a sombre point. Using his available sources he’s saying that the flood demonstrates what awful things could befall humankind were God to unleash his wrath according to the desserts of his sinful creation. It’s really a “just suppose story” – an appeal to the imagination drawing on folk memory, in order to focus on the greatness of God’s mercy – grace that contains God’s anger and sustains the creation in continued existence. Just as in the midst of the sea the Ark saved those who were inside it, so the church saves all who have strayed, but doesn’t keep them like that. It transforms them.

But to those who are victims of the unwelcome and frightening waters that are despoiling homes and farms and livelihoods in Somerset and across the south of England at present, these words may not yet bring encouragement, still less hope. It will require a huge act of faith to hear them in any way other than as a cruel mockery. But we who are dry and warm in our own homes should try to pray imaginatively for the children, women and men who are on our hearts right now. We can stand alongside them and on their behalf, hold on to our belief that there is no chaos, however awful, where God is not already present, sharing in the pain of victims, knowing in his crucified self the waste and the loss and the pain. They need us to hold on to our belief that in God’s time and in God’s way, not least through the care of those who are bringing help and support, they will find hope once more, and be given back their lives.

Finally in Noah’s story the flood subsides and the refugees prepare to leave the boat that had been their home for more than a year. They can build their life anew is a world was has been cleaned – indeed what’s happened here has been called the baptism of the world. For things have changed: the pattern of re-creation points to new beginning. There’s a new resolve in the heart of God. This kind of destruction will not happen again.

We need to be aware that the old testament of the Bible only speaks of the anger and wrath of God in the wider context of God’s love. Scholars have used the Greek word “pathos.” It’s not the same as our word pathos. No, they mean God’s constant concern and involvement with humanity. And that pathos is expressed supremely of course in the person of Jesus Christ who confronts and overcomes evil by letting himself be plunged into the flood of judgement that falls on sin. On the cross then, the judgement of God was decisively revealed. Yet on that same cross, the mercy and forgiveness of God are known abundantly.

Prayers of Intercession

Lord, your creative love gave us the breath of life, and your redeeming power was shown in life poured out; thank you for your rainbow world with its richness colour and culture, religion and race. Like Noah – and his wife and sons and daughters – and all the animals too – make each moment of our lives a miracle; make us laugh at the utterly impossible, give us hope when all things seem hopeless. Make us gamble all on your Almightiness and to dare everything in your great service, and as you looked down on the ark and your creation, look down on us now and give us your blessing.

Almighty God, creator and preserver of our world, we ask you to hear our humble prayers for all those afflicted by the devastating floodwaters throughout the country. We pray for those still threatened by flood in city & rural areas. Protect both life and property. In your mercy, bring relief to all affected areas.

We pray for the sick and injured, for the homeless, for the bereaved. Have compassion, merciful Lord, in the midst of their misery and suffering, comforting and relieving them according to their needs.

Heal those broken in body and spirit. Give courage and hope in the midst of despair. Through the generosity of government and individuals across our nation, provide a future for those whose present circumstances are marked by loss and desperation. Protect all those who are most vulnerable in the areas of devastation. And by your gracious hand, rebuild communities where men, women and children are nurtured with care and love. And turn the hearts of all to you, the God of all comfort.

Everlasting God, we pray for all emergency services and military personnel. We thank you for their unstinting dedication and efforts the. Give them courage in adversity, safety in service and protection from harm. We ask that you would also watch over their loved ones. In the service of others, may assistance be rendered to those in greatest need with speed and efficiency, justice and compassion.

In the midst of this tragedy, we thank you for the compassion and generosity of government, businesses and individuals. We ask for an ongoing spirit of community care and generosity as local and national bodies help to reconstruct communities and bring hope to victims and to future generations.

Give wisdom to the Prime Minister, this coalition government and to all who exercise significant community leadership at this time. Enable them to chart a course through the complex challenges during the phases of recovery in the weeks and months to come. Amen.

Communion Hymn: MP 649 The King of love my shepherd is

The Communion

Hymn: MP 111 Dear Lord and Father of mankind

Benediction

Ray Anglesea is a self-supporting minister working in Durham Cathedral bookshop,
Crook Local Ecumenical Partnership and in the West Durham Methodist Circuit

Flood Damage - Is the hand of God jolted by human interference?

Britain is on course for its wettest winter in 250 years, a crisis that could cost the country at least £0.5 billion. Weeks of relentless, exceptional rain and hurricane force winds has seen millions of people in Devon and Cornwall lose their train connection with the rest of England; sections of rail track across the South are functioning intermittently; flooded roads are expected to remain closed, homes, shops and businesses in the submerged counties of Somerset, Oxfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, Berkshire and Cambridgeshire have been flooded. The Environment Agency’s latest map of looming hotspots is dotted with so many red and yellow dots it looks as is the south of England has a rash. It would appear that each morning floods are again bringing misery to many and, as one who lives within sight of a River, my heart goes out to those whose houses, businesses or farmland have been flooded or are threatened.

The severe weather has brought much comment. Much of it is, understandably, angry, some is of the ‘told-you-so’ variety; and most of it feels too late: ‘if only you hadn’t built there,’ says the engineer to the developer; ‘if only you had stopped burning fossil fuels,’ says the environmentalist to the consumer; ‘if only you had acted quicker,’ says the local resident to the government minister.

In all the comments and arguments perspective is vital. The bulk of Britain, indeed the bulk of southern Britain is unaffected by floods. No Government is to blame for rain, although it is worrying that the sixth largest economy in the world appears to be unable to manage this present crisis and that a whole corner of the country could lose its rail network for 6 weeks, if not longer.

Before population pressure forced peoples to live on the brinks and in the basins of their lands, a flood was seen as a seasonal boon. Civilisation was nurtured on the crescent plain over which the Tigris and the Euphrates annually deposited their fertile silts. Ancient Egyptians hymned the Hep-Ur or “sweet water” of an overspilling Nile. But as populations swelled with the passing of centuries, as rivers were embanked, coastal waters walled and settlements established in areas once submerged, the flood has become a bane. Rising waters bring death and disease; they ruin crops, destroy industries and disrupt transport systems.

The intense storms that have been lashing Britain this winter are “likely to be linked to man-made global warming” according to the Met Office’s chief scientist. All the evidence suggests that climate change has been a contributing factor – a warmer atmosphere holds more water.  Is the hand of God then jolted by human interference? The evidence that humans are the dominant cause of current global warming is overwhelming and continues to grow. There are several greenhouse gases responsible for warming, and humans emit them in a variety of ways. Most come from the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories and electricity production. The gas responsible for the most warming is carbon dioxide. Other contributors include methane released from landfills and agriculture (especially from the digestive systems of grazing animals), nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes, and the loss of forests that would otherwise store carbon dioxide.

The Met Office's latest analysis finds that persistent rainfall over Indonesia and the tropical West Pacific triggered the weather system that has sent wave after wave of storms across the Atlantic to the UK. It says: "The severe weather in the UK coincided with exceptionally cold weather in Canada and the USA. These extreme weather events on both sides of the Atlantic were linked to a persistent pattern of perturbations to the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean and North America.”

Steven Croft, the bishop of Sheffield, quoted in The Guardian, Wednesday 12^th February 2014 described the threat of climate change as "a giant evil; a great demon of our day", adding: "Its power is fed by greed, blindness and complacency in the present generation, and we know that this giant wreaks havoc though the immense power of the weather systems, which are themselves unpredictable." He said the church had a "critical role" to play in lobbying politicians on climate change in order to bring about manifesto commitments to reach the target of an 80% reduction in UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The church's renewed commitment to tackling climate change was welcomed by Christian charities. Paul Cook, advocacy director of Tearfund, said the current flood in Britain was serving as a wake-up call to the church. "The climate really is changing, and it's happening now," he said. "It's not just a problem for our grandchildren, it's not just a problem for polar bears, it's not just a problem for people thousands of miles away; it's a problem for us too, today."

"Climate change is increasingly becoming one of the moral issues of our time and the church has a powerful voice with which to speak," said Christian Aid's senior climate change adviser, Dr Alison Doig. "The next 18 months will significantly shape the politics of climate change with the UN global deal on emissions expected in Paris next year and the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report next month. The church can now engage prophetically on this subject and speak with a united voice for those suffering both here and abroad."

In the meantime we remember in prayer people and communities affected or threatened by flood water and the emergency services and military that is helping to relieve their misery.

Ray Anglesea

Ray Anglesea is a self-supporting minister working in Durham Cathedral bookshop,

Crook Local Ecumenical Partnership and in the West Durham Methodist CircuitI

Candlemas liturgy

Candlemas

A powerpoint liturgy used for the celebration of Candlemas at Crook Local Ecumenical Partnership, Sunday 2^nd February 2014.STF = Singing the Faith, New Methodist Hymn Book. STF 232 Through long year of watchful waiting (Tune STF 14 Regent Square )was written by a previous Crook LEP minister, Revd. Tom Wilkinson.

 Epiphany gifts are gold (chocolate coins), myrrh (bath oil) and frankincense (incense), Poem and Sketch from “Cloth for the Cradle,” Wild Goose Publications. Music as stated. Candles decorate the church and communion table.

        

   Giovanni Bellini:  The Presentation at the Temple, c1459

                                             

              Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

Introduction

Dear friends: forty days ago we celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus        Christ. Now we recall the day on which he was presented in the Temple, when he was offered to the Father and shown to his people. In their old age Simeon and Anna recognised him as their Lord. In this service we remember both the joy of his coming and his searching judgement, looking back to the day of his birth and forward to the coming days of his passion.

Call to worship: Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

Psalm 118:19

Epiphany Gifts. Gold, incense and myrrh are brought to the communion table

Gold of Gold we seek your glory, the richness that transforms our drabness into colour and brightens our dullness with vibrant light.

God of incense we offer you our spoken and unspeakable longings, our questioning of truth, our search for your mystery deep within.

God of Myrrh we cry out to you in our suffering, the pain of all our rejections, our baffled despair at undeserved suffering and we embrace you, God, with us, in our wealth, in our yearning, in our anger and loss.

Prayer: Gracious God, as your Son Jesus Christ was presented in the  temple and acclaimed a light to the nations, so grant that in him we may be presented to you to shine in the world as lights that reflect his glory. God our Father, whose Son was revealed to Simeon as the light of the nations, and the glory of Israel, let these candles (+) be to us a sign of his light and presence, that, guided by the Holy Spirit, we may live by the light of faith until we come to the light of glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.        

 Hymn: STF 34 O worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness

Poem: It was to older folk that Jesus came: Wild Goose Community   

  

Psalm 102 (verses 15-16, 18-22)

Let all the peoples praise you, O Lord, Let all the peoples praise you; Let all the peoples praise you, O Lord, Let all the peoples praise you;	2. For generations as yet to be born wrote this, that they may in turn praise the Lord; God who surveys the earth from heaven shall set the captives free. Alleluia. Let all the peoples........
1. Nations and rulers shall one day revere God’s holy name and God’s marvellous glory, when the Lord comes to build Zion again, showing his majesty. Alleluia. Let all the peoples...........	3. Zion shall hear the Lord proudly declared; God’s praise shall resound in Jerusalem’s soul; Kingdoms and peoples shall one day unite, serving the Lord their God. Alleluia Let all the peoples .................

Sketch: Anna and Simeon: Wild Goose Community

Music: Song of the Angels, Margaret Rizza and the St Thomas Music Group.

Offertory Hymn: STF 229 Mary and Joseph came to the Temple (Tune STF 125 Bunessan)

Offertory Prayers:

Reading: Malachi 3:1-5 The prophet not only foretells the coming of the Saviour, but also proclaims that the Lord will come and be seen in his Temple

Hymn: STF 232 Through long year of watchful waiting (Tune STF 14 Regent Square)

Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life

Gospel: Luke 2:22-40 we hear the account of Mary and Joseph presenting Jesus in the Temple, as the Jewish Law required, and Simeon, recognizing the Christ-child as the light of the world

Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life

Music: Nunc Dimittis: Geoffery Burgon, Wells Cathedral Choir

Sermon:

Prayers of Intercession

Hymn: Arise, shine out your light has come (Tune: Church Triumphant)

1. Arise, shine out, your light has come, unfolding city of our dreams. On distant hills a glory gleams: the new creation has begun.	4. The sounds of violence shall cease as dwellings of salvation rise to sparkle in eternal skies from avenues of praise and peace.
2. Above earth's valleys, thick with night, high on your walls the dawn appears, and history shall dry its tears, as nations stream towards your light.	5. The dancing air shall glow with light, and sun and moon give up their place, when love shines out of every face, our good, our glory, and delight.
3. From walls surpassing time and space unnumbered gates, like open hands, shall gather gifts from all the lands, and welcome all the human race. Brian Wren	James Williams Elliott

Benediction: Lord you fulfilled the hope of Simeon and Anna who lived to welcome the Messiah, may we be prepared to meet Christ Jesus when he comes to bring us to eternal life. So may Jesus Christ, born of Mary, fill you with his grace to trust his promises and obey his will.  

And the blessing of God Almighty......................

Candlemas

A sermon preached by Ray Anglesea at St Andrew's Dawson Street, Crook - 2-Feb-2014

The best days of Christmas for me are those that fall between the 1^st January and 2nd February, the feast of Candlemas. Strictly speaking this time has more to do with Epiphany- tide than Christmas, but I like this time of the year not only because I am still eating Christmas cake, mince pies and finishing of the Christmas pudding with lashing of Brandy Cream but because the Christian story rolls on in quiet, week by week gospel readings, and we begin to see and understand who that baby in the manger is, the penny begins to drop.................... The fullness of God revealed in Christ.

But Candlemas is a strange festival. 

Down with the rosemary, and so

Down with the bays and mistletoe;
Down with the holly, ivy, all

Wherewith ye dressed the Christmas hall;

so wrote Robert Herrick, writing in the 17th century. It sounds like a poem about Twelfth Night. But it's called ‘Ceremony upon Candle­mas Eve,’ according to the dean of Durham.

Originating back as far as the 5^th century, Candlemas, 2^nd of February was a feast for blessing the candles in church. In the middle ages, at Candlemas there were elaborate ceremonies of blessing tapers and carrying them in procession to light up churches and there was much partying. Sound good to me.

In the calendar the 2^nd February is one of those cross-quarter days, half way between the solstice and the equinox, like All Saints’ Day, marking the progress of the cycles of the seasons. Such days bring us close to nature. if Candlemas Day “is fair and bright, winter will have another flight; if the day brings clouds and rain, winter will not come again.”

In Durham Cathedral, where I work, two small Christmas trees arrayed with twinkling lights are to be found either side of the quire steps – they are still there. Many visitors and tourists ask why we leave the trees up after 12^th night. The answer usually given is that the Christmas season does not end until 2^nd February. The famous miner’s nativity crib too is left out until the last hours of Candlemas. In Durham Cathedral this afternoon the cathedral is lit up with over 2,000 small candles, on ledges, pulpits, on the base of columns, around the baptistery, to celebrate the end of the Christmas period. It is indeed a beautiful atmospheric service; may favourite service of the whole year.

Candlemas also commemorates the encounter of Jesus, Mary and Joseph with Simeon and Anna as we saw in our sketch and heard from our gospel. Candlemas recalls how the infant Jesus was brought to the temple, received by Simeon and blessed by God. Those young parents, Mary and Joseph, and elderly Simeon and Anna nearing their deaths, and the little tiny child: all of humanity is there, beautifully portrayed in the masterpiece painted by Rembrandt, a few months before his own death; the painting must have come from the depth of Rembrandt’s soul confronted by his own approaching end while touched by a vision of faith and hope. Simeon and Anna spent their whole life in and around the temple in Jerusalem waiting for what Simeon called the “consolation of Israel.” In the autumn of their lives they rejoiced and thanked God for the sight of the baby Jesus, the young prince of the house of David. Seeing Jesus enabled them to see something greater than death. They could see God’s salvation in Jesus and therefore were able to face their own deaths in peace. What Simeon had discerned however imperfectly was a revelation of unlimited loving, a child whose entire life, fired by love without reserve would bring light and glory.

Candlemas is the last childhood “snapshot” we have of Jesus. Next time we meet him in the temple he will be an adolescent, confounding teachers and scribes, and then not again until adulthood. So the childhood stories, packed as they are with meaning and symbolism are worth unpacking. Even more so since Candlemas is a “pivotal feast”, one last look over the shoulder at Christmas before the serious season of Lent gets underway.

What should we make of the “odd couple,” Simeon and Anna, waiting to see the Holy Family? They are a bit late in getting in their plaudits, aren't they? The shepherds have long gone and even the wise men are on their way home. Yet the gospel carries an important message in stretching out the timeframe for recognising Jesus. Consider the wise men. The genius of their story lies in the fact that they come to Jesus through unconventional routes. They do not get to Jesus by proper observance or by following the Old Testament – they come through their religion to see the light, and this is important, they return home with it. But Anna and Simeon are apparently more conventional. They don’t make journeys. They have waited, kept their counsel, waited and waited and waited. I like their part in this aspect of the Christmas story, for waiting is what many of us must do, even if there is an important distinction to be made here: that between waiting and dithering, of being patient and of being delayed.

It was reported that a minister was visiting projects in Africa. His busy programme was running very late and the road linking his various destinations was rugged and slow. He was five hours late on arriving at the final gathering of the day, and a great crowd of people greeted his arrival with singing and dancing. The honoured guest was full of apologies for his late arrival, to which he received the memorable, if intriguing, reply. “Don’t worry. We knew that the longer we waited, the sooner you would come.”

I am still pondering the logic of those words, but suspect that it is a response that springs from a degree of patience that is now all too rare in our fast, western culture. Waiting patiently is, for many, a counter-cultural activity in a society that expects so much to be delivered in an instant. By contrast, the Psalmist tells us that if we wait patiently for God; he shall give you your heart’s desire. 

That said, the ability to wait with patience is surely valuable, especially as some of the toughest bits of our living can require it. My daughter as many of you know waited patiently for nine months for her baby boy to be born, only to learn that 6 hours after his birth he was not going to make it. A dear friend of ours gave Ki and I this nugget of gold - "Time is of no consequence to God, and to him the shortest life is as significant as the longest. The short life of my grandson; the long lives of Anna and Simeon are significant.

Grieving can take patience. A widow reflected on just how long her deep, and often biting, grief was lasting following the death of her husband. She made no secret of just how tough it all was, but then pointed out that it would be very strange if such pain simply evaporated when she had lost the most significant person in her life. She was having to learn patience, and it took time for her to discover that, when all that was familiar and secure had shifted, her feet were once more on rock and her steps were again secure. It took time to learn that she had a new song to sing - perhaps in the minor key, but with a deep note of gratitude for all that had been, and with renewed trust that God was with her in the dark and difficult places. It takes patient waiting to discover that the depth we can encounter can hold possibilities, lessons and inner strengths that we might not have found in any other place.

For the virtues of determination, patience and waiting are rewarded. As they say Good things come to those who wait.

And isn’t this the point of Candlemas? Part of the genius of the Christmas narrative is to make us journey to see Jesus – we need to go looking for him; seek him out, make an effort. But the gospel also tells it another way. To those who cannot move or do not know how to, to those who are patient, for those who wait, God will also come. Later in the life of Jesus, Jesus will meet seekers and those who came to him, but he will also seek the lost and the ignorant, and those who’d never thought of looking; he is there for them just as much.  And isn’t it strange that the last people in the Christmas story are probably the oldest and wisest. Ann and Simeon, who embody the wisdom of waiting, the virtue of patience and the strength to endure, according to Luke are rewarded for being there – for not deserting their posts.

The outcome of this encounter at the temple is the beautiful Nunc Dimmitis, Simeon blesses the child and the family, and leaves Anna, whose words are not recorded, to prophesy. To be sure, this is a strange encounter on a special day.

I sometime think how funny it is that Jesus spent so little time in religious buildings, and on the first two occasions, like most children, he had to been taken there by his parents with little choice in the matter. When he was old enough to make up his own mind he hardly ever seemed to go. But is it good that Luke affirms that Jesus can be found in the temple. But you can also find him outside the church. God is not constrained by our walls, whether physical, tribal or doctrinal, and he sometimes get inside them. Simeon and Anna found God inside faith; alas many don’t.

And so at the end of the service we will blow the candles out.  It is a deliberate, almost sacrilegious thing to do: to extinguish the light of the infant Jesus. Yet this movement from light to darkness is as important as the more comfortable journey from darkness to light. It is a truth of our humanity. There are many who exist in a kind of twilight world with little belief or hope or lasting values to sustain them. Our world faces dark times with the threats of war, global poverty, disease and climate change. And more personally, we know in our lives and relationships how the light dims from time to time, and when it does, the dark feels hopeless and frightening. Sometimes even faith can desert us; and then, in the dark cloud of unknowing when we have taken leave of God, we are ever more in need of his mercy.

During cold February days, light and dark mingle at this time of year. The light, glorious as it is, is still partial and fragile, for the dark and the cold will cling on for a few weeks yet. Yet the days are getting longer now. The worst of winter may not yet be over, but February doesn't last forever. Soon we shall climb towards Easter. To turn this morning in our service from the Christmas liturgical cycle to the Paschal cycle is to turn from winter to spring. The sap is rising, snowdrops and green shoots are appearing in the gardens.  As we gather here in chapel during the last hours of Christmas, we light candles of longing in dark places and keep the precious flame alive. For soon the Easter day will break and candles and shadows will flee away; Christ will become the eternal light and the glory of the nations, and our hope will emptied in delight.

Amen