Monthly Archives: November 2010

remembrance

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As with many other places today the Cathedral hosted Remembrance Services. My role today was to speak – something that I have been a little worried about.

The experience, though, was special and quite an honour. I used the iconic image of the poppy in my talk moving from the deaths of Flanders (using that beautiful yet poignant final scene in Black Adder Goes Forth)  and hope I left those there with a sense of hope for the future.

The emotion today was raw and tangible. As expected there were family members and colleagues present who had lost loved ones within the last year. We owe those people a great deal, and we shall remember them.

1 free … 2202 to go!

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Aung San Suu Kyi is released.
For this we give thanks and celebrate.
But …the fight continues for the release of the other 2202 political prisoners held in Burma.

The Burmese generals may be releasing Aung San Suu Kyi as a publicity stunt, to detract from their sham elections last week … but the west can continue with pressure to ensure real freedom is reinstated within Burma.

Please don’t think the campaign is over. Please continue to support the wrok of Free Burma UK … now is a key time from which real transformation could occur.

and the winner is …

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Rochester Cathedral won one of the Medway Culture and Design Awards this week .. another reason why you should visit the cathedral, grab an audio guide, and discover how special and amazing a place the cathedral is.

Adrian writes:

“I thought you would like to know that last night at the Medway Culture and Design Awards, held at the St George’s Centre, our Ancient Stones Untold Stories project won the ‘Tourism’ category award. Given the competition it was up against (including the Dockyard’s stunning ‘No 1 The Smithery’ project), this was a remarkable achievement and is a wonderful acknowledgement of all the hard work put in by so many different people. It reflects well on the Cathedral as a really significant partner organisation in Medway, and it demonstrates the quality of work put in by members of staff here. I know how demanding this project has been on people’s time and energy, and I think that it represents in some measure the thanks of the wider community for everything that people have done to make this such a success.”

Congratulations to Deaf Cat also who won the best newcomer award … and well deserved as this is an excellent place, with lovely people serving wonderful coffee.

Burma: please don’t be fooled!

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There are reports coming from Burma that Aung San Sui Kyi is about to be released. Her detention expires on Saturday 13 November and under Burmese law she should be released. 

There is much speculation about whether or not Aung San Suu Kyi is about to be released. Burma’s generals may be calculating that by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi they will receive so much positive publicity it will counter the negative attention on the election. 
Obviously, we hope that Aung San Suu Kyi will be released. However, if she is released, the international community must not make the same mistake it has made in the past, hoping that this is a sign of change. Aung San Suu Kyi has been released twice before without there being any political change in the country. It is more likely that the dictatorship will try to use her release to try and persuade the international community to relax pressure on them.
Download our briefing on Aung San Suu Kyi here.

Show your support for Aung San Suu Kyi – wear our Free Burma t-shirt!
They are fairtrade and organic and all profits go to the Burma Campaign UK.

a life of passion?

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The Secret in Their Eyes was a simply beautifully engaging movie, and is probably one of the best films I have seen in a while. The film has a strong plot and an ending (well one of the endings as there are a series of stories within this story) which does challenge you over what is justice all about. The ending I am referring to it quite grotesque in many ways … but I won’t spoil it for those of you that may want to try and watch it.

The film one the Oscar for the best foreign film. I particularly loved some of the filming … there are a great series of opening shots at a railway station that are very engaging which I adored  – much more in fact than the very special scene swooping into a football stadium and chasing a person through tunnels and terraces.

In particular I was truck by the running theme of passion. part way through the film one of the characters realises, when they are looking for the suspect, that people don’t lose their passions, and that there passions determine how they act. That simple line actually sets the tone, clues and behaviour for the rest of the film.

It has left me with so many thoughts on that passion stuff. In the gathering when we started to look at our rhythm of life we started by asking ourselves what we were passionate about. There was a resonance there for me. No matter what happens, our passions remain intact – and if that is so then passions are pretty influential in governing how we live our lives. If we have passion for justice, we will live in a way to support fairness; if we have a passion for money, we will live to increase our balance.

Passions determine how we live … I find that quite thought provoking.

Next weeks film at The Other Cinema is The Girl who Played with Fire – it’s probably going to be quite a popular one which means lots more people. Looking forward to it!

rebirth of sacrament

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I stumbled upon Abbotsford this week thanks to Graham.
The language used is some areas is beautiful, in others it is earthy and challenging. I particularly love Rebirth of Sacrament as I feel it resonates with my thoughts last week when I was speaking of a rolling reformation. 

Silently, waits the promise
buried in the earth
dark it’s days of longing
to be reborn in grain and grape
(you can read in its entirety here)

I love the thoughts of the earth giving birth to sacraments daily so that life is simply constantly renewed. I’m challenged by the words and image of ‘broken sacrament’ – broken because we do not bless those around us.

 I’m glad I have found this community and will be challenged by their creativity and thoughts.

kester on community

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(apologies for being a bit behind the time here is finding this post)
Kester writes quite a provocative post here on Christian community.
As the gathering we are seeking to develop ‘community’ so maybe we should discuss this some time over the next few weeks.
Do we gather around an absence?
If not, what or who do we gather around?

micro mission stories from Durham

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I have just enjoyed reading these reflections from ordinands at Durham. They were sent out by Michael as part of their mission studies to be involved in micro-mission around Durham.

some particular comments that have drawn a smile or a tear from me today:

It is very difficult to think of engaging in mission without talking to people, and as they say “spreading the love of God where ever you go..and (only) if necessary use words”.

Our coffee shop-orientated plan seemed a good one in our heads, but once we were seated in Cafe Nero we realised that we didn’t really know what we were doing there.

Coming away from there we resolved that this would not be a smash and grab mission but we would commit to go regularly and engage with whoever the Lord placed across our path.


go read the others as there are some interesting reflections …. and better still what about trying something like this on a regular basis where you are …. you never know what might happen!

fireworks … bikers … taize

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If I don’t mention the football then the weekend was a pretty cool one. The free firework display put on by Medway Council on the Great LInes was excellent … although someone behind me quite rightlywondered which persons had lost their jobs in the cuts to protect the budget spent on gunpowder!

Sunday in the cathedral was quite amazing too. The 1030 Eucharist was a good service as it always is with our musicians always seeming to be able to aid our worship magnificently.

During the afternoon in the evensong slot we had a remembrance service for bikers. This was an incredibly moving service as people placed photos of loved ones around a bike on the pulpitum platform. It was also a great time having Loose Cannons, a rock band, play as we processed in as well as singing Sweet Town Alabama during the service. Again this was very moving.

In the evening I led the Taize service. I simply love this service. The simplicity, the repetitive chants, the candles and the music help people to connect with God in a meaningful way. I chose Romans 8:31-39 and Romero’s The Long View which were pondered during the 10 minute blocks of silence. It is the silence in particular that I love in this service.

So … that was the weekend…. pretty varied …. and pretty pioneering for a cathedral too!

it’s been quiet because …

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I’ve needed a bit of space …

There is a pattern occurring here – when I have lots of things to think about and need ideas to come, blogging seems to take a back seat for a while. I don’t like it when this happens as I use the blog to think aloud in a kind of end of the day Examen type activity … so lack of blogging can mean I am simply immersed in work without giving much time for reflection.

Actually that is pretty much true for the last few days as we have the next gathering on Sunday which happens to be Remembrance Sunday and long before gathering dates were set I had volunteered to do this years Remembrance talks.

So the last few days have been taken up with myself worrying about what to say at both services on Sunday, and in particular the service attended by members of our armed forces. I think I have that straight in my mind now and my talk (I have never had a talk ready 6 days early before!!) is now with a trusted colleague for comment.

So …. I may come back to blogging now as lots of fun things happened over the weekend … although I’m not sure if anyone has planned anything for the gathering yet …. can you let me know please?