Between

Wednesday, 12 October 2022

Bear fruit, fruit that will last

Here's the reflection I shared in today's Eucharist at St Andrew's Wickford:

The imagery of tree and fruit was regularly used by Jesus in his teaching and features in our Psalm (Psalm 1) and New Testament reading (Galatians 5.16-26) today. Jesus’ followers are chosen and appointed to bear fruit. Fruitfulness is the overall aim of the Christian life and lack of fruitfulness is to be challenged and is ultimately destructive.

Fruitfulness is a consequence of being ‘in’ Christ, as Jesus makes clear in John 15.5: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Branches can only bud and grow because they are part of the vine as a whole receiving the sustenance that flows up into the vine from the roots. Similarly, the tree by the water in Psalm 1. A vine roots in the soil but has most of its leaves in the brighter, exposed area, getting the best of both worlds. So, being rooted in Jesus is the way in which Christians can open to the light and bear fruit. Rootedness could mean commitment to Christ or being embedded in Christ’s life and ministry or both.

The Bible gives us at least two sources of help in being rooted. The first can be noted in the very first Psalm which uses the image of good fruit growing on a tree in order to say that good fruit grows in our lives when we delight in the law of the Lord and meditate of that law day and night. Regular meditation on scripture feeds our ability to better integrate our words and actions.

Our second source is found in Galatians 5 where the fruit that we are called to produce is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The originator of these behaviours in us is the Holy Spirit. The fruit are of the Spirit whenever and however they show up in our lives and actions.

Being led by the Spirit and regularly meditating on the scripture are the two keys to rootedness - to being ‘in’ Christ - and to a close meshing of words and actions in our lives. The Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus and the fruit which is grown in Christian’s lives is Christlikeness. Being rooted in Jesus enables the Spirit of Jesus to flow in and through a Christian enabling them to begin to become Christlike.

So, what is fruitfulness? What is it that Jesus is aiming to see in his followers? One way of answering that question for Christians, because Christianity has been a missionary faith, has been to see fruit as souls saved but when Paul writes in Galatians 5 about the fruit of the Spirit he is writing about the character and actions of Christians as fruit, rather than the outcome of our actions: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

This kind of fruit is about behaviours leading to actions. Actions speak louder than words. That proverb can be traced at least as far back as a speech made by J. Pym in Parliament in 1628 in which he said: ‘A word spoken in season is like an Apple of Gold set in Pictures of Silver,’ and actions are more precious than words.’

The proverb is, however, ultimately based on Biblical ideas and phrases such as 1 John 3. 18 where we read: ‘let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.’ This teaching probably then derives from Jesus’ words in Matthew 7. 15 – 21, where he argues that we are known by our fruits, meaning our actions, and that simply saying ‘Lord, Lord’ without then acting on that confession is not enough to guarantee our salvation.

In the Parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25.31-46) Jesus emphasises that it is actions, not words, that will count in the final judgement, when he says: ‘‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ St Francis of Assisi summed up this aspect of Jesus’ teaching well, when he said: ‘Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.’ So, what kind of fruit is evident is our lives?

Finally, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that such actions as faith, hope and love remain. The word he used for remain hints that such actions continue beyond the grave into eternity i.e. that we can take something with us when we die, that the fruit or acts of faith, hope and love grown in this life continue into, and continue to bear fruit in, the next. Jesus said, "I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last" (John 15.16).

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Ola Gjeilo - The Ground from ‘Sunrise Mass’.

Sunday, 9 October 2022

Artlyst - Alexander de Cadenet And Michael Forbes October 2022 Diary

My October diary for A rtlyst has mention of Alexander De Cadenet's Medici Family Skull Portraits, Michael Forbes: BLK THIS & BLK THAT … A STATE OF URGENCY and a range of Bible/book-based installations:

‘While discussing church commissions with Neil Walker, Head of Visual Arts Programming at Djanogly Gallery (part of the University of Nottingham’s Lakeside Arts), mention was made of John Newling’s ‘Sing Uncertainty’ project for St Mary’s Nottingham in 2010. ‘Singing Uncertainty’ was an a cappella choral work where questions from hymns found in the hymn book used at Newling’s school were individually sung in the order that the questions appeared in the hymn book. Newling’s aspiration for this project was that when performed in St Mary’s Church, the space would be filled with the fragility of a longed-for certainty. The project drew on earlier initiatives involving the same hymn book including ‘Skeleton’ (1994) for All Saints Church, Newcastle Upon Tyne where the hymn book was edited to show only the questions that were written in the hymns and ‘Stamping Uncertainty’ (2004) where each questioning phrase was stamped each individually and each was displayed on 152 lecterns arranged in rows throughout the Chapter House of Canterbury Cathedral.

Another recent conversation also led to the discovery of a church exhibited book project exploring aspects of Christianity. Bernd Goering works sculpturally with old Bibles to create Bible objects – for example, a Bible with acupuncture needles stuck in it, a Bible as a lego brick, a cut Bible whose pieces form a cross – that make visible the different effects that the Bible had and still has. Goering’s Bible sculptures were most recently exhibited at Peterskirche Basel in 2019. The Revd Dr Chris Szejnmann shared the catalogue from this exhibition with me, as well as the conversations he has subsequently had with the artist.Seeing these works reminded me of other book-based projects exploring aspects of religion.'

See also my Artlyst interview with Alexander de Cadenet, a review of an exhibition of his work I organised at St Stephen Walbrook, plus a report of the Art Awakening Humanity conference I organised together with him.

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Curtis Mayfield - New World Order.

Artlyst - William Kentridge: Merging Politics With Aesthetics – RA

The latest review I've prepared for A rtlyst is of William Kentridge at the RA:

‘“This man is colonising the world. He started off with Johannesburg landscapes and he’s gone outwards, through Stalinist Russia and to Mao’s China and Vienna in the nineteen-twenties and on and on until there’s not going to be any territory in the world left that he hasn’t colonised with his drawings.”

“As elusive as it is allusive, Kentridge’s art is shaped by apartheid and grounded in the politics of the post-apartheid era, and in science, literature and history, while always maintaining space for contradiction and uncertainty.” He says, “There was an absurdity to the basic logic of apartheid that we grew up with. There was something wrong with the logic, and that false logic then gets carried through to the nth degree—with pencils in people’s hair, with the fifty-two different categorisations of what races were. So, the absurd was built in. We understood that the absurd was where we lived.”'

In homage to Kentridge and his approaches, this review is a montage of quotes about his work.

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Paul Hindemith - Symphony: Mathis The Painter.

Dare you to move

Here's the sermon I preached at St Mary’s Runwell this morning:

Only one in 10 of the lepers who were healed came back to thank Jesus for his healing and, as a result, many sermons have been preached from this passage (Luke 17. 11 - 19) on a perceived lack of thankfulness in our lives.

There is, however, a simple reason why only one came back and that is that their healing didn't happen instantly but only as they did what Jesus had told them to do and went to see the priest who could confirm that their leprosy was healed and readmit them to the community.

All 10 did as Jesus said, all 10 were healed as they did so, nine continued to see the priest as they had been told to do, while one returned to thank Jesus before then continuing to see the priest. Like Jesus, we can certainly celebrate the thankfulness of the one who returned but there are also significant lessons to learn from the fact that the healing of the 10 occurred as they were obedient and as they were travelling.

As human beings we often find security in sameness, in repetition, and in things remaining the same. The result can be that we also remain the same and do not change. Change inevitably involves disruption and movement; something different needs to happen in order that we change. That is what Jesus calls these 10 lepers to experience. Having been ostracised by society because of their condition they understandably banded together to support each other on the edge of society.

In Jesus' day, those with diseases were ostracised from society because of concerns over wider infection. Then, to make the journey back from the edge of society people had to be examined by a priest who had to confirm that their condition had been healed before they could be readmitted to society. That is what Jesus told them to go and do but it is significant that they had not been healed at the point that he told them to go. He told them to go, to move, to make a change but they were not healed until they had begun to make the change and were on their way to see the priest. This is why they don't all thank Jesus; they are not with Jesus when the healing comes.

As well as being willing to make a move, to change, they also had to trust in Jesus and in his instructions. It would have been easy to say, 'I'm no different, I'm not healed, therefore there's no point in going to see the priest.' They could have stayed where they were in what had become familiar and safe for them. Instead, they all set out on what was a risky undertaking where they could have been exposed to ridicule, as if their healing had not occurred on the way, they could have gone to the priest and have been turned away in disgrace as delusional lepers.

There will be points in all our lives where our experience will be similar. We will have been in one place or one role or one way of doing and being for too long and we will be stagnating as a result. Something has to change in order that we grow and develop in new ways and in different aspects of our lives. Sometimes we recognise the situation and choose to change, sometimes the change is forced on us. However it begins and however resentful we might sometimes feel, the only way for us to experience growth and develop in that situation is to make the move and accept the change. While we may not be thankful at the time, often, with hindsight, we can see that change was actually good for us.

The rock band Switchfoot put it like this:

“The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
Like today never happened before”

Ho Wai-On, a classical composer and member of the congregation at St Andrew’s, told us her story on Friday at Unveiled whilst sharing some of her compositions and experiences. As a young person she gained a scholarship from Hong Kong to study at the Royal College of Music in London. She was training for a career as a concert pianist but, while working on a recital programme hurt her wrist and was no longer able to play the piano. After hurting her wrist, she retrained as a composer and her works have been performed in Britain and abroad since 1974. She talked about this in terms of aiming to plant a flower yet unexpectedly growing a tree.

Change is constant – it inevitably comes - there are always challenges to be faced and overcome. What needs to change in us is our attitude towards change, our acceptance of it and our willingness to face it. If that is our desire, we might then pray: May we be equal to the task ahead of us, ready to renew ourselves, ready to take on the new, anxious to let go of old ideas that no longer fit, moving with confidence, into the future, your future. Make us strong enough to triumph, flexible enough to grow and change as needed, optimistic enough to see the new opportunities as we move into the changing landscape of our lives. May we accept and welcome the change that will inevitably come.

Jesus was the catalyst for change and the predictor of change for the 10 lepers, as was also the case for his first disciples. So, we can pray: Help us to see you clearly in the challenges and changes of our times that you might also be our Lord and guide today. Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory. Calm our concerns, show us new opportunities, and give us the freedom to discover ourselves afresh in serving you. Show us what you have stored up for us and give us the courage to follow you.

Having support in making changes - the encouragement of Jesus to make the move and the benefit of being part of a group as they do so - is clearly very significant. If we are those needing to make a change then finding the support of others in doing so is wise while, if not, we can seek to be among those who support others in making changes. The key, as the 10 lepers and Wai-On discovered, is to recognise that movement and change needs to occur if growth, development and healing is also to come. So, I pray for us the blessing of new opportunities, renewal of our lives, flexibility to grow, moving with confidence into the future, and God’s heavenly glory made known to rest upon you and remain with you always.

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Switchfoot - Dare You To Move.

Saturday, 8 October 2022

Windows on the world (396)

Pollensa, 2022

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Bob Marley - One Love.

Thursday, 6 October 2022

Reflective Tour: St Mary's Runwell

St Mary’s Runwell: A reflective tour of its art and architecture

St Mary's is a magnificent mediaeval building which boasts an interesting and mixed history. The church is often described by both visitors and regular worshippers as a powerful sacred space to which they have been drawn. This powerful impact comes in part from the art and architecture in the space. This leaflet provides information about that aspect of the building and suggests reflections and prayers as you view the building and its artworks.

To find out more about St Mary's Runwell or to visit click here.

Art and architecture

The modern rood screen in the perpendicular style is by W.F. Unsworth (1909). The figure of Our Lord on the cross is suspended from a tie beam, west of the rood screen, is in memory of Paymaster Lieutenant John Rochester Graves, RNVR, who died in HMS Hood in 1941. The colouring of the screen at St Mary's and the murals the one pillar in the south aisle dates from the 1930s-1950s and was undertaken, by his sons, under the guidance of then Rector, Revd John Edward Bazille-Corbin to 'reproduce as closely as possible' the decoration of the medieval church.

The painting of St Peter and the crucifix below it were by Anthony Corbin and are 'restorations of medieval work which had been well and truly scraped out, but the traces of which could, at that date, still be faintly seen.' Two modern olive wood statues depict Our Lady and Our Lord, the latter given as a thank-offering for the remarkable survival and recovery of a son of Bazille-Corbin, from injuries received during service in the 1939-45 war. The statue of Our Lady was carved by a Carmelite Sister who had carved a similar statue for the Shrine Church in Walsingham.

The chancel is entirely perpendicular in style. The original fifteenth century East window with three trefoiled lights in four centred heads with a moulded hood, was reset in the east wall when the chancel was lengthened in 1907. A slim one-light cinque-foiled east window high over the chapel altar contains the only surviving fragments of medieval stained glass. The rest of the stained glass is modern and is entirely taken up with memorials to various members of the Kemble family with the exceptions of the east window of the chancel and the west window in the tower. This is in memory of the mother of the Rev. H.K. Harris, Rector 1891-1912. The figure of Gabriel, the Archangel, is in the west window.

A large painting of 'The Baptism of Our Lord' by Enid Chadwick of Walsingham was gifted to the church by Fr David John Silk Lloyd. Local woodworker David Garrard has crafted Stations of the Cross using the motif of the Runwell Cross (found originally on the Prioresses Tomb) which have been placed around the church. Garrard also built an altar for the side chapel together with an inscribed cross on the side chapel wall.

The south door ‘unusually wide and large’ has an original, fifteenth century oak door with original hinges and strapwork. The timber has a curious burn-like mark said to be the mark of the ‘Devil’s claw’. An interesting feature is the medieval scratched sundial on the west jamb of the doorway. The south chapel contains two original piscine and a squint.

Reflective tour

Inscribed cross: Reflect on your start in life, your own personal mortality, and the ways God has been present with you on your journey through life and will be with you into eternity.

Annunciation windows: Reflect on the possibilities that always exist for new beginnings and fresh opportunities in life. Pray that God will break into your life or those of others just as Gabriel suddenly appeared to Mary.

Nativity window: Reflect on Jesus moving into our neighbourhood. Pray for your neighbourhood that Christ may be recognised there.

‘The Baptism of Our Lord’: Reflect on your need for turning away from what is wrong in your life and finding new direction. Hear God speaking to you, as to Jesus, saying, “You are my beloved child.”

Statues of Our Lady: Reflect on Mary's lifelong commitment to God. Pray for inspiration from Our Lady and for your own commitment to be strengthened.

Peter (window and mural): Reflect on Peter’s courage and fallibility in walking on water and then sinking. Pray that you might be used by God, as Peter was, despite your own fallibilities.

Stations of the Cross: Reflect on the many ways in which people suffer throughout the world. Pray for people, countries and situations of which you know where people are suffering today.

Crucifixion: Reflect on Christ’s sacrifice of his life for you. Pray that you may know Christ through participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

Resurrection window: Reflect on the transformation that Jesus’ resurrection brought to the disciples. Pray for resurrection in any circumstances where things seem to have come to a dead end.

Devil's claw: Reflect on the ways in which evil manifests itself today. Pray that goodness may always be stronger than evil and love than hate.

Gabriel window: Reflect on the meaning of Gabriel’s name – “strength of God.” Ask that you might be strengthened by God and God’s angels in whatever challenges you currently face.

Prioress’s tomb: Reflect on the Runwell Cross, formed by four circles in a square; the instrument of our redemption set within a sign of the perfection of God. Pray that you might know God more fully in his divinity and his humanity.

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Walsingham Way - Hymns To The Virgin Mary.

Wednesday, 5 October 2022

humbler church Bigger God

It was a real joy to be at St Edmund's Roundhay last week for the HeartEdge Humbler Church Bigger God conference. The conference included the launch of the Being With Course and the Course books. Here's some of who and what I saw and heard from the full and fascinating programme:

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Great Sacred Music - Vivaldi Gloria.