St Peter and St Paul, Old Brampton

Rambling Rector

St Peter and St Paul, Old Brampton
St Lawrence, Great Barlow
Loundsley Green Church

Rambling Rector 20: March 2010

Work shorter hours?
I heard a woman on the radio recently saying that we should work shorter hours. I wonder how well farm animals would take to being left to their own devices (do they have devices?) until the farmer had had his (or her) beauty sleep, leisurely shower, gelled his (or her) hair, and finished a fry-up and cafetière. It’s easy to point out the holes in the idea. But maybe there is something in it, after all. If we worked shorter hours, the lady said, we’d have more time to tend our families so there might be fewer family breakdowns and child-rearing problems. We’d have less money to waste on things we don’t need; we’d consume less so there’d be less waste and environmental damage. We’d be better citizens, more mindful of our place in society, and less concerned with me, me, me. You can see her argument. It’s a timely call, as Lent is upon us, to reassess the way we live and think, and to chuck out what we don’t need any more, in order that new ideas have room to sprout in our hearts and minds, just as they are doing in the earth. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden is about just this. Look what happened when Mary and Colin were forced to ditch their prejudices and fixed false beliefs—when they were forced to confront reality. If you haven’t read the book or seen the film, I recommend you do so. Yes, I know it’s a bit icky and sentimental, but then so am I when the mood takes.

The Lord’s Prayer and responsibility
Being less concerned about me, me, me is what part of the Lord’s Prayer is about. The phrase that goes ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’ might just as well be translated ‘save us from ourselves and the demons that tempt us’. It’s pretty powerful stuff, and spot-on psychologically. Save us from ourselves. Writing about the Lord’s Prayer—taught by a Jewish teacher to his Jewish mates—makes me wonder about its future. The days are long gone when Vicars could expect people at weddings, funerals or baptisms to know it, in any translation. It has not routinely been taught in non-Church state schools for 30 years or so. What can we do about it? If parents want their children to know the Lord’s Prayer, it’s up to them to teach it, or else come to church with the children. Responsibility shifts to the individual family. !!! Rant alert !!! This is the reverse of what’s happening in matters of health where personal responsibility is so often rejected on the assumption that the NHS will look after us. ‘It’s my right to get drunk if I want to’ (I’ve heard it said), and presumably ‘I’ have a right to expect the NHS to cope with the fatal, messy, bloody, and desperately unpleasant liver disease that I give myself. Absolute rubbish. The NHS has been too good to us. I wonder how this squares with Christ’s teaching that we should take responsibility for ourselves. Rant over.

What’s the future of the church?
Thinking about the future of the Lord’s Prayer makes me wonder about the future of the church. Look ahead 10, 20, 30 years. Who will be in church for regular services? Will it still be open? Early Christians met in each other’s houses, so why did churches develop? One of the reasons was to have enough space as numbers grew, and to have a place common to all where skills could be harnessed to the glory of something bigger than humanity. A drawback of meeting in people’s homes was that the hosts started to claim that they were more important because they were the host. Issues of possessiveness crept in (too much ‘self’ again). That’s why many clergy, myself included, don’t like meetings to be always in the same person’s house, and why church things shouldn’t be kept in people’s homes except as a last resort. Churches, church halls and vicarages are neutral territory, open and available to all. How can we make them more available? In days gone by, churches were used for public meetings, dances, entertainments, fairs, parties, and so on. Some still are: it’s good to see churches used for concerts, teas, community events. But … what will church services be like in 10, 20, 30 years’ time? Will there be any? Will the church still be available for weddings and funerals? What do we need to do to secure the church’s future as a centre of Christian spiritual sustenance? Does anyone care?

Oremus invicem – let us pray for each other.

Fr Stanley 25 Oldridge Close, Chesterfield, S40 4UF
01246 558112

Prayer

St John Chrysostom: Prayer is a great weapon, a rich treasure, a wealth that is never exhausted, an undisturbed refuge, a cause of tranquillity, the root of a multitude of blessings, and their source.

Raymond Raynes: Prayer does not change God’s purpose, it releases it – it is the key that unlocks the forces of good in the world.

Raymond Raynes: Life is a love song we sing to Jesus [so all life is prayer].

Anthony Bloom: Intercession means an involvement that may spell death, and I am frightened when I hear a congregation of people intercede for one need after the other ... just for the time Evensong lasts.

CS Lewis: God whispers to us in our pleasure, speaks to us in our conscience and shouts to us in our pains.

CS Lewis: prayer doesn’t change God, it changes me.

Me: There’s no point in praying for anything unless I am prepared to change.

F W Faber: May the grace of God preserve me from a comfort-loving life, an unrestrained tongue, a dissipated mind, an unexamined conscience, slothful prayers, slovenly sacraments, an esteem of myself, and a love of anything short of God.

Phillips Brooks: Do not pray for easy lives: pray to be stronger men and women. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers: pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you will wonder at the richness of life which has come to you through the grace of God.

Mohandas K Gandhi: Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness.

Richard Cecil: God’s way of answering the Christian’s prayer for more patience, experience, hope and love, is to put him into the furnace of affliction.

C L Dodgson (Lewis Carroll): I have had prayers answered—most strangely so sometimes—but I think our heavenly Father’s loving-kindness has been even more evident in what He has refused me.

Oscar Wilde: When the Gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.

Thomas Paine: A man does not serve God when he prays, for it is himself he is trying to serve.

Homer Simpson: Hey Flanders, it’s no use praying. I already did the same thing, and we can’t both win.

Jesus’ instructions: In your room, alone, door shut. Our Father ...

How did Jesus pray? Early. Often. Before critical events in His life. Before, during and after ministering to others. For others. Alone, quiet place, with deep emotion, force and persistence. Without hypocrisy, without long prayers.

How did the apostles pray? Peter prayed in private. Paul said ‘pray without ceasing.’ Luke said ‘pray together.’

Weddings, Baptisms, Enquiries

I’m available without appointment most Tuesday evenings 5 pm – 7 pm at the Rectory 01246 558112, 25 Oldridge Close, Holme Hall, S40 4UF; other times by appointment.

Rambling Rector: likely name change. Suggestions?

Incumbents of all three parishes have been Vicars not Rectors. The name Rector only came into use at Old Brampton with the establishment of the Team Ministry, now disbanded. So at some stage RR will have to change its name to VV: Vagrant Vicar; from Latin: vagus = wander, ramble (amongst other things, including vague, which I hope I never am). If you can suggest a better name, please do so. Keep ‘em clean.

Why not write something?
Then you could ramble with the Rector.

Contact Stanley if you’re interested, or better still, just send it to him.