My friend Joyce has been doing a project on the Psalms during lockdown, fulfilling a long held ambition. Last Saturday (19th) she reached Psalm 150.
I thought we should celebrate that!
Other’s in the series will be included here from time to time.
I’ll let you into a little secret – she likes Puffins!
My friend Diana has been musing on our being unable to sing hymns in churches because of the coronavirus pandemic and how many of us are missing them. This is the reflection that she has sent me.
I have just come home from a trip to Cornwall. While I was there I visited several churches, some of which were open. One which I particularly enjoyed was St Just in Roseland, just by a creek. It has a large garden and is lovely and peaceful, even when the gardener was using the strimmer on and off! Even that couldn’t destroy the shalom that we felt as we sat by the water. The church is on the site of a 6th century Celtic chapel, reminding us how important Celtic Christianity was in Cornwall. The present building was built in the thirteenth century; a rector in the 19th century introduced many tropical plants into the garden most of which still flourish today. All along the, quite long, path down from the car park to the church are granite stones on which are written scripture verses, poems and verses from hymns. Apparently as each one was put in place the priest did a service of blessing over it.
The visit to this church reminded me how much I miss singing hymns in church at the moment. Apart from the joy of singing them I find that there is much in hymns to help us understand theology, and because we are singing them this tends to slow us down and encourage us to think about the words. I have so many hymns that I couldn’t possibly identify just one favourite but ‘There’s a wideness in God’s mercy’ is up there among them. I particularly value the verse: ‘But we make His love too narrow By false limits of our own; And we magnify His strictness With a zeal He will not own’. For many of us I believe, and certainly for me, it is difficult to completely believe in God’s unconditional love: there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more, and nothing we can do to make Him love us less. Perhaps this hymn is just another way of saying Psalm 86:15 ‘But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness’, but easier to remember.
Although I fear it will be sometime before we are able to sing hymns in church again, there is nothing to stop us singing them at home, remembering always that we are told to make a joyful, not necessarily a tuneful, noise to God! Try singing along with a recording or YouTube video: there is one of this hymn recorded with an orchestra in Maida Vale at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=vJwfT3SY_PU; or you can hear St Paul’s singing it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raMn2iV9x2E . If you don’t have access to the computer you can ring Daily Hope on 0800 804 8044. I also recommend that you reconnect with Songs of Praise which is usually on at 1.15pm on BBC1. In addition to hearing, and singing the hymns, there are interviews with all sorts of people about what their faith means to them. Particularly if you are housebound, or only going out very little, it is easy to feel disconnected from other Christians and I hope that you will find that tuning into these different ideas can help you to feel less isolated.
Diana
Hear our prayer today for all women and men, boys and girls
who are homeless this day.
For those sleeping under bridges, on park benches,
in doorways or bus stations.
For those who can only find shelter for the night
but must wander in the daytime.
For families broken because they could not afford to pay the rent.
For those who have no relatives or friends who can take them in.
For those who have no place to keep possessions
that remind them who they are.
For those who are afraid and hopeless.
For those who have been betrayed by our social safety net.
For all these people, we pray that you will provide shelter,
security and hope.
We pray for those of us with warm houses and comfortable beds
that we not be lulled into complacency and forgetfulness.
Jesus, help us to see your face
in the eyes of every homeless person we meet
so that we may be empowered through word and deed,
and through the political means we have,
to bring justice and peace to those who are homeless.
Amen.
A little news item in this week’s ‘Big Issue’caught my attention.
A Big Issue vendor called Gary Phillips got a bit behind with the rent and he worried about the impact his arrears would have on his landlord’s finances.
In early July, Gary, aged 45,chose to leave the rented property, his home for 14 months after becoming two-and-a-half months behind on rent.
It was his own choice. He wasn’t thrown out. He said that because of the ‘lockdown’ he couldn’t sell the Big Issue so he thought that it was only fair to his landlord that he left. Landlords have bills to pay too. ‘Some landlords are relying on that money too.’
So Gary went back to living in a tent and sometimes it was difficult because the weather was bad with heavy rain falling.
During lockdown Big Issue had given him money and vouchers. I was very lucky to have that and I wasn’t expecting it.
Gary who had needs of his own put them aside to help his Landlord. That was true generosity of heart.
And it had a surprising result.
He sold the Big Issue outside Sainsbury’s in Saltburn and he was much loved by the locals.
Sue and Corina Nicol heard about what Gary had done and his generosity triggered generosity in others. They set up a GoFundMe on his behalf. He was obviously delighted and thought he might get £100 or so because he was well known in the town but, in the event, the fundraising has so far brought in £1,670. Sue Nicol told the Big Issue, “It shouldn’t have to be done but I wanted to help Gary. The response is what I expected because Saltburn is a wonderful place with supportive and thoughtful people’
One man’s generosity became infectious.
This is one of the many good news stories that are coming out of the Pandemic. We need to hold on to this spirit of generosity at these difficult and dark times.
You can help them in this work by (a) buying the magazine from your local vendor or (b) from The Co-op, Sainsbury’s, McColl’s and W.H.Smith’s or (c) by taking out a subscription via selectmagazines.co.uk. To receive the magazine each week: bigissue.com/subscribe
It costs £38.99 for 3 months.
Mr G's Ponderings 