TWENTY FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
11th November 2007
Graphics and cartoons appear only in the printed version
INTERROGATING GOD
Adam, like all thoughtful human beings, questioned God. In the first few wonderful days after the Creation and before the Fall, when God still walked the paths of the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening, Adam could question him face to face, and one of these little interrogation sessions was remembered thus: Adam: “When you created Eve, why did you make her body so curved and tender, unlike mine?” God: “I did that, Adam, so that you could love her.” Adam: “Then why did you give her long, shiny, thick, beautiful hair, and me only a thinning crown and frizzled beard?” God: “I did that Adam so that you could love her.” Adam: “Then, why did you make her so simple minded? Surely that could not be so that I could love her?” God: “Indeed not, Adam. I did that so that she could love you.”
TRAVELLERS TALES (29)
(Andrew Neaum in the year 2000)
The first night back in Invergowrie, after our trip to England, I spent dreaming of motorway driving, waking up to the thought that the end of our time in Scotland was approaching as fast as does an exit ramp on the M1 at seventy miles an hour. I got dressed, said mattins, had a short time of silence and then headed down to Dundee to pick up the photocopied pewsheets that I had left to be done a week before, calling in at Tesco’s on the way back to pick up some milk and bread for breakfast. How much more enlightened is the management of Tesco’s than that of local supermarket chains in Albury Wodonga. Every till operator in Tesco’s has a chair to sit on as they serve customers. The four hour shifts of standing and serving customers here must be very wearing, and given the growing litigiousness of our society there will surely be, in years to come, claims for compensation for varicose veins, haemorrhoids and corns! Large supermarkets in Britain all seem to have spacious and sparkling clean toilets and baby changing rooms too.
Ecumenical strawberries
After breakfast Margaret walked to the Church to help prepare for a Strawberries and Cream Coffee Morning and the girls and I went down to enjoy the results of the preparation for 10.00am. The event was well attended because the Church of Scotland folk in Invergowrie are so good at supporting the Episcopalian church. Doreen, the indefatigable sacristan and an old time resident of Invergowrie, is very friendly with them all. For the cost of a pound we were given a bowl of strawberries and ice cream, tea or coffee and biscuits. There was a raffle and cake stall as well. I chatted amicably to the friendly Church of Scotland minister, picked out the winning raffle tickets for innumerable small prizes and, after helping clean up, headed home for a good plate of fresh tomato sandwiches eaten outside in the sun. As the high pressure system that had ensured perfect weather for the whole of our week in England drifted east, so the wind began to turn North East. This brings to the eastern side of Britain high cloud which takes time for the sun to burn through, so warm sunshine appeared only at about half past eleven, from then on there was yet another flawless summer’s day. In the afternoon I finished Frank Muir’s autobiography which, although good, wasn’t as scintillating as I expected. Too much a catalogue of things done, people met and jobs held.
Barbecuing with Cathedral parishioners
On Sunday, the next day, the grey morning broke into warm sunshine only by lunch time. The morning Eucharist was a peaceful and pleasing little service with only twelve communicants, everyone else apparently away on holiday. I took the Chappell family home in the car after the service to spare them a bus trip having succeeded beforehand in making the youngest and most serious of their little girls laugh, a great triumph. On the way home I bought some victuals for the luncheon with Cathedral parishioners to which we had been invited, and off we went to a housing estate on the Arbroath Road. There we found a pleasing home and lovely garden and had a pleasant time with delightful people, though some of them appeared a trifle odd. One of the most pleasant, indeed delightful, was the husband of the bishop’s bête noir and near nemesis, the radical female Cathedral Provost. He is her second husband (I don’t know what happened to the first) a tall and young looking man, though over fifty, with a shock of straight, flopping grey hair. He wore black braces over his white shirt and is a librarian at Glasgow University as well as something of a musician, being the conductor of a choir that pays him about £1500 a year to be so. He proved to be a very funny man, so we had a good laugh together as we ate tasty English sausages. The girls enjoyed his company too. There was a woman present whose husband was in the Education Department of the University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland when I was a student there, though only for a couple of years and I couldn’t remember him, perhaps because I never even knew him. However, there were certainly folk from those days that we knew in common and so were able to reminisce about. The owners of the house were people who seemed to have been damaged or disillusioned by the great battle between the Provost and the Bishop, to the extent that they hardly worship at the Cathedral now, fearing that the conflict is not resolved at any fundamental level. Without appearing nosy it was hard to get a handle on all the ramifications of the row. They did tell me that they had advised the Provost against going to Atlanta for the act of reconciliation mediated by Bishop Tutu, considering it to be just a charade designed to get the bishop off a difficult legal hook. I might say, however, that judging from the Bishop’s letter in the latest diocesan paper, sent over to me a few weeks after our return to Wodonga, the conflict does now seem to have been resolved and he and the Provost are working well together.
Meeting Jesus for the first time
On getting back home I had a read from an interesting book sent to me by my friend in Clacton. The book is by the liberal theologian Marcus Borg and intriguingly entitled, “Meeting Jesus again for the First Time”. Then Elizabeth and I set out on a bicycle ride along the Carse. Most of the dog roses had blown by this time, but the willowherb was very beautiful everywhere. I had forgotten how pretty a plant it is, associating it with rubbled building sites and wasteland and always scruffily in seed. It is a plant that originated in Canada, I believe, and is now most beautifully everywhere until it bursts into white, silken and unkempt seed.
The minutiae of daily life
Writing a journal is a most fulfilling exercise. It has a devotional use as well as many practical ones. In remembering things that have happened in order to record them, you are better able to count blessings and offer thanks to God for them, instead of taking them for granted. The journal from which these “Tales” are composed will remain a fairly thorough record of what we did and got up to in Scotland. The full journal, let alone these “Tales” however, does not reveal everything, needless to say! It is the largely unrecorded minutiae of daily life that reveal as much of the music of what happens as do the recorded major events. For example, the skylight over the stairwell which we left open for most of the summer to let in the breeze and fresh air that we are so used to in Australia, because the windows, if they open at all in the United Kingdom, only open a tiny bit. The double-glazing can make homes airless prisons. Then there was the night light at the bottom of the stairs to render nocturnal forays to the loo less than dangerous. Unless very careful I would slip on the carpeted stairs to fall down two of three of them so thunderously that Margaret and the girls would rush out to see if I had broken my neck. In the height of summer a night light needs to be on for only three hours. We ate breakfast together as a family in Scotland, something hardly ever done in Wodonga because getting ready and leaving for school clashes with early morning Eucharist. In Scotland we almost invariably ate Tesco’s muesli followed by toast, with a good variety of jams and spreads such as lemon marmalade, bramble, raspberry or strawberry jam, honey and sometimes syrup, we also managed to find some Australian vegemite. We developed a penchant for Tesco’s “pick and mix” chocolates, my particular pleasure being the Turkish Delight, satisfyingly rubbery.
More minutiae
The garden at Invergowrie was potentially impressive, but had gone so thoroughly and not unpleasingly wild that our early attempts to improve things largely petered out, the task was just too formidable. The house has an alarm system. Every time we went out we set the alarm, pressing an “away” button and an “arm” button, whereupon it began beeping and we had to get out and close the door before it proceeded to do something more than beep. The first thing we had to do on our return, after unlocking the door, was to press four numbers on the alarm’s pad which stopped the beeping that had begun as soon as the door was opened. Then there was the computer. It resided on a table that was too small to carry comfortably a copybook or reference books and, because it was upstairs in the bedroom, I had to rush down at the risk of my neck to answer the phone or doorbell. The light in the bedroom was so dim that using the machine after dusk was too great an effort to be bothered with.
Walls, loos and conversion
The main gate in the stone walled garden is on a corner, and is so narrow that you have to do a hook turn to get the car in, if approaching from Errol Road, there were only a couple of inches leeway on either side of the car. I often gently knocked the rearview mirror on my side against the wall on the way out. We learned to find our way back along Bay View Road and Station Road to avoid the hook turn. We soon accustomed ourselves to the poor pressure of the shower and Margaret eventually felt compelled to remove the coy picture of a child over the loo, with its dreadful rhyme:
Please remember - don’t forget -
Never leave the bathroom wet, -
Nor leave the soap still in the water.
That’s a thing we never ought’er.
Nor leave the towels about the floor,
Nor keep the bath an hour or more,
When other folks are wanting one -
Please don’t forget - it isn’t done!
She removed it because I got into the habit of reciting it all the time in a mock Scottish accent, to everyone’s extreme annoyance. I couldn’t help but read it to myself four or five times a day, because there it was staring at me every time I had a pee. I read in the Spectator while in Scotland that the feminists in Sweden are now insisting that men pee sitting down and that urinals are all ripped out and replaced by thrones!
At about this time I had a phone call from a priest friend in England who was on the point of setting out on a four week holiday to his beloved France. He is a priest with an enquiring, restless spirit and has identified himself with many movements in the Church during his time. While we were in Scotland he appeared to be coming to the end of a period of extreme conservatism of the “Forward in Fath” variety. “Forward in Faith” is a movement that will not accept the ordination of women and whose members tend to cross themselves in horror every time the word “homosexual” is juxtaposed with the word “Christian”. There are folk in our own diocese who identify with and are probably members of this dubious movement. Perhaps it was pre-holiday delirium, but on the phone he sounded positively liberal, and when I suggested that something he said didn’t sound at all “Forward in Faithish” he disclaimed membership, having declined to renew his subscription. Conversion from madness to sanity should never be despaired of! (to be continued)
BUCKET
every evening after tea
grandad would take his bucket for a walk
an empty bucket
when I asked him why
he said because it was easier to carry
than a full one
grandad had an answer for everything
Roger McGough
CONGRATULATIONS
Birthday
Claire Horder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11th Nov
Frank Harder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12th Nov
Canon Andrew. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16th Nov
Anniversary
John & Jennifer Pleming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11th Nov.
PARISH FAIR AND GARDEN PARTY
Many of us will be reading this in a post-Parish Fair stupor, exhausted from hard work, exhilarated by success, I trust, and warmed by good fun and fellowship I am sure. Thank you to everyone who contributed in any way. More next week.
CHRISTMAS “OUTREACH”
Material for the Christmas edition of “Outreach” needs to be left at the Parish Office no later than the 23rd of November please! Thank you. Ron Rose
EVENING GUILD
Our final meeting for the year will be held on this Thursday, November 15th at 1.30pm. It will be preceded by a celebration of the Eucharist. Elaine McMullen Secretary
CHRISTMAS CAKES
Those truly devastated by drought face bills and mortgages almost beyond comprehension and assistance to alleviate such devastation is beyond almost anyone’s capacity. However we can show that we care and are thinking of such folk. Your Parish Councillors considered this at their last meeting and decided that a Christmas Cake delivered personally by the clergy to the drought affected on our roll to show our care and thoughts might be a worthwhile gesture. Would anyone prepared to make a decent cake put their name on the list in the narthex and if there are enough we will go ahead and give more details.
GRIEF SUPPORT
The St Augustine’s Grief Support Group: “Moving On” meets on Tuesday 13th at 7.30pm in the Narthex. Our topic for the evening is “Remembering”. All are welcome.
WILLIAM WILBERFORCE
The fine film “Amazing Grace” about William Wilberforce’s battle to end slavery will be shown, at no charge, in Church on Thurs. the 15th of Nov. 7.30pm. All are welcome.
ADVENT STUDY
There will be an Advent Study this year, on Thursday evenings at 7.30 pm. More details in next week’s pewsheet!
MORNING TEA
There is a Morning Tea in aid of School Chaplaincy at the Church of Christ (105 Corio Street) on Nov 22nd at 10.00 am. $5.00.
MUSIC MATTERS
We are practising music for the Christmas Carol Service. Sopranos and Altos (Especially altos!!) who would like to join us are most welcome. We meet on Thursdays at 6.00pm.
CHARITY CARD SHOP
Please note that the card shop is now open and our own Anglicare Cards are on sale there. Please give this your support: Scotts Hall, Fryers Street 10am-4pm
TUTORING ENGLISH
After the 10.30am Service on Sunday the 18th of Nov, Deborah Lucky will address all who are interested on the Voluntary Tutor Program, about teaching refugees English.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Nov 13th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Grief Support “Moving On
Nov 14th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vestry 3pm
Nov 15th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Evening Guild/final meeting
Nov 17th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wedding 3.00pm
Nov 17th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wedding 5.00pm
Nov 20th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Baptism Preparation 7.30
Nov 23rd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Arise 255/Aqua-moves
Nov 24th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wedding 2.00pm
Nov 24th. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wedding 3.30pm
Dec 1st. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wedding 2.00pm
Dec 8th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Arise 255/Youth Service Covenant Players
Dec 8th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wedding 4.00pm
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
At the beginning of each month this list is cleared and ALL names need putting down again on the list in the narthex and signed in. No names should be listed without a person’s permission.
Tony Armstrong, Liam Bognar, Nicky Cavill, Christine Day, Emmie Dean, Donna Dyson, John Green, Frank Harder, Sylvia Kennedy, Win Lawrence, Denise McKellar, John Moore, Margaret Neaum, Margaret Noble, Margaret Osborough, Reg Oxenford, Jan Riches, Robyn Stone, Peter & Eva Swindells, Elizabeth, Glenda, Alexandra & Charles, David & Judith, Roslyn, Maureen. Myra.
Rest in peace: Mick Kerslake, Heather Hudson.
Anniversary of death: Dick Philip, Peter David 10th, Horace Preston 12th, Douglas Keem, Eric Evans 13th, Margaret Fairless, Sara Jane Morrow, John Griffiths 15th, Arthur Basset 16th, Doris Stansfield, Thomas Trevaskis, Cecil McKellar 17th.
Duties for 11th November 2007
Vigil Eucharist at 6pm 10th Nov . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gail Bryce
Celebrant 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.45 St. Luke’s Dookie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 10.45 St. Mary’s Katandra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gail Bryce
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian Bryce, Pat Griffin
Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan McCann, Jenny Moran
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Volunteer, Michelle, Beth
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Lear, Tom, Jack Lear
Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Pat Griffin, Children
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian Bryce, Carole Henderson
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Maureen Cormican, Christine Evans
Welcoming 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heather Nichols, Joyce Cavill
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charlotte Brewer
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norm Mitchelmore, Joe Pearson
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alan Akers, Nola Brewer
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gwyn Cowland
Mowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Adrian Evans
Welcoming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.30 Val Rose 10.30 Roz Dunlop
Duties for 18th November 2007
Vigil Eucharist at 6pm 17th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrew Neaum
Celebrant 8.45 St. Luke’s Dookie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gail Bryce
Celebrant 10.45 St. Mary’s Katandra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gail Bryce
Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .M. Neaum, Victoria Heenan
Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrea Fisher, Ian Bryce
Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michelle, Daniel, Ben
Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joan, Joe, Zebedee
Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heather Fitzgerald, Joan McCann
Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Margaret Neaum, Bev Condon
Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jenny Pleming, Carole Henderson
Welcoming 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Erma Wilson, Shirley Dean
Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Steen, Nola Brewer
Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Trevor Batey, Joy Campbell
Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pleming, Charlotte Brewer
Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bev Reither
Welcome Tbl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.30 Dorothy Cook 10.30 Dorothy Cook
Mowing 17th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gary Grant, John Horder
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Mon 12th November Rector’s Day off
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
Tuesday 13th November
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Bishop in Council - Wangaratta
10.00am Playgroup
12.15pm Simply Soul Soothing - Lady Chapel
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
7.30pm “Moving On” Grief Support Group
Wednesday 14th November
7.45am Mattins only- Lady Chapel
10.00am Eucharist - St Augustine’s
3.00pm Vestry - Library
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Choir Practice for 10.30 Eucharist
Thursday 15th November
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
9.30am Tarcoola Eucharists
11.00am Eucharist- Harmony Village
1.15pm Evening Guild Eucharist & Meeting
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
5.30pm Choir Practice
7.30pm Amazing Grace film
Friday 16th November
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel
3.30pm Evening Prayer - Lady Chapel
Saturday 17th November Associate Priest ‘s day off
7.45am Mattins and Eucharist Trad Rite Lady Chapel
7.45am Mattins & Eucharist (Traditional Rite)
3.00pm Wedding
5.00pm Wedding
6.00pm Vigil Eucharist
Sunday 18th November 24th Sunday after Pentecost
8.30am Eucharist - St Augustine’s
10.30am Eucharist - St Augustine’s/Kid’s Church
8.45am St. Luke’s Dookie
10.45am St. Mary’s Katandra