10 January 2010 Epiphany One

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FIRST SUNDAY after EPIPHANY

10^th January 2010

Graphics and cartoons & liturgical material appear only in the printed version

THE CHILD IS FATHER OF THE MAN

When Richard Dawkins was a little boy he was taken to church for the baptism of his father’s friend’s infant. They sat in the very front row so that the little Dick could see what was going on. Even at the age of five the boy had an enquiring and curious mind and so, seeing the priest muttering strange words and pouring water over the infant's head he turned to his father and asked a question he still appears to be asking today. "Daddy, why is he brainwashing the baby?"

THIS AND THAT

Andrew Neaum

I went to a delightful birthday dinner party last Monday evening.

The well laid table

A well dressed and laid dining table is a minor but exceedingly pleasing work of art, a blessing to contemplate. How lovely are gleaming silver, sparkling glassware, crisp fabric, gentle lighting and subtle decoration, all in carefully arranged and harmonious proportion and promising so much.

My old father used to tell of a certain bishop who, when asked to say grace at a meal other than in his own home, would cast a speculative eye over the table, carefully noting the number of knives, forks, spoons and glasses allotted to each place. If they were many and varied, promising a bountiful repast, he would begin: “Glorious and bountiful God.....” If in their sparseness they promised a modest one he would begin: “For the least of these thy mercies O Lord......”

If I am given good notice and have time I like to compose a special grace for significant occasions, in my favoured rhyming tetrameters. I did so for this one and it appeared to be well received. To take as much trouble over a grace as has been taken over the table and the meal itself is all part of getting things into sweet and true proportion.

Table talk

The conversation at this dinner party was animated and varied, both light-hearted and serious. It sometimes swelled to involve all present and at other times receded to more private and individual little eddies of conversation between the pairs of table neighbours.

An interesting conversations I had was to do with “duty”. One of my delightful table companions informed me that she had gone to church recently for the first time in ages. She then asked me the reason for going to church. With hardly a thought I replied “duty”. We are to go to church, if we are serious Christians, because it is our duty to do so. On being prompted I then elaborated a little upon this, making the point that we don’t go to church in order to be edified, uplifted, earn God’s favour, be spiritually nourished or to get anything out of it at all. We go because it is our duty to do so. Anything we get out of going is incidental, a lovely bonus to be received with gratitude, but is not the purpose for going.

One of the reasons that so few people come to church, especially young people, is possibly because a sense of duty in their lives has all but disappeared. We do things more these days because they are “rewarding”, or “pay dividends”, rather than because we feel obligated to do so, even if they are boring or painful or require sacrifice.

Immanuel Kant or John Stuart Mill

As with any good conversation this one set me thinking and my thinking did not stop once I got home. I was reminded of my somewhat desultory study of ethics as a student and of the difference between deontological ethics (all to do with duty and associated with Immanuel Kant) and utilitarian ethics (all to do with consequences and associated with John Stuart Mill).

Being a moral person, if ever we begin seriously to think about it, is a hugely complicated business. Which is why so many of us don’t seriously think about it and rely instead upon common sense and our background in making hard decisions as to what is right or wrong. It is also possibly why so many of us have slipped into an unattractive and facile form of utilitarianism, abandoning any sense of duty and obligation.

Because it is January and there is a little more time on hand than usual I indulged myself by revisiting a great tome I have on ethics and surfing a selection of articles, by courtesy of Google. How involved but fascinating are ethics as a subject. Much more fascinating than they appeared to be when I was required to study them. Needless to say tI am far more a deontologist than a utilitarian.

Repent you swine

Here is a tantalising snippet from an essay on deontolgy by M S Russo:

..... the person of good will for Kant is precisely that person who performs good acts simply because it is his duty to perform them and perhaps even despite his inclinations to do otherwise. Thus the man who is naturally generous is not behaving morally, when, because of a feeling of pity he gives money to a woman begging. On the other hand, the person who is inclined to be stingy, but who gives to this same woman out of a sense of duty, is the truly moral person for Kant.

The next question that Kant raises is, "how do we know where our duty lies?" The answer is that our duty lies in obedience to a particular rule, principle or law regardless of inclination, self-interest, or consequences. It lies in following a command that must be obeyed for its own sake. Kant calls this supreme principle of all morality the Categorical Imperative......

Only a facile utilitarian (there are forms of utilitarianism that are very far from facile and most compelling) could ever say to their parson, as so many putative Christians who fail to fulfil their obligation to attend church do. “.... I have never done anyone any harm. I am a good person”. The proper response to this self-justifying clap trap is, “....but have you done your duty, fulfilled your obligations to others and to God? If you have not you are very far from being a good person. Repent you swine and seek absolution!”

Wreckers and strippers

I have this year abandoned my walnut tree to the cockatoos. Even the most neurotic of squirrels would be able to face winter with equanimity if in possession of a store of walnuts from previous years as vast as mine and so I refrain from chasing them off this year. I do like having cockatoos about the garden, they have a way of looking at you that is knowing and intelligent, but what wreckers they are. They strip the tree of both nuts and leaves. It requires a great effort of will to allow them to do their worst.

A second Christmas

On Thursday I took a slow waltz down St Augustine’s central aisle with a sluggish and extremely weighty partner. She was the great double-storeyed, sand-filled candle-stand that we use in our Orthodox services. I took her into my arms because Thursday was Christmas Day for our Macedonian community. Too heavy to be carried I have to walk her labouriously down the aisle and then back again after the service’s end.

It is a great privilege to be able to celebrate Christmas twice, the second time without being at all distracted by commercial frenzy. Talking of which I notice that well before the twelfth day of Christmas and an empty manger there were hot cross buns advertised in Safeway! Everything worthwhile in life these days is celebrated so long before its arrival that we are sated, fed up and bored when eventually it does arrive. Restraint, self-control, the joys of anticipation and hunger are all ruined by premature celebration and gluttony. Most even of the news we listen to is as much speculation about what is going to happen, as it is reporting on what has already happened. Christmas is celebrated and experienced long before it arrives, likewise Easter, our birthday, our marriage and pretty well everything else. We remain coy only about our death.

IMAGINATION

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities. Theodore Geisel

Don’t

Thank you for that word.

It doesn’t frighten or appal me,

just the opposite.

It clears vast oceans of

opportunities away,

and leaves me free,

not to. God or someone or

you need to say it to me

more.

(David Scott (from “Piecing Together” published by Bloodaxe Books)

ETERNAL DISCONTENTMENT

"......tradition is nowadays only invoked for permissive, never for prohibitive, purposes, just as no one cites anthropological evidence to forbid anything. If you can find a tribe in Africa that practises ceremonial mass necrophilia, that will be taken as a valid argument for its permissibility in London SW17. But if you find a Melanesian tribe that practises the rigid segregation of the sexes until the age of 25, that is not an argument in favour of single-sex schools.....A certain well-known credit card once advertised itself as ‘taking the waiting out of wanting'. Waiting for something you want is, of course, an entry on the debit side of the balance-sheet, a pain rather than a pleasure. But a curious thing happens when you get everything as and when you want it, avoiding the pain of delay altogether. The fulfilment of your desires never brings you much satisfaction and you live eternally discontented..." Theodore Dalrymple

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Canon D Neaum 1912-2001

Being the third boy in the family I suffered somewhat with what used to be called "Kaiser's Pants cut down for Willie" i.e. I grew used to my older brother's cast offs, not merely in clothes, but also with things like bicycles, which followed the age of scooters. Never having ridden a bicycle I was taught the art by my oldest brother upon receiving his cast off. It was a heavy machine and had, I later discovered, a small handle that locked the front wheel and the handlebars. I was taken by Malc to the level of Green Lane, sat on the seat, with Malc holding to the back frame, and set off. After a few yards I saw Malc some distance behind me: I was riding my first bicycle by myself! All went well until I decided to make the turn to receive Malc's congratulations, the handle bars wouldn't turn and so, as a consequence, I fell off. Thinking that I had done some damage to the machine, I found Malc had vanished and so I set to to examine the bicycle. It was then that I discovered the catch that locked the front part and which had caused me to fall off. As all was well I mounted again and with a few wobbles reached home safely. I then found that the locked front was one of Malc's tricks; very typical of him at that time.

So began my bicycle time, but I never rode it to school as that meant missing the joy of trains dashing under the latticed bridge. It also would have deprived me of another pleasure. The Headmaster of the Grammar School, who lived on Green Lane and walked by our house, smoked a pipe. I would walk some yards behind him to smell the beautiful scent of his tobacco, best of all on still, frosty mornings.

The joy of having a bicycle was exceeded later in the year by the gift of a third share in the ownership of a small and real car! Yes, at nine years old. One of my father's first tasks after being ‘De-mobbed' from the first World War, was to teach mother to drive. He bought a small, blue, open Peugeot. Few cars of that day were saloons, which are a blessing that I believe we owe to Mr Henry Ford and his later "Model T's". Our little Peugeot had a let-down canvas hood. It was fun to see Ma and Pa in that small machine for Pa was a huge man, over six foot, big and strong, while Ma was, as we used to say in Derbyshire, "No bigger than a pile of three coppers (pennies)" The sight reminded us irreverent lads of an elephant teaching a mouse to drive.

It was some two years before this exercise was satisfactorily completed and Ma thought it time then to be rid of the Peugeot and to buy another small car. I can't remember what make she bought, but when "Austin 7's" were produced she drove one of them until too old to drive. When the time came for Ma to dispose of the Peugeot she decided to give it to my elder brothers who, even at that age, were employing the skills that would eventually lead to their life's work and interest. But Ma had an instinct for equality and felt that she could not leave out one of the sons. It thus came about that I obtained a one third ownership of the Peugeot. I knew little of internal combustion engines at that age and had to confine my car interests to learning to drive. Albert Street was a ‘private’ road and so was not under the Police regulations as to age of driving. But how boring it would have been just driving up and down that short street. Fortunately, diagonally opposite the top of the street, across Green Lane, were the old stabling yards, left empty when the squire moved to the other side of the town. These yards were quite extensive and, with the advent of cars, were being changed into garages of which my parents had the first two.

Making sure that there was no policeman on Green Lane, I would slip across to enter the maze of the large stabling yards. It was there that I learned all the tricks of driving which have stood me in good stead for the rest of my life. At that time I had the car on Mondays and Tuesdays, while Malc and Fran alternated with each other to give each other a Saturday. We were not allowed to mess about with cars on Sundays. My brothers did all sorts of things to the car, such as fixing a ‘straight-through' exhaust with no silencer and thus making it as noisy as an aeroplane and taking off the body and fixing two box seats, in imitation of the Rolls-Royce test drivers who used to pass through Belper to try that car's chassis and engine on a steep and stony "Holly Lane". None of these messings-about bothered me, for my only interest was in driving.

There came a Monday, when I was about eleven years old, that I went up to the garage to have a bit of driving only to find no car there. In its place was a shining monster of a motor bike, the latest "Norton". Then Malc joined me and I asked where the car was. He told me that it had been sold and in its place was the monstrous motor bike. "But I can't drive that thing," I said. "You are not going to," he told me, "no one but me is touching it!" "But what of my share," I asked. "You can say goodbye to that, as can Fran," said this selfish brother. "I bought the bike with the cash I got for the car and that is that". And indeed it was. (to be continued....)

LENT COURSES

We propose to have three Lent Courses this year, two in the evening, one during the day. If there are not enough punters we will elide the two evening courses into one.

The day time course will be on Wednesdays at 1.30pm and taken by the Revd Gail Bryce. It will follow the Lenten Book prepared by our own Bishop intriguingly entitled: "A Spendthrift Lover - The extravagant gener-osity of God". It is based on the 2010 Lenten readings for Year "C"

The first evening course will be taken by the Revd Helen Malcolm on Monday evenings starting at 7.00pm and will be based on a book called “Rediscovering Christianity” a fascinating book about evangelising the Masai and upon which I commented at some length in the pewsheet last month.

The third evening course will be on Thursdays at 7.00pm and taken by myself. It will comprise a series of talks given by prominent folk in Winchester Cathedral last year: “Prophets of our Time”. Six of the following seven will be considered: Vincent J Donovan, Lesslie Newbigin, Ivan Illich, Alan Paton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, George Bell and René Girard.

Do not say that you will be short-changed this year! Why not attend all three! There is a list in the narthex for the names of those interested in one, two or all three.

VESTRY MEETING

There is a Vestry Meeting on Wednesday at 2.00pm in the Library. There are several important topics for discussion.

PLANNING CATECHESIS

At 9.30 am on Monday, 11/1/10 there is a Planning Day for First Term - Catechesis of the Good Shepherd - in the Atrium

ENROL FOR CATECHESIS

We encourage anyone who would like to become a Catechist or Observer in the wonderful children's programme, "The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd" to enrol for Training the first week of February at St. Augustine's. There will also be an information session at Purbrick Hall, Wangaratta afternoon of 31st January. Enrolment forms ARE on the Narthex Table.

KATANDRA WEST GUILD

On Monday, 8th February, 2010 at 11am there takes place the St. Mary's Katandra West Guild Eucharist and AGM at the home of Wilma White

GRIEF SUPPORT

At 7.30 pm Tuesday, 9th February "Moving On" - St. Augustine's Grief Support Group meet.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Jan 19^th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.00am Orthodox “Baptism of our Lord”

21^st Jan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Baptism Preparation 7.30pm

17^th Feb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ash Wednesday and A.G.M.

Mar 7^th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cologne New Phil.Chamber Orchestra 2.30pm

Apr 4^th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Easter Day

Aug 5^th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Meeting Parish Fair 4.00pm Roz’s Room

13^th November. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Parish Fair and Garden Party

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.

Prayer Requests: Nicole Ackland, John Alexander, Laura Bates, Jan & Neville Black, Liam Bognar, Diane Feldtman, Frank Harder, Charles Keen, Hildre Lidgard, Matthew Liversidge, Sophie Mould, Bob McKellar, Kevin & Isabelle Richards, Kevin Sackley, Barbara Swan, Peter Swindells, David, David & Judith.

Rest in Peace: James David Crosier

Year’s Mind: Jillian Bradford, Emily Pleming 11^th, Leslie Gribble, George Watkins, Susan Neff 12^th, Nicholas Auldrige, Percival Brooke, Sofia Poulos 13^th, Margaret Tobias, Ethel Peters, Cyril Caldwell 14^th, Ron Rowland, Joyce Stewart 15^th, Keith Dean, Colin Ferguson 16^th.

Duties for 10^th January 2010

Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Pearson, Pat Griffin

Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nancy Noonan, Jenny Moran

Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michelle, Beth

Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dale, Aaron

Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Victoria Heenan, Children

Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ian Bryce, Volunteer

Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Greg Pestell, Christine Evans

Welcomers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joy Campbell, Eileen Quaife

Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Steen, Sandra Simonis

Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trevor Batey, Joy Campbell

Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pleming

Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bev Reither

Welcoming Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . none this week

Duties for 17^th January 2010

Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danita Potter, Gwyn Cowland

Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Andrea Fisher, Joan McCann

Servers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michelle, Beth

Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Venita, Valerie

Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pat Griffin, Joan McCann

Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Danita Potter, John Horder

Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ian Bryce, Jenny Pleming

Welcomers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joyce Cavill, Gwen Betson

Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Charlotte Brewer, Gloria Wayman

Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gwyn & Merv Cowland

Sidespeople 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Alan Akers, Nola Brewer

Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shirley Dean

Welcoming Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Mowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Norm Mitchelmore, Michael Egan

READINGS 17^th January

Isaiah 62:1-5, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH

Monday 11^th January Rector’s Day off

7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel