3 January 2010 Epiphany

EPIPHANY SUNDAY

3^rd January 2010

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

THREE WISE QUEENSLAND MEN

In a small outback Queensland town, where the local, rustic drawl is lazier than a full bellied goanna sunning itself on a bare branch, there was a “Nativity Scene” that clearly showed that exceptional skill and talent had gone into creating it. One small feature was puzzling though. The three wise men were wearing firemen’s helmets. A query about this to a lady behind the counter of a “Quik Stop” on the edge of town elicited the following response: “Youse stupid Victorians never did read the Bable!” When I assured her that indeed I did and was in fact an Anglican priest, she jerked her Bible from behind the counter, riffled through its pages and finally jabbed her finger close to the beginning of St Matthew’s Gospel. Sticking it in my face she said “See! It says right ‘ere, the three wise men came from afar.”

THIS AND THAT

Andrew Neaum

Thanks to good friends and excellent family my first Christmas as a widower was a lot less morbid than feared. Although for the first time since I was married I could not be bothered decorating the rectory, its only residents being Peter and myself, I compensated by spending a lot of time on the church. It paid off because the crib scene under the altar and the stars above it were as beautiful as they have ever been.

Bread sauce and cloves

The two stuffings and the bread sauce this year I took over to Benalla for our family celebration there on Sunday. Unlike the fermenting, winking, belching, bread sauce concoction of last year, which sent Rachel gagging to the sink and had to be jettisoned, this year’s effort was delicious. I have discovered that if cloves are soaked in boiling water and left for twenty four hours, they leave almost all their fragrance and taste, liquescent, easy to add to the sauce. A faint but nonetheless marked taste of cloves is essential to a bread sauce worth eating.

I am never surprised at who comes to church at Christmas. I am often surprised at who does not. I charitably assume that those not present are away, but sometimes discover that this is not the case. It is astonishing because anyone who considers himself a Christian but makes no effort to be present at the Eucharist on Christmas Day cannot be fair dinkum,

The New Year

New Year means as little to me as should Christmas to most atheists. It has done so for as long as I can remember. This is probably because my parents were successful in drumming into me the notion of Advent Sunday being the beginning of the year that really matters, the Church Year. Charles Lamb maintained that, no one ever regarded the First of January with indifference. It is that from which all date their time, and count upon what is left. It is the nativity of our common Adam. True enough possibly, but I do like to see in the New Year with a snore and feel that I have failed if I do not. That surely is close to indifference.

P J O’Rourke quipped that: the proper behaviour all through the holiday season is to be drunk. This drunkenness culminates on New Year’s Eve, when you get so drunk you kiss the person you’re married to. Which is funny, though far too naughty for any pew bulletin except this one. Mark Twain, far more wisely, if cynically, said that New Year’s Day is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving the road to hell with them as usual.

Long service leave

Almost guiltily I booked my long service leave before Christmas and so will be away for a huge slab of 2010. I head off, a couple of weeks after Easter, to England where I will base myself with David and Rachel in Dorset until August. I do not want to go gadding about as a tourist much, for I have other more pressing interests such as soaking in local culture, reading and writing, but I will also be visiting family and friends, not least of course Rachel in Nottingham.

In August I leave England for Cape Town where my sister Susan and her family live. Fortunately well after the Soccer World Cup shenanigans. From there, if my booking is confirmed in May, I catch the S A Aghullas early in September for a trip to Tristan da Cunha. The Aghullas is a South African 6000 ton, steel hulled, ice strengthened, Antarctic Supply/Oceanographic Research Vessel. It has a crew of 40 and takes 98 passengers. The trip to Tristan lasts six days, after which the vessel departs for three weeks to uninhabited Gough Island, returning to pick me and others up thereafter. My booking cannot be confirmed until May because island personnel and emergencies take precedence over mere visitors.

I hope also to make a trip to Zimbabwe which will be a much longer one if the Tristan voyage falls through. I return (blush, blush) only on the 16^th of November, to give the parish a few more years yet of incomparable Neaum ministry.

My reasons for the trip are many and varied, but not least among them is a nostalgic compulsion to visit the scenes of my happy youth and to do so while relatively hale and hearty. Margaret’s premature demise has impressed upon me life’s uncertainty and transitoriness. The Bishop has his eye on at least one good and experienced retired priest to help run the place in my absence.

Epiphany

We celebrate Epiphany today instead of on the 6^th of January. It enables us to acknowledge an important festival on a Sunday with a reasonable congregation in attendance, rather than on a weekday.

The word “Epiphany” comes from the Greek and means “manifestation” or “appearance”. It celebrates principally the visitation of the Wise Men to the child Jesus. The true significance of their visit is that in coming from the East they are assumed to be Gentiles and so they are seen to be a very early manifestation of Christ’s universality.

Departing, shrieking demons

On Tuesday I blessed a house. The inhabitant was troubled by evil thoughts, voices and impulses, as well as by drink and so we decided to put any spiritual problem to rest, on the understanding that there was a medical one to do with booze to be tackled afterwards as well. The blessing proved to be more than usually interesting because I had the thurible smoking so well that all the fire alarms in the house began to give shrill and strident voice. It appeared to me to be a satisfying metaphor for evil spirits and presences departing in shrieking anguish and confusion when confronted by prayer and the name of Jesus!

Denton and Dawkins

My opinion of Andrew Denton soared after watching him interview Richard Dawkins. I was expecting one of those collaborative interviews, a la Margaret Throsby, where the interviewer and interviewee affect mutual admiration and perfect concord in condescending to any benighted listeners who happen stupidly to disagree with their fashionably liberal views. Instead Andrew Denton discomfited his clever and distinguished guest by asking totally unexpected questions that attempted to uncover something of what Dawkins the person is really like.

Sadly Dawkins proved evasive and uncomfortable outside of his well worn groove and so we were denied being discomfited and disarmed ourselves by the revelation of an amiable and admirable personality. He appeared almost pettily petulant, but then I am prejudiced against him, not least for deriding articulately so much of what I hold dear and know to be profoundly good.

Although Dawkins is disturbing to those of us who hold on to faith, he is also very beneficial to us. His arguments are often so spot on, salutary and penetrating that they force us out of lazy thinking, stupid assumptions and cocksureness. He concentrates our minds and challenges us to think through what we believe, to our great good.

Names, memes and hubris

There is also a condescension and arrogance to him that largely vitiates the good. An example of this is his desire to render atheism more acceptable by changing its name. Homosexuals attempted this by adopting the term “gay”, a strange name to choose in that its original meaning appears to have no special relevance or reference to homo-sexuals, but perhaps that was just the point. Dawkins’ choice of a new name for atheists is “brights”, which indicates an insufferably arrogant condescension to non-atheists by implying their dimness!

In his famous book “The Selfish Gene” Dawkins coins a term for a somewhat dubious cultural entity to parallel the bio-logical entity that is the gene. The word he coins is “meme” (it rhymes with cream). I once used this coinage in a little piece of verse to point to his hubristic arrogance:

Says He

Persistence of belief in God,

So inexplicable and odd,

Turns Dawkins atheism’s traitor,

As he himself becomes “Creator”.

So filled with hubris, it would seem,

He Godlike cries, “Let there be Meme!”

A word that hardly needs dissecting,

Revealing all in mere bisecting.

When cut in two it reads: “Me, me!”

“ God is me, is me!” Says he!

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Canon D Neaum 1912-2001

My tenth year brought three changes that left marks in my life that still stay with me. I was ‘confirmed’, started learning cooking and housewifery under excellent tuition and I became (found myself) the owner of a third of a car! I would rate confirmation as the greatest gift of the three and I begin with that event.

I had been Altar Serving with Fr Mellor, four times a week for over a year, was almost a ‘son’ at his home and found in him the closest I have ever been to a saint. Mind you, despite having one and a half feet in Heaven he had a few earthly traits too: I noticed that when his wife asked for any money he always turned his back towards her as he took out his wallet! He also had a taste for detective novels and bought every one that was published. I took to these like an addict, so that Freeman Wills Croft and Edgar Wallace, etc. were know to me quite as well as the Bible.

One morning, as we left the Convent together, he said to me, “don’t you think, David, that the time has come for you to be prepared for Confirmation? I’m starting an instruction class next week and would love to have you there.” The idea delighted me for I had felt for some time that my Serving was only half the ‘Gift’ I ought to be receiving.

The classes were a joy for Fr Mellor was an excellent teacher as well as a priest and friend. He had infinite patience and never failed to answer any questions we asked. The instruction lasted from Epiphany to after Easter to have us ready for the great day on May 22^nd, 1922. Unfortunately it was the turn of St Peter’s Church that year so that I missed the homeliness of the smaller Christ Church and had to make do with a crowded, almost foreign Church.

There came the day, and on returning home from school I found a note from my Mother telling me that though she would be out for tea, for she was giving some housebound old folk a trip in the beautiful Derbyshire countryside and a café tea at Matlock, she had put out my clothes on my bed and she would be back well before the Confirmation Service. After tea, I washed well, changed into the prepared clothes and, as Ma was not yet back, set off to the Church. As I left the house, I noticed that it was spotting with rain so, without a thought, I put on my old ‘mac’. When I say ‘old’ I mean truly old, for where the cut at its back ended, it was split, or torn, on both sides. Getting to the church there seemed to be nowhere I could hang up my old mac and so I kept it on, was guided to my place and there I sat, new suit hidden by the old mac and totally unconcerned about my appearance. The church was crowded - some thousand or more folk and some forty to be confirmed. At that time there was no Diocese of Derby and we came under the care of the Bishop of Southwell, an elderly, benevolent Bishop without a mitre as he was courteous enough to realise that to wear one would offend the ‘evangelical’ principles of the St Peter’s folk.

Of his sermon I can remember but two things; his text, from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 20 verse 27: “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,” which I have never forgotten and then one word in his address whose pronunciation was so old fashioned as to be memorable: why he used the word I have no idea, nor why it should come into his sermon, but he spoke of ‘Weskits” i.e. “Waistcoats”. Because one only heard that pronunciation from old and perhaps less educated folk, one didn’t expect to hear it from a Bishop. It struck the ear of a nine year old.

Then came the time for the candidates to walk up, two by two, to have the laying on of the Bishop’s hands. I went forward in my turn, my torn old mac covering my beautiful ‘underneath’, to my watching Mother’s horror! How could her dear little David so shame her? I was duly ticked off by her after the Service and made to remove it so as to lessen her shame. I am sure of one thing, God didn’t notice unless it was with a smile!

In those far off days, Confirmation was a Service on its own and did not include any celebration of Holy Communion (St Peter’s), or Mass (Christ Church). There would be some two weeks of preparation before one received first Communion. During that time we were taught the necessity of repentance, the behaviour expected when attending Mass, the practice of confession and the way to accept the Holy Mysteries.

One was taught that the chalice was touched only by the Priest. There was no wiping of the chalice between receivers, for faith was stronger than cares about health. How could the ‘Cup of the Lord’ bring anything but good to its receivers? One was also taught to hold the hands up high to receive the ‘Host’ so that the Priest would not have to bend his back unduly.

When this teaching was finished, then came the joy of one’s first Communion. From that day my Serving took on a new light, for I felt that I was truly an essential part of the Mass and preparation for it became a necessity, no eating or drinking before Mass, and “High Church” members didn’t believe in evening Communions. One is tempted to say, “Them was the days!” (to be continued....)

CONGRATULATIONS

Birthdays

Jeanette Smith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Monday 4^th

Emmie Dean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saturday 9^th

LENT

Lent appears a long way off but it will be upon us all too soon. Ash Wednesday is on 17^th February and on that day we hold our AGM. During the six Sundays of Lent the preacher at the 8.30am Eucharist will be the Revd Dr John Pryor. He will consider six characters in John’s Gospel met in the final chapters: Mary of Bethany, Lazarus, Peter; Judas, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Dr Pryor is a learned man but with a common touch and this series of sermons should be well worth making and effort to hear! At the preacher’s request we will be ordering copies of St John’s Gospel for all present to have in hand during these services.

There will also be at least two Lenten Studies, one during the day and one during the evening. The Revd. Gail will do the former and the Rector the latter. Sheets for those wishing to participate will be put out in a week or so’s time.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Dec 24^th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christmas Children’s Service 5.30pm

Jan 7^th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Orthodox Christmas

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

Aug 5^th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meeting for Parish Fair & 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, Frank Harder, Charles Keen, Matthew Liversidge, Sophie Mould, Bob McKellar, Kevin & Isabelle Richards, Kevin Sackley, Barbara Swan, Peter Swindells, David, David & Judith.

Rest in Peace: Betty Eggins, Pat Key, Jenny Laws

Year’s Mind: Nancy Davis, Linda Maskell 5^th,Doris Woodcock, Lesley Rankin 6^th, Dorothy Young, Frances McKendry, Cathryn Lawrence, Lukas Price 8^th, Edyth Akers, Annie McPhail 9^th.

Duties for 3^rd January 2010

Readers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norm Weaver, Carole Henderson

Readers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christine Jones, Christine Evans

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

Servers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Greg, Joan

Intercessors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danita Potter, Nancy Noonan

Euc. Assts 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Griffin, Carole Henderson

Euc. Assts 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jenny Pleming

Welcomers 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Judy Lloyd, Pat Griffin

Welcomers 10.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nola Brewer, Jenny Moran

Sidespeople 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bob Galt, Norm Mitchelmore

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

Tea 8.30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Val Rose

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

Mowing 2^nd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Pleming, John Wellman

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Carole Henderson, Bev Condon

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 10^th January

Isaiah 43:1-7, Acts of the Apostles 8:14-17

THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH

Monday 4^th January

Rector’s Day off

7.45am Mattins & Eucharist - Lady Chapel