Author: svbenefice

In Glazeley Church, there is a stained glass window next to the pulpit, in memory of Lt Philip Crooks, who was killed in the First World War. It is a fine piece of work; it shows Philip, drawn from a photograph welcomed by angels; actually portraits of his sisters. In the background is a field of wheat, ready for harvest; apparently a sign that, at 21, Philip’s work was done. He is greeted by the risen Christ. Back in August, we welcomed the Bishop of Hereford to Glazeley to mark the 150^th anniversary of the present building. He admired the window, but then added; “of course, it is theologically indefensible”. As a mere assistant curate, I did not press him on this, but merely nodded my head in agreement. But I suspect what disturbed him is what also disturbs me about the window; the risen Jesus holds out his hands to welcome Philip, but they are unmarked. In the Gospels, Jesus carried the marks of the nails on his hands and feet; the wound from the spear in his side. I think this says something very profound about the meaning of resurrection. It is indeed the triumph of Jesus over the grave, but that triumph does not wipe away scars from past suffering; memories are not wiped clean. Instead past pain is transfigured; the scars remain but they no longer have power to hurt. Easter is not about magic, it is about transformation.

Rev David Poyer

The church’s calendar builds to its climax over this coming week; as I write I am putting the last touches to the service for tomorrow, Palm Sunday. It is a bit rushed; I am just back from 5 days in Venice, largely spent in glorious churches. Most have representations of Palm Sunday; all have numerous images of Christ on the cross, some veiled in purple as is common at this time of year, to mark his death. Tomorrow we will have a procession into church as we re-enact the events of the first Palm Sunday. Sometimes this story is presented as though it were the whole city that turned out to welcome Jesus. However, our Bible reading for tomorrow suggests it was only Jesus’s followers who actually waved the palms; for the rest there was instead puzzlement, with the “whole” city asking “who is this?”. The churches of Venice witness how that question has been disturbing people for the last 2000 years; our service tomorrow challenges us to answer it today. 

Rev David Poyner

I have recently been doing a lot of funerals. I am a vicar, this is what we do. Each time I do a funeral I am aware that this is something poignant; a life has come to an end and there is usually grief associated with that. Sometimes it is possible to draw comfort from the fact that the deceased had lived a long life, or perhaps that death had released them from suffering. Sadly, that is not always the case. This coming Sunday is Passion Sunday, when the Church remembers the suffering and death of Jesus. This occasion can be mawkish or sentimental, although crucifixion was only ever brutal. It does not explain away grief and suffering. It does however, give me the strength to stand at a graveside and speak of God. I follow a God who has known suffering; I can only worship a God who has known suffering.

Rev David Poyner

Mothering Sunday is a festival that has many guises. It is the 4th Sunday in Lent, also known as Refreshment Sunday. Refreshment Sunday originated as a kind of bank holiday to give some relief from the rigours of the Lent; a day off from fasting and horsehair shirts. As part of the break in Lent, it became the custom to give house servants the Sunday off. As such, they would return home and, because that is what everyone did in those days, they would go to their home church on the Sunday. This was their mother church, the church that senior clergy liked to think had nurtured them and brought them up safely in the faith. The senior clergy so liked this idea that they were very happy to go along with it becoming a church festival; Mothering Sunday in honour of the church. Meanwhile, the home coming servants knew which side their bread was buttered and made sure they had a posy of flowers for their actual mothers, who had really brought them up and would be feeding them this day.

Today, for most people it is now “Mothers’ Day”, a purely secular occasion but one which still focuses on mothers. Even within the church, this is now largely what it is, but with some prayers and perhaps a sermon attached. It is good to give thanks for our mothers; the people who brought us into the world, those who nurtured us. But for people of faith, we can also go beyond this if we wish, to remember the female side of God, who is both our father and also our mother.

Rev David Poyner

Most (but not all) Christian churches recognise that there is a time when war can be justified. There are strict criteria that need to be met. We have to use our judgement in any given conflict as to how far they may be met.

Before going to war, the following criteria must be met:

• Just Cause: The war must confront a grave evil and by in self-defence, to defend another nation, or to protect innocent life.
• Legitimate Authority: The war must be declared by a lawful, proper authority,.
• Right Intention: The goal must be to promote good or correct a wrong, not for revenge, vengeance, or territorial expansion.
• Last Resort: All peaceful alternatives must have been exhausted.
• Reasonable Chance of Success: The war should not be fought for a hopeless cause, which would waste lives unnecessarily.
• Proportionality: The good to be achieved must outweigh the total evil that the war will cause. 

Once a war has begun, there are rules which dictate how it is fought: 

• Discrimination/Distinction: Non-combatants (mainly civilians but also those in the military who do not carry arms) should not be targeted.
• Proportional Force: Only the minimum necessary force should be used to achieve military objectives. Methods that are inherently immoral, such as genocide, torture, or using weapons that cause uncontrollable destruction  are forbidden.
• Treatment of Prisoners: Prisoners of war must be treated humanely.

Recently thought has been given to what represents a just peace at the end of the war. 

• Just Termination: Aims should be limited to the original just cause.
• Reconstruction: Efforts should be made to restore peace, repair damage, and uphold human rights. 
• (I have adapted this from an AI generated response to a Google query).

Rev David Poyner

It must have seemed such a good idea. One of the winners at the recent BAFTA ceremonies was a film about a Tourette’s sufferer, John Davidson. Tourette’s Syndrome takes different forms, but in some cases in can cause sufferers to shout out obscenities and profanities. Unfortunately, a microphone was put in front of Mr Davidson and, when two black actors appeared on stage, the Tourette’s struck and he shouted out a racial insult. The actors, whilst clearly surprised, responded with professionalism and carried on. The situation was exacerbated by the BBC not editing out the offensive word, either at the time or for some hours after the programme was made available on their website. For the most part, the criticism has been at the BBC, who have apologised. However, some of have suggested that Mr Davidson should not have been invited, as the slur could damage the well-being of those who heard it. It is of course easy for myself to comment, as someone not directly involved. However, Jesus had much to say about the primacy of love and on the price of being one of his followers. I am not always easy to love; I am grateful for those who have the grace to put up with my foibles and who forgive my misdeeds. It cannot always be easy, but the is the way of the cross is the risky path of perseverance.

Rev David Poyner

Yesterday (Thursday 20th) I marked the second day of Lent by having a cooked breakfast at Ditton Priors, a meal at the Pheasant at Neenton then tea and biscuits with friends. Tomorrow I will have a (large) cooked breakfast at the Down. Some people give up chocolate or alcohol for Lent; I am giving up dieting. 

Fasting has always been considered to be a useful spiritual discipline, albeit one I have never attempted. My excuse is that we all have different spiritualities; we can chose practices that work best for us. The big idea behind Lent for people of faith is that it is a period when we reflect on our core values; what we believe and what that should mean for us. In some form or other, that involves stripping away the undergrowth of our lives to see more clearly what is beneath. Even if people have no conventual religious faith, self-examination is still important. All can learn from Lent and what fasting or other forms of discipline are meant to encourage.

Rev David poyner

I have just had to check whether or not the Church of England does officially celebrate St Valentine’s Day. We do; hooray! However, it is to commemorate Valentine as a martyr from Roman times, not the patron saints of lovers. The church website offers the following as to how that came about:

“The present-day ‘retail custom’ of sending cards and flowers declaring love only clouds the commemoration and may owe its existence to John Donne [poet and Dean of St Paul’s]. Donne wrote a marriage song for Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of James I who married Frederick V, Elector Palatine on St Valentine’s Day in 1632. His marriage song merged the religious commemoration of Valentine with fertility symbolism. The spring mating rituals of birds and possibly the pagan Lupercalia festival also add flavour to the reasons behind the current celebration of the day. Extract from Saints on Earth: A biographical companion to Common Worship by John H Darch and Stuart K Burns”.

Whilst I am all in favour of historical accuracy, I suspect most people will find more resonance in the association of Valentine with their beloved than the martyr(s) from the time of the Roman Empire. Sometimes there is room for both myth and reality.

Rev David Poyner

Shortly  before Christmas I took a break from carol services to go to Belfast in Northern Ireland; it was hosting a meeting of the British Pharmacological Society and I was going to present some new findings from our research. I grew up in the 1970s, when the news was all of “the troubles”, the feuds between Loyalists and Republicans, conveniently badged as Protestants and Roman Catholics. The violence is now over, but this was my first visit to a place in some ways I knew well from those old broadcasts. I have to say I was very impressed with what I saw. On the journey from the airport to the city, I did see an Irish flag flying in estate in a town on the bus route, but that was the only glimpse of the past. Belfast was a very friendly, vibrant, multi-cultural city; at least in the centre, it seemed to have completely moved on. Of course, in the space of a short visit, I am sure I did not get a complete picture. But I loved the cathedral, that made me so welcome at one of their lunchtime communion services (and which manages with just two full-time clergy, unlike some places…). And I really loved the First Presbyterian Church, a Protestant church, where the guide and caretaker, so enthusiastic about it, is a Roman Catholic. Change can happen, the Kingdom of God does come.

Rev David Poyner

Many years ago, whilst discretely looking through on old Book of Common Prayer during a boring sermon, I discovered that King Charles 1, the one in the Civil War and who was executed by Parliament, was listed as a martyr of the church. I assumed the church had long since  discretely laid this aside. It was only after I had been ordained that I discovered the church still commemorates him, with his festival being the 30th January. There is even a society that holds an annual service to remember him. The website of the Church of England is honest about Charles. “His promotion of High Church practices in an overwhelmingly Calvinist (and increasingly Puritan) Church did not increase his popularity, nor did his use of harsh methods (in both Church and State) to enforce the royal will. And Charles was no statesman. Handicapped by his belief in the ‘divine right of kings’ he stood on his dignity, habitually failed to take the peaceful option, and showed in his public dealings that his word could not be relied upon. Even Archbishop Laud, who had more reason than most to be grateful to him, described Charles as ‘a mild and gracious prince who knew not how to be, or be made, great’.”

So why is he still celebrated? The website continues: “Perhaps sensing that he could do more good in death than he had ever done in life Charles resolved after receiving the death sentence to meet his end in a noble and fearless way ….. Paradoxically, his execution was a triumph which left an enduring legend….”.

Whether or not Charles was really a martyr, perhaps he can be commemorated for showing that whatever may or may not have been achieved in life, a good and Godly death is still possible.

Rev David Poyner