St Mary's, Highley

The James Webb Telescope

There has been considerable discussion in recent weeks in the popular scientific press about the new discoveries coming from the James Webb telescope. This is a space telescope that uses special techniques (infra-red detection) to obtain images from objects that would be invisible from earth. It was launched in December 2021 and despite some problems, pictures are now flooding in; these can be seen by anyone with access to the internet (ESA – Webb). It has the ability to advance our understanding of the origins of the universe and to shed light on many other questions in astronomy. Very recently it has sent back pictures of a planet from another galaxy; this is the same size as our earth, although it is not clear if it has an atmosphere. As more earth-like planets are discovered, it becomes more and more likely that we are not the only life in the universe.

Some people may feel that their faith is threatened by new discoveries such as those made by the James Webb telescope; personally I am excited by them. There is no point in looking in the Bible for answers about the physical formation of the universe; scientific enquiry was not something that its writers would have known about and even if they had, I doubt it would have been much interest. They were curious about the relationship between God and ourselves, not beings on other planets. But they did grasp that God was, in some sense, creator and Lord of all the universe, even if they did not see any need to speculate how that actually worked out. It is more recent writers who have started to address this question. As we are still technically in the church season of epiphany until this coming Thursday, this gives me an excuse to reproduce the words of the late Sydney Carter’s carol, “Every star shall sing a carol”, which beautifully capture my response to the discoveries coming from James Webb.

Every star shall sing a carol!
Every creature, high or low,
come and praise the King of heaven by whatever name you know.

God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

When the King of all creation had a cradle on the earth,
holy was the human body,
holy was the human birth.

God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

Who can tell what other cradle,

high above the Milky Way,

still may rock the King of heaven on another Christmas day?

God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

Who can count how many crosses,
still to come or long ago, crucify the King of heaven?
Holy is the name I know.

God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

Who can tell what other body
he will hallow for his own?
I will praise the Son of Mary, brother of my blood and bone.

God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

Every star and every planet,
every creature high and low,
come and praise the King of heaven by whatever name you know.

God above, Man below, holy is the name I know.

Rev David Poyner

Families

As has been made very publicly and painfully obvious by the publication of a certain book, we cannot chose our relatives and there are often tensions within families. Whilst we talk about “brotherly love” and “the sisterhood”, I am sure we are all aware that the reality is sometimes rather different. It does not have to be open hostility; sometimes family members simply do not have much in common and so naturally lead separate lives. I am fortunate in that I had a close relationship with my parents and whilst I have no brothers or sisters, I am supported by cousins, aunts and uncles, but I am aware that this is not the case for everyone.
The Bible reflects this dilemma. The family, the household, was the building block of society, but the book is full of stories of brothers quarrelling, of mothers and daughters scheming or wronged. Paul talks about how all believers are members of God’s family, but it seems that there were times early in Jesus’s mission that his own family did not understand what he was doing. The Bible is honest about human ideals but also human failings. Perhaps a Christian perspective allows us to be honest about the relationships we have within our families; to accept failure with grace and to seek to love our relations, even if we do not always like them.
Rev David Poyner

Friendship

Last Thursday (12th January), the church remembered Aelred, abbot of Rievaulx Abbey in the 12th Century. He does not seem to have always been a terribly easy man to get on with; this is often the case with religious leaders. His writings can be difficult. In particular, he put friendship as a higher virtue than love. However, Christians are called to love everyone, including our enemies. In practice, this can mean that at best we remember those we do not like in our prayers or thoughts, perhaps through gritted teeth. By contrast, our friends are those whose company we seek, they are those for whom we have real love. As someone who lives alone, I am comfortable with my own company, but this is only because I am periodically energised by conversations and meetings with my close friends.

In John’s Gospel, the writer explores how Jesus, in the Last Supper, told his disciples that they were his friends, as he was their friend. The friendship that Jesus and Aledred were talking about is the highest form of love; perhaps I know this for only one or two people, but it is something that I cherish.

Rev David Poyner

Pope Benedict

Last Thursday was the funeral of Pope Benedict XV. I would not normally find much value in the thoughts of a conservative Pope and indeed, I do disagree with him on quite a few issues. I also suspect even his admirers will admit he was not a great leader. But the tributes that have been paid to him, by people who I do respect, have made me think again about the man. Benedict, first and foremost, was a scholar and a person who taught that Christianity was “reasonable”, in contrast to some beliefs and philosophies. By this, he actually meant that the Christian faith is open to study by human reason; we can and should use our minds as well as our emotions to engage with it and there are no places where we should not venture. From this came an important conclusion; because Christianity can be studied and debated, in turn Christians can apply their reasoning to critique society and politics. Faith is not just a private eccentricity, to be tolerated as long as nobody mentions it in public; it must challenge and engage in public debate. He particularly condemned what he called the “tyranny of relativism”; that there is no such thing as an absolute truth. In an age when some, especially in politics, seem determined to push their own view of what is true and false, in contradiction to reality, it is well to remember that in God we are confronted with absolute truth.

Rev David Poyner

God Knows

This is the original title of the poem “The Gate of the Year”, first written by Minnie Louise Haskins in 1908. Her first version is barely known, but in 1912 she added the introduction about the Gate of the Year; this was quoted by King George V in his 1939 Christmas broadcast as the country was in the early stages of the Second World War and it has been famous ever since. Haskins was very talented woman; she wrote the poem whilst serving as a missionary and subsequently became an academic at the London School of Economics. The poem gives a traditional response to times of challenge and uncertainty.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown”.
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way”.
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.
God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.
Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill

Rev David Poyner