St Mary's, Highley

Journeys

Queues at airports and the ports, train strikes and locally, trying to work out which roads are still open; travel at the moment is not easy. For most of us, the journey is little more than an irritation; we travel simply to arrive at our destination. But there is another way, where the journey itself is more significant than the destination; this is pilgrimage. To go on a pilgrimage is a spiritual exercise, the journey is a way of travelling deeper into ourselves. Pilgrimage is open to anyone who is wants to explore their own spirituality, whatever they might call that. Abdul Rashid, the England cricketer, has recently been talking about the Haj, his pilgrimage to Mecca. Undertaking this once in a life is considered a duty for a pious Muslim and it is clear it has had significant benefits for Abdul. He has spoken to his team-mates about how it has taught him patience, self-discipline and gratitude; all important attributes for a professional sportsman. Of course, there are other ways of learning these, but I suspect the experience of the pilgrimage will stay with Abdul and will have changed him.

Billingsley Church is part of the “Small Pilgrim Places” network, but all of our churches are places where anyone can go to pause and reflect. There are many other places around us that also have this spiritual quality. And perhaps, if going to one of these, you get stuck behind a tractor or at traffic lights, that is also an opportunity to accept the delay and live in the moment, on your pilgrimage.

Rev David Poyner

The Heatwave

The last few days have been extraordinary with new record temperatures set and dire warnings about the dangers of excess heat. I do not think I can ever recall similar weather and my memory goes back to the summer of 1976, when we had a much longer drought but not the same intense heat. As I watched my garden bake, I was struck by the fact that there was a breeze, but this was not the friendly, cooling breeze of a normal summer, it seemed to owe more to heat storms of desert countries, further shrivelling anything in its past.

In certain films and TV programmes from the US, this would be the cue for an elder from a native American community to appear and talk about how the earth was angry. Whilst technically the earth is an inanimate object which does not feel emotion, there is poetic truth to such statements. I suppose as a vicar, I am more naturally drawn to Bible texts, which talk in plenty about the dire effects of drought and desert winds; from a time when water was not on tap for the garden or to cool down. Of course, there are parts of the world where that is still not true but we have been given at least a glimpse of what that is like. For the ancient Hebrews, drought and heat were often humbling experiences when their only option was to turn to God and plead for mercy, to look at themselves to identify what was sinful in their lives. Perhaps this theology is a bit simplistic, but as I watched the pictures of grass fires in this country destroying homes, I did feel in awe of the forces of nature, “creation” in vicar-speak, and it made me reflect on why it is important to care for it and slow global warming.
Rev David Poyner

Disagreeing with Grace

Yet again, America seems to be tearing itself apart over abortion. Battle lines are drawn between conservatives and liberals, often apparently between the “religious” and “non-religious”. In fact the debate is more nuanced; whilst the Bishops in the Roman Catholic church are overwhelmingly anti-abortion, opinion polls suggest there is not reflected in the pews. In the Episcopal Church (the equivalent of the Church of England), Bishop Michael Curry, who spoke at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan, has spoken of his sorrow at the decision to restrict abortion.

The issue is complex and difficult; it raises questions of both science (when does independent life begin?) and ethics (how do we balance competing rights and duties). I would not presume to tell people what they should think; I am not really sure of what I think. Perhaps this is one of those times I draw strength from the Bible. Not by using it as a text-book of embryology; something totally alien to the spirit in which it was written, but by seeing how its writers argued and disagreed. We can follow how individuals struggled to live Godly lives over the best part of a millennium, how different views, sometimes quite contradictory, were held in tension. Disagreements could become heated as views were strongly held, but somehow people found ways of living with each other. It is that spirit which we need to learn from.
Rev David Poyner

The Deeper Silence

I recently reflected on the ministry of the Rev Richard Cole, broadcaster, one-time pop singer and recently retired parish priest. He has now written a detective novel, “Murder before Evensong”, featuring Daniel, a vicar as the sleuth. I have not read this, but very recently an extract was published in the Church Times, which I have slightly adapted below. Daniel is about to say Compline, one of the services the Church of England took from the monasteries and incorporated into the Book of Common Prayer. It is said late in the evening, when all the joys and tribulations of the day are done. (Once a week I say this service over Zoom, if anyone wishes to join with me).

“He opened [his prayer book] but he needed not the text, for the order was always the same and he knew it by heart. As an invariable prelude he said silently the Jesus Prayer ‘Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner’. Each petition was slow, measured, geared to his breathing and as his mind and body stilled [the arguments of the day] began to fade from his thoughts. And in the vacated space silence unpacked itself and through the static and hiss, a deeper silence came like the depths of the sea”. (Sarah Meyrick, Church Times, 17-6-2022).

I pray to hear the deeper silence.

Rev David Poyner