From The Rectory - It Won’t All Fit It won’t all fit! The simple fact is that the home we will soon be moving to is smaller than the Rectory; things have to go. Each move generates more new stuff, but we keep the old just in case. How much time and energy has gone into storing and moving belongings that we no longer use? Now, faced with moving to a smaller house, it’s got to go. And so we are opening boxes, burrowing into the back of cupboards, reviewing old albums to see what we can find. It can be a joyful, if time-consuming exercise. We are only going 50 miles up the road but there is much to do. A home is full of memories, hopes and fears; past, present and future. At the moment the Rectory is very much in the present; empty spaces where items have been moved on or packed already, piles of things to be sorted covering floors and table tops. Meanwhile we are increasingly living in two places as we gradually move our attention and possessions to our new home. It’s a slow process and one reason why we carry so much redundant ‘stuff’. Almost every move we have undertaken until now has been at short notice; so we simply packed everything. The pressure to downsize or shed belongings wasn’t there. This time is different; we have known for months where and when we are moving. Almost too long, there’s plenty of time, tomorrow will do. Now tomorrow is fast approaching, will we be ready? As Christians we all live with two homes; this world and the next. Our lives, like our homes, slowly fill with half-forgotten memories and experiences; some are joyfully recalled, others best forgotten but some, hidden from view for a season, are unfinished business still waiting to be addressed. Perhaps we know that these, too, must one day be faced, but not today. Maybe we open the cupboard in our memory, pull things out, dust them off then put them back. Now is not the time, we tell ourselves, but when is? On the night of his arrest Jesus told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them (John 14:2,3). He was trying to encourage them ahead of his execution, but his words ‘If I go and prepare I will come again for you, so that where I am, you may be also, also contain a challenge, both for them and for us. Are we ready, or are we still carrying ‘stuff’ that should have gone long ago? Rev’d Philip Easter 5 2024
From The Rectory - The Twelve Commandments?[1] Freed from slavery in Egypt, as the Israelites set out for the Promised Land, they quickly discovered that freedom comes at a price. As slaves the rule was simple, do as you are told or else, now they were responsible for their own existence. And so we see, as they set out they descend into squabbling, and complaints. Soon Moses is spending all his time resolving quarrels and complaints: where do we find water, why is his tent bigger then mine, he’s been seeing my wife. Unbeknown to the humans, God had appointed a team of angels, headed by the Archangel Oriel, to care for his people. Seeing this unfold, together round their angelic campfires while the humans rested, they agreed on the need for a simple-to-follow set of guiding principles - rules for community living; but what? After much discussion they came up with Twelve Commandments one for each tribe. Stage 1, a right attitude to God; have no other gods but me, no idols, no taking the Lord’s name in vain, keep the Sabbath. That settled the principles of their relationship with God. They then turned to the catalogue of squabbles they saw Moses dealing with; how might they counter these? ‘Do not kill’ seemed obvious, and ‘no adultery’ would address several of the ongoing disputes; then one angel said ‘You know, at the heart of most of their squabbles is the fact that they want what someone else has got’. Thou shalt not covet. They could see that controlling human behaviour was going to be difficult. What about a different approach; what if we say ‘Love God’ and ‘Love your neighbour’, surely that covers it all. At this point God dropped in to see how they were getting on. The angels told him their plan but as they started to list their top 12, God stopped them. ‘Take out the first two’ he said ‘you can’t include those’. ‘Why not’, Oriel replied, ‘surely that is what you created humans for?' ‘It is’, said God ‘But these are commandments, love cannot be a command, only an invite. I cannot command people to love me’, then after a pause he added - ‘not yet’. With the first two erased, Moses came down the mountain with just 10 Commandments. Centuries later Jesus said to his disciples, ‘A new commandment I give you, love one another as I have loved you’[2]. Was this God’s ‘Not Yet’ from all those centuries ago? A call to respond to a love so painfully shared? And what of us? Are our relationships with God and our neighbours circumscribed by Commandments; or are we animated by the invitation to love, love as He loves us? Rev’d Philip Easter 4 [1] Drawn and heavily abridged from ‘Oriel in the Desert’ by Robert Harrison [2] John 13:34-35
From The Rectory - And Did Those Feet … And did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon England’s mountains green. So begins William Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’. Last week, our feet walked, not on mountains, they are in short supply around here, but through the streets of Cambridge as Mary and I headed to an exhibition of work by William Blake and some of his European contemporaries. Blake worked in a time of revolutionary change. France became a Republic, abolishing the monarchy and executing the king on the way. England’s American colonies had successfully fought for their independence. Many looked for similar change here, with much of the material displayed reflecting themes of liberation; the people freed from the tyranny of traditional hierarchies in Church and State. It was, perhaps, timely to be viewing this work so close to Easter. Jesus’ death coincided with the Feast of Passover, the commemoration of the moment when God’s people were led out of slavery in Egypt to start their journey to the Promised Land. In Jesus’ day, many Jews were looking for another liberation to restore their freedom in their own land. This longing would lead to violent revolution and the destruction of the Temple. When the Roman governor, Pilate, asked Jesus if he was a king, Jesus replied My kingdom is not of this world, otherwise my followers would fight[1] Standing before Blake’s work, I reflected that every revolution, however well intentioned, however apparently successful, eventually opens the door to another tyranny. In Paris, Revolution turned to Terror; American history is chequered to say the least and, to this day, Jerusalem remains a city of conflict not peace. All this, said Satan as he surveyed the kingdoms of the earth, All this I will give you, if you only bow down and worship me.[2] Jesus chose a different road. Having prayed If there is a way, take this cup of suffering from me he then added Not my will Father, but yours[3]. Following his resurrection, Jesus appeared not in the Temple, nor before the Sanhedrin. Instead he appeared at his graveside, in the upper room, on the road; wherever he found his friends and followers. He neither offered nor encouraged compulsion. Instead he prayed, blessed, fed and washed feet - then encouraged his friends to find freedom in doing the same. We, too, live in troubled times but if the longed for peace seems out of reach, perhaps we are looking in the wrong place. The revolution Jesus ushered in began, continued and ended, not on the battlefield, but in the hearts of his followers. There it remains; to be found in loving service of the one whose service is perfect freedom[4]. Which road are your footsteps on? Rev’d Philip 14 April 24 [1] John 18:36 [2] Matthew 4:9 [3] Matthew 26:39 [4] Collect for Peace, Morning Prayer, Book of Common Prayer
Earl Stonham church is open every day from 10-4 and on Sundays from 12-4pm (to allow for services), and the churchyard remain accessible, though of course subject to government rules.You should not come to the church if you or anyone in your household has or may have had Covid or been in contact with anyone who has, have tested positive or are required to self-isolate.To us it is a very special place to worship where everyone is always welcome to visit, just to sit for a moment or to explore further.Do come and see our “very fine” (Betjeman), “one of the finest in Suffolk” (Jenkins), “beautiful, amazing, wonderful” (me) carved hammerbeam roof and look up at the angels. “Much of interest inside” (B), a “virtuoso display of Suffolk woodwork” (J).
