Thoughts for Today From the real world, sublime and challenging Arica – symbols in the desert…pointing to PeruOur last port of call in 9 days of travel along Chile is said to be ‘the driest inhabited place on earth’, Arica. There are rarely any clouds over Arica. The greatest difficulty being able to supply enough desalinated water to a place which is just 11 miles from the Peruvian border. This was the day that we would journey into part of the Atacama Desert ‘the driest in the world’. The road we travelled from the city is called the Pan American highway. First we visited the Cathedral Church of St Marco, the only steel cathedral in the world and designed by Eiffel (as in Eiffel Tower) in 1875. The original was destroyed by earthquake and tidal wave in 1868. On the way to the desert we saw little and large roadside memorials called ‘Animetas’. These were not the scene of tragic accidents, but family sites for anniversaries for families to pilgrimage.The heat of the desert is hard to describe. The gentle breeze made it bearable at 40 degrees C. It was to be a day of ancient and modern. In this desolate spot were two sculptures: ‘Man and Woman in the Desert’. The man has hands on his hips, demonstrative of masculinity. They are by Piaz Fleming, a Chilean sculptor. They were erected in 1997 in the style of the ancient Chinchorro (the Fisher Folk) Culture going back to 7,000 BC.Bizarrely a band appeared with five dancers. They were in blue and silver costumes and danced their ‘Sol Dancing’, going back to the times of slavery and oppression to the rowdy band of drums, cymbals and trumpeters. It wasn’t the only bizarre happening of the day. By the barren roadside on a hillside was an enormous ‘geoglyph’ celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Coca Cola emblazoned in large white letters! The real geoglyphs going back to the 11th century were not far away, with the Atacama Giant (393 feet high) further into the Atacama Desert. The ones we saw were of Llama and dancing humans or apes? You decide!The modern cultural museum, San Miguel de Azapa included a shady garden and open-air display of prehistoric art murals, wall tile ceramics and ancient pestle and mortars. Inside were the 7000 year old Chinchorro mummies of all ages. The people then didn’t live beyond 35-40 years due to ear and lung weaknesses caused by exposure to sea-water as fishermen. Also, the eating of raw fish brought new fatal infections to whole families.This insight into an ancient culture through these archeological treasures was very moving. The most ancient of Bolivia, Peru and Chile are the Aymara people who were pre Inca. There are 2.3 million indigenous populations within those countries. They treat the Llama as heavenly and so the story goes that the Llama sips the water from the ocean and sprays the rain of heavenly urine upon the population - hence the llama Geoglyphs (which did not illustrate this phenomenon).We say farewell to Chile, from the glaciers of the fjords to the hottest of places. Coming away we had a real insight into a troubled time; such diversity, extreme sights, sounds, flavours and beauty. Arica describes the diversity with its aridity and lush valleys for which the Arican city of 222,000 people is called the ‘City of Eternal Spring’. Peru beckons with a day’s sailing to Paracas, Peru…Blessings,Edward and Jane
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43The Parable of Weeds among the WheatHe put before them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?” He answered, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?” But he replied, “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’Jesus Explains the Parable of the WeedsThen he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, ‘Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.’ He answered, ‘The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!I wonder how many of you are fans of Charlie Brown and the comic strip cartoon Peanuts? Sadly, its creator Charles Schulz died in February 2000. Lucy is one of the main characters – a little girl that likes to play the psychiatrist from a lemonade stand. Charlie Brown and his friends go there to be heard, but only get useless and clichéd responses in return for the 5¢ they pay. There is a little bit of Lucy in all of us: when someone speaks to us, sometimes we aren’t really listening; we are already thinking of the answer we will so generously give, because we want quick solutions to problems. It is in our nature to rush in our judgments and conclusions. We all have a need to be listened to, but we also need the time to listen to ourselves and to give our ears to hear God. Well, maybe you have found that our period of lock down has given you more time and space to think, to listen, to articulate your feelings, to hear and reflect, and to decide. The Gospel of Matthew was written at the time of the early church community, a community full of contrasts and conflicts, where some thought of themselves as better than others and had difficulty having fellowship with those who were judged to be false and impious. In our reading today, Jesus’ parable seems to say that this is not God’s way of being. God acts with patience and meekness and often invisibly. He does not love hasty judgments; He loves to take His time and He invites us to be patient.The parable of the weeds among the wheat would have made a lot more sense to Jesus’ original audience. When one farmer wanted to sabotage another, it wasn’t unheard of for them to sow bearded darnel into their wheat. This weed name is translated from the Hebrew word zunim or the Greek word zizanion and is also known as tares, or even bastard wheat. Bearded darnel is a noxious weed that initially mimics the characteristics of wheat. Before they mature, the two plants are almost identical, but as they ripen, the differences become apparent. When the darnel is fully grown it has long upright ears and its grain is black and poisonous. The true wheat has shorter ears and a bowed head. Jesus has sown the wheat seed of the children of the Kingdom of God into the good soil. The enemy has planted the weeds, representing evil, amongst those who belong to God. It is never easy to understand how and why God does not intervene to remove the weeds that make the life of the wheat so difficult. Yet God, in His wisdom lets them grow together. As we look at what disturbs us in our world, the greed, corruption, injustice, disease, the damage to the environment, all that disturbs us in our personal lives, we need to ask God for the wisdom and courage to deal with them as He does. How do I deal with imperfection in myself and with others? Can I live with limitations in myself and others?Jesus makes it clear that any attempt to root out the weeds will only do more damage to the crop. And yet, Christians from every age have been tempted to be over zealous weeders, keen to purify the community by rooting out the bad seed. However, we are not the ones to make the judgment call; we are being proud and arrogant if we think we know for certain the difference between the wheat and the weeds. All too often, damage has been done to the church when individuals, congregations or denominations have judged others either within or outside of the church. This can seriously damage the church and its mission. On a personal level, we may think that perfection is acquired by becoming more aware of our faults and working to root these out. But Jesus accepted us in our sinful state and he knows our limitations. We don’t need to be fixated about our failings, rather we should appreciate the fullness of life that Jesus has already given us. Stay close with Jesus and let Him teach you how to grow, even whilst surrounded by the weeds. He sees that you are a beautiful wheat plant and he will not jeopardise your growth. He delights when He sees us bearing fruit for the Kingdom. The advance of the Kingdom of God will take place through a process of slow growth. Be kind to yourself and trust in the Lord of Creation, the most experienced of cultivators, that He has the matter well in hand.We do get frustrated and impatient by the presence of evil in our midst. It poses one of our biggest questions in life. The idea that good and bad might coexist gives trouble to the tidy mind, and so Jesus calls us to humility, patience and tolerance as we allow God to work in our lives. In our parable Jesus tells us that the struggle between good and evil is to the death, but we can rest assured that God will have the last word. At the end of the age, it’s the job of the harvester to judge who is or who isn’t a member of God’s Kingdom.In conclusion, let us use these strange times we live in to take the slow food approach to our growth as wheat plants. Let us take time to listen, to hear and to reflect, individually and as a community of believers. Don’t be anxious about the poisonous potential of the weeds around you and leave it to God to judge others. God is patiently waiting for His Kingdom to grow and come to maturity. When all people have to stand before our Lord to give account of their lives, some will stand big and proud, with their heads up and say ‘I did great’, but the genuine believers will bow their heads in grateful thanks to Jesus for the sacrifice he made for their sins, knowing that they were on earth to feed the world in humble service to Him. Amen
St Catherine's Church will be open for private prayer onMondays between 11.30am and 1.30pmThursdays between 6.00pm and 8.00pm
Thoughts for Today From the real world, sublime and challenging Isolation, a different kind of rain forest and… Valparaiso’s spinning drummers…Chacabuco is one of those names that really exercises the mouth. It is a remote place, as if in the middle of nowhere, with a growing port which is 30 years young. The Sunday sun was shining, the sea glowing and in the background the snow-covered Andes. The town was named after the ship that was part of the independence sea battle (1817) of Chile. It is usually warm and wet with 3000mm of rain annually, and part of the world of pumas and condors, and in this port, salmon fishing.Heading our way by coach to Parco Aiken Del Sur, a private conservation forest, we were looking forward to the morning. Aiken means ‘Refuge’ and embraces a rain-forest which is so dense the trees have very narrow trunks because of the lack of light. On the way there were cattle in the road,and the entrance to our trek was dominated by huge Gunnera plants (called Nanka), and very tall wild Fuschia trees amongst white Arrayan white flowers. The darkness of the forest led us through to the great light of a 72 feet high waterfall and the rainbow of the picture. An exotic beetle on the way back was showing off just for us - a Chilean Stag Beetle.Just a short ride away was a large lake and Quincho House - like a tall Garden Room, with a central open fire where we had the obligatory refreshments. We walked down to the lake overlooking the foothills where numerous swifts gave us their constant air display.In the late afternoon back on board Balmoral we celebrated Holy Communion surrounded by beauty, the salt of the sea and the light breaking through the complexity of the Patagonian Forest.A couple of days at sea afforded the opportunity for passengers to reflect on the journey so far. A listening ear for support was given through sadness at home, or uncertainties foreseen in the future. Light in darkness has many guises and sometimes takes time. A voyage of this length gave that time to open up to the future in all kinds of circumstances.The 12th of February saw us arriving in the port of Valparaiso,‘the jewel of the South Pacific’. We coincided with their midsummer 23C and on average 27C all year round. Valparaiso took the name of the sea battle between the British and the American navy in 1812. It has a population of over 300,000 and is famous for its street art, extraordinary architecture, and very steep funicular lifts to the heights of their 43 hills. It was the home of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He is celebrated as ‘the poet’ of the Americas. His real name was Ricardo Basoalto and we visited his house Le Sebastiana up on the heights overlooking the port. It is reached by one of the 6 Funiculars. Between 1883-1915 there were 15 of them in operation. At the time we could not understand the heightened security with backpacks locked away and the banning of any photos inside the house. We subsequently learned Neruda is still not without controversy. A committed atheist and lifelong Communist he was well travelled. His home is full of light displaying the very practical and eclectic furniture and art from around the world. He brought the idea of murals for the city from Mexico. As well as being a poet he also served the Diplomatic Service of Chile in 1938 in Paris and was Consul General in Mexico 1940-1943. Having supported President Allende he was appointed as Ambassador to Paris from 1970-1972. Neruda died just twelve days after the military coup of Pinochet in1973.After all the culture we were treated to Empanada (Chilean for Cornish Pastie) and Pisco Sour on Mount Pleasant as the whirling drummers of Valparaiso serenaded us. Our descent was the steep and rudimentary funicular revealing the murals of Valparaiso. These tell the stories of earthquakes in 1906, and the recent fire in the city in 2014 when 16 people died and 2,800 houses were destroyed. They now face the challenges of Covid 19.This is a resilient city, despite the recent troubles, and the exuberance of the place was never far away…we pray for light out of darkness in these troubled places.We travel on to Arica, ‘the driest inhabited place on earth’ and our last port in Chile….Blessings from Edward and Jane
