From the Rector - Living with Hope

Way back in Lent (it seems so long ago already), groups met to discuss the Lord’s Prayer.  When we came to talking about heaven, one topic of discussion was whether heaven was a purely future hope (after death) or something accessible in life.  So it is good to be able to point to a new book from the prolific pen of the Bishop of Durham, The Rt. Revd Tom Wright, entitled ‘Surprised by Hope’, in which he talks about heaven as a dimension in which we already live.  (Previewed in the Church Times, 4^th April 2008, by Dr Alec Graham)

The Bishop’s argument, put simply, is that the Christian hope derives from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, itself a surprising event, which was the means for God the creator to rescue the entire created order from futility.  So, just as the resurrection of Jesus Christ involves the transformation of his crucified body, so the entire basis for Christian hope centres upon the transformation within this life of the created order and of people within it.  This process is underway and is the anticipation here and now of the final resurrection of all God’s people and of the eventual transformation of the whole of creation.

It is an attractive argument and one to which I have always subscribed, if not nearly so eloquently.  Someone once remarked that he thought I was a Blakian (following William Blake, the artist, poet and writer best known for the words of the hymn ‘Jerusalem’).  I must admit that I always get goose bumps when singing ‘Jerusalem’, not because of any jingoistic sentiment, but by the sense of being charged to assist in the divine work of building Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant lands (nor have I ever regarded this as limiting God’s ambitions to England).  The hymn surely means that we are called to build the kingdom where we are – here and now, in whatever situation we find ourselves.

The obvious argument against the Bishop is to say that the world looks to be in a bigger mess than ever – how can we subscribe to the idea that we are somehow closer to heaven now than ever before?  We always imagine we were closer to heaven 50 years ago and more.  But actually we know that is, in many ways, looking with rose tinted spectacles.  The quality of life for many has improved but at the same time the problems in human existence are more immense than ever.  The point is that we live with what we have.  And we live with who we are, and all that goes with it.

The key to living in the heaven that is here and now is to recognise the transformation that is available to us, under God.  By becoming part of God’s process of transformation, we allow ourselves to be part of that greater transformation of the whole world until the day when God will complete this process and God will be all in all.

So, there is a present reality of heaven as well as a future one.  By entering into the present hope, we can be part of that great work of building God’s Kingdom on earth.

May you place all your trust in this transforming God and know his peace with you,

David

 The Lindberg Mystery

Last month we learnt of the abduction and murder of the Lindberg baby and I promised to conclude this month with the evidence that led to the conviction and execution of Bruno Haupmann.  The Lindbergs including the baby should have been away on the night in question and only a late change of plan caused them to stay home.  Only someone in the household would have known that the baby would have been in the house.  Lindberg had a rule that his wife and their nanny were not allowed to enter the baby’s room between 8.00pm and 10.00pm.  That evening the child’s nanny checked on the baby at 10.00pm and raised the alarm that he was missing.  A wooden ladder in two sections was used but it was too short for someone to enter the bedroom window.  An accomplice inside the house must have handed the baby out of the window.  This all points to a member of the household.  Perhaps even the unthinkable, Charles Lindberg himself!

The Lindbergs lived in a very isolated, massive mansion, standing in its own grounds, where were found the three sections of the ladder, only two of which were used by the abductor.  The cause of the baby’s death was a blow on the back of the head.  Could the death have been accidental?  Was the baby dropped when he was handed to the accomplice on the ladder?  Was there a cover up which included the delivery of four handwritten ransom notes?  An intermediary, named Cannon, acted for the Lindbergs and met a man in a cemetery at night that brought with him the night clothes worn by the baby when he was kidnapped.  Cannon handed over $50,000 and was given a note telling him where to find the baby.  A record was kept of the serial numbers of the dollar notes.  These dollar notes were about to go out of circulation and were of unusual design, incorporating a small, but distinctive, gold seal.  The note from the man in the cemetery told Cannon that the baby was in a boat moored off a stretch of shore.  Despite a massive police search, the boat and baby were never found.  As we have already read, the body of the baby was found close to a wood.

Almost two years later, a motorist passed one of the dollar bills at a petrol station.  The forecourt attendant recognized the unusual gold seal and took the registration number of the car.  The police traced it to Bruno Haupmann who was arrested.  Three handwriting experts decided that Bruno had written the ransom notes and this was confirmed a few years ago by three modern-day experts, one of whom was German.  At the time of the trial, experts decided that wood in the three sections of the ladder used for the abduction matched the graining of wood in Bruno’s loft.  Finally, $15,000 of the ransom money was found hidden in Bruno’s house.  Bruno said that he did not go to the Lindberg’s mansion and was not involved in the kidnapping or murder of the Lindberg baby.  He named another German who he said had done the murder and had returned to Germany with the rest of the ransom money ($35,000), where he had died of tuberculosis.  Most criminal lawyers now consider that the execution of Bruno was a miscarriage of justice.  The trial was a farce.  He was not given a lawyer and massive publicity before the trial included photographs of him, captioned as the kidnapper or murderer!  After he was sentenced to death, one newspaper even offered to give Bruno’s now destitute wife and child one million dollars if he confessed to the murder but he still declared his innocence.  As I wrote at the beginning, this was a sad tale to record. 

Roger Bryant

Cruising Down the River Sea - Part 1

(So called because it can rise up to 20 feet in the rainy season)

St Faith’s Flower Festival

From 27 - 29 June, St Faith’s Church will be filled with flowers.  Why are we doing this?  Yes, it is to raise money to preserve and renew our beautiful old Church, but, surely, more importantly, it is to glorify God and to praise and thank Him for His goodness to us.  As we worry over whether our arrangements are good enough and what others may think of them, let us remember that we are bringing before Him our tribute and our wish to please and honour Him.  All our endeavours are worthless unless we have His blessing “Except the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it. “  (Psalm 127)

Of course, we hope and pray that the Festival will be a great success and that many people will visit and be inspired by what they see.  The beauty of flowers can touch us all in ways we don’t quite understand.  We often arrange flowers in the church in memory of someone and during the Festival we are offering the opportunity to sponsor an arrangement to remember a loved one.  If you would like to do this, please let me or Sandra know.  We would welcome any extra help setting up on Thursday 26 June from anyone in the congregation or their friends, even if they do not normally arrange flowers.

We will also plan a rota of stewards to be in the Church for two hours at a time during the three days of the Festival.

The Festival will be opened on Friday 27 June at 10.00am by Fred Dineage from Meridian Television so do please come along to welcome him to our Church.

We are planning events to be held in St Faith on Friday and Saturday evenings and details of these will be in next month’s “Faith Matters”.  On Sunday we will have a Strawberry and Cream tea in the Church followed by a Choral Evensong at 6.30pm.  Meanwhile we do welcome your prayers for the smooth planning and organisation of the Festival and for those taking part.

“We see the flowers that we use with the eyes of our hearts and out of that inner conviction of Christian prayer we build something which can be a ladder between heaven and earth for the visitor”.

(Quoted from C of E Flower Arrangers Association news leaflet 101.)

Rosemary Thomas

Blessing of the Boats – Langstone Cutters Rowing Club

The morning of Sunday 6 April saw a heavy snowfall early on which cast doubt on whether the Cutters traditional start to the rowing season would go ahead just after mid-day.

In the past, we have always had very good weather for the ceremony and true to form, the sun broke through and the snow melted an hour before to enable the boats to be made ready for the blessing.

The ceremony began with a presentation of a cheque for £2,891 to St. Richards Cancer Day Care Centre, being the sponsored monies raised by the club in their endeavours in the 2007 Great River Race.  The race is an annual event held on the River Thames and boats of various shapes and sizes race over the 22 mile course from Richmond to Greenwich.

All the Cutters boats were dressed overall and were duly blessed with Father David sprinkling generous splashes of holy water over the boats, the assembled people and children.  During the prayers a special mention was made for the Belle Founder, and her crew who are taking part in the London2Paris challenge row in early May.

In a more poignant moment of the ceremony, Father David gave a short tribute to Dawn Barker who tragically passed away a few days previously when she lost her long battle against cancer.  As a mark of respect the Cutters manned Mabel, the boat rowed by Dawn in the Great River Race of 2002, and moved silently out from the Mill into Chichester harbour with Dawn’s rowing position empty.

The Cutters are now in their tenth year and new members, who would like to get fit, enjoy a social gathering and engender a local community spirit, would be welcomed.

Ann Plater

Lent Lunches at St. Faith’s 2008

Lent lunches were held on every Friday in Lent inside St. Faith’s church.  There was a different cruelty-free menu for each of the six lunches, including Tuscan bean soup, split pea soup, sweet potato and carrot soup, potato and leek soup.  Everyone was very appreciative.  On average, about 12 people came each time, and there were several new faces, as fame is spreading abroad!  A big thank you to those who attended and thanks to Marion and Jackie for their attractive posters proclaiming the event to entice people in ‘off the street’.  Some people came in response to them, which was very pleasing.

Special thanks to Vicki for her invaluable help in doing two of the lunches and for setting up and dismantling the tables and chairs every time.  Between us we made a profit of £131 for church funds, an increase on previous years.

It may not be generally known that raising animals for food requires almost one-third of all fossil fuels used in the UK, and leaves behind an environmental toll that generations to come will be forced to deal with in terms of pollution, deforestation, and land use – 20 times more land is required to feed a meat-eater than to feed a pure vegetarian.  Raising animals for food consumes more than half of all the water used in the world.  I believe that Lent is a particularly appropriate time of the church’s year in which to re-evaluate our habits and choices relating to our own health and that of the planet; a time to reflect on the precious gift of God’s creation and our role in preserving and sustaining it.

Two invaluable websites for your information: The Christian Vegetarian Ass’n UK – www.ChristianVeg.com and Viva! – www.viva.org.uk

Helena Youle