1 - NEWSLETTER, JUNE 2008

From the Priest-in-charge, John Murray

In this issue of the Newsletter you will find items that reflect the varied life of our increasingly international church community. Our church members continue to travel the globe. This time, we have two articles on visits to India, showing how our congregation acts as a place of intercultural learning and sharing.

You will recall from the last issue that we are making Outreach - reaching out in various ways to people outside our church - one of our main concerns. Continuing on this theme, we are printing in this issue a sermon by David Cowley on how we are all called to join in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

We have also been thinking about how our Christian faith relates to the growing concerns about the future of the planet on which God has placed us. This was the subject of this year's Liebfrauenberg week-end led by Claire Foster and David Shreeve and we have reproduced here the meditations that they presented. They are best read aloud, slowly and thoughtfully. Moreover, the European Churches having agreed to designate the season from 1 September to 4 October as "Creation time", we are planning to hold a special service during this period on the theme of the environment as God's creation.

Very soon, our ministerial team will be expanding with the ordination of Christine Bloomfield as Deacon. We look forward to all that she will bring to the life of our church and pray that her future ministry may be richly blessed.

Annual Meeting of the Chaplaincy, 6 April 2008

Report by the Priest-in-Charge, John Murray

It is now just two years since I was instituted as Priest-in-charge of St Alban's Anglican Church in Strasbourg. These have been two very happy and fulfilling years for me, and also for Diane. You are such a wonderful group of people to serve: full of variety, full of surprises and full of stimulation and challenge for your priest. I don't want to be complacent, and there are indeed a few areas of disappointment, but I do feel that in general our church is in good heart: there is a sense of true Christian fellowship among us, a willingness to share, to serve and to move forward. It seems to me also that we are blessed with a very united congregation; we seem, thank God, to be spared the kind of debilitating disputes that so often mar church life.

In reviewing the state of the Chaplaincy, let me begin at the beginning: with worship, the central purpose and focus of our Christian life together. During the past year we have continued the pattern of worship which has become familiar. The Eucharist is our main service every Sunday morning, and it takes a somewhat more innovative form as all-age worship once every few weeks. Our musical life is becoming richer and more varied: in addition to Katherine's regular and much-appreciated service as organist, Tim's choir enables us to enjoy singing some more modern hymns and - a new development - we are also privileged to be able to call on the skills of several professional musicians in the congregation. The monthly early celebration of Holy Communion according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer has become well established and attracts about eight people on average; they very much appreciate it. I am always glad to welcome members of the congregation at Morning Prayer on weekdays at 2 Quai Mathiss. Having no church building of our own, it is a great asset to have the chapel at 2 Quai Mathiss for daily prayer and for occasional services on festivals.

Speaking of places of worship, we feel so much at home with the Dominicans that we tend to take their hospitality for granted so it's very important to remember that we are their guests and that we have, over the years, become much more numerous, and probably much noisier, guests than we were in the far-off days when we had only one service a month. So let us be as considerate as possible of the needs of our hosts and let us lose no opportunity to express our gratitude for the hospitality which is offered us week by week in a spirit of true ecumenical sharing.

We've had a number of special events which have greatly enriched our life together. It was a joy to welcome Bishop David a few weeks ago and to see six of our young people confirmed in their Christian faith. The Liebfrauenberg week-end on “Creation and Christianity” made us think about our responsibility for the environment and I hope that we shall find ways of following it up with further reflection and practical action. We had two excellent speakers and plenty of participants from Strasbourg and Heidelberg as usual, and we also learned that Stuttgart may well be interested in sending some of their people in future years. The Liebfrauenberg sleepover, which offers another opportunity for enjoying the countryside and worshipping together in a more informal way, was also a great success last spring. We do have to remember that a lot of work falls on the shoulders of those who organise these events, so please be willing to take your share of the work. We also had a silent retreat at the Air et Vie centre near Marmoutier, conducted again by our Dominican friend, Father Bernard Durel. I am glad that we can also offer this opportunity for entering more deeply into the life of prayer.

I'll just mention here that a very special event during the coming year will be Christine's ordination as Deacon, planned to take place here on Saturday 5 July. Christine is very grateful to everyone for supporting her and helping with her training. It's not easy to train for ministry alongside a full time job and we're all looking forward tremendously to Christine starting her ordained ministry with us. Let me just mention that ordination is in two stages. God willing, and the Bishop willing, Christine will proceed to the second stage, ordination to the priesthood, one year later.

In addition to special events, I think that it's also very important for our spiritual deepening as a church to provide opportunities for prayer, discussion and fellowship in small groups outside the Sunday services. I said last year that this was one of my priorities. Well, I have to admit that progress in this area has been slow. David and I have run two series of evening meetings which did attracted a number of people, at least to start with, but can't really be said to have taken off or to have established themselves as regular parts of our church life. I do realise that people live very busy lives and do not find it easy to turn out on weekday evenings to go to meetings on the other side of the city, but I think that we need to persevere in this area and I am confident that in God's good time we shall find the right way forward. Meanwhile, don't hesitate to let David or me have your views: what kind of activity would you welcome and be willing to take part in?

Rather more successful has been the series of talks and discussions that we now run jointly with the International Church of Strasbourg. These have enabled us to explore a number of important current issues as well as learning more about the religious heritage of the city in which we live. It is very good to be able to report that, in this and other ways, we are developing closer relations with our fellow English-speaking Christians in the International Church.

Let me briefly mention some other areas of our church life. First, the Sunday School, an activity of fundamental importance, but one which is largely invisible to most of us. It's not easy to plan the best provision for a group of children of varied ages who do not even have a common language. The teachers are thinking about their future plans, and it is possible that there will be some changes next year. In any case, we have to be enormously grateful to Victoria, Sarah and Diane, the principal teachers, to the assistant teachers, to Ruth who organises the rota, and to those who run the crèche. Let me mention here that we need to find one or two other volunteers, especially to teach Sunday School classes.

We are fortunate to have a congregation with a very wide age range, including plenty of young people. We don't really offer anything specific for the teenagers, and I'm thinking particularly of those who have been confirmed and now attend the main service; we need to see what we can do to help them develop and mature in their Christian discipleship. In addition, the students and young adults are also thinking of getting together more, and this is a very encouraging development.

The Malgache Anglicans now regularly have a bilingual service in Malagasy and French about once every two months. The service is well attended and I'd like to tell you about an important new development. With the Bishop's agreement, Voahangy Ramananjatovo is now training for admission as a Lay Assistant. Her ministry will be to conduct the liturgy of the Word in Malagasy, while I will preach and celebrate the Eucharist in French. This means that our Malagasy community will no longer depend on bringing someone from Paris each time, though the strong and valued link with the Malagasy community at St George's Paris will of course continue.

It goes without saying, but I should perhaps just recall that pastoral care of all kinds is one of the most important parts of my work. This includes visiting people in hospital, keeping in touch with our members who can no longer get to church, listening to people who want to talk about their problems, and preparing baptisms, weddings and funerals. These are fundamental, and deeply rewarding, parts of my ministry.

I will just mention in passing a few of our external involvements. Several of us will be taking part next week with representatives from all the Anglican Churches in France in the annual meeting of the Archdeaconry Synod. I also take part in the Diocesan Synod and have been elected to the Bishop's Council, both of which meet once a year too. Pauline and/or I take part in the Strasbourg Council of Churches and last week I took part in a delegation of representatives of local churches to meet the Préfet and his staff to express our concern about the shameful treatment of asylum-seekers in the Bas-Rhin, something to which some of our own members can testify. In addition, I continue to devote a part of my time to the Church and Society Commission of the Conference of European Churches, of which I am as associate staff member. This year I have been involved in Council of Europe meetings on the following topics: human rights in a multicultural society, policies for families and children and inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue. These things all take time, but I think it's important that out church looks beyond itself and contributes to the work of the Church more widely.

In that connection, let me mention that we are going to maintain our policy of giving about 10% of our income to good causes outside ourselves. In future this is going to be done through a separate Association Caritative which we have now set up and which will hold its first annual meeting after church another Sunday soon. Having a separate association for outward giving brings us into line with French law.

This brings me to the subject of Outreach. As I hope you are aware by now, especially if you took part in the Kolbsheim lunch last autumn, the Chaplaincy Council has identified Outreach as an area to which we need to give special attention now and in the years to come. We all need to become more outward-looking, to be more concerned for people who do not see themselves as belonging to the church, or who are only on the fringe of church life. The Council sees outreach as having three aspects: communication (how to let people know about our church and its activities), service (pastoral and practical help) and evangelism (sharing our faith). Outreach will remain a regular item on the Council agenda as we work through what we can do in all these areas.

As we look ahead, we now have to start giving serious attention to what will happen when my period as Priest-in-charge comes to an end (in the summer of next year). Others will speak about this at this meeting, but the likelihood is that we shall move into something more like a team ministry. In terms of formally licensed ministers, this would consist of: a new Priest-in-charge, Christine as Assistant Curate, David as Reader, and, to the extent that you and the Priest-in-charge wish this, I shall still be available to serve as an assistant because Diane and I plan to stay indefinitely in Alsace. This future pattern of ministry will be more complex, but it could offer a range of exciting new possibilities.

I should like to close by expressing my heartfelt thanks to you all for what you bring to our church, and especially to those very many people who take on different responsibilities in our life together. I'm not going to try and mention everybody who ought to be thanked, but I cannot avoid giving special mention to our retiring churchwardens, Sarah and Jayne who have been such a source of advice and encouragement to me and to all of us. Thank you too to all the members of the retiring Chaplaincy Council: you represent everyone and you play a central role in guiding the life of our community. I think of all who do the essential jobs like welcoming, reading, making coffee and other refreshments; the sacristans Kanjo and Pauline; Rémi who sets out our readings sheets every week; and everyone who works so hard to make our special events possible – not least by preparing delicious food from all over the world. I also want to thank Bishop Venuste for what he brings to our church life. We are privileged to have a Bishop among us and it is very good to be able to call on his services from time to time. But above all I want to thank all of you who offer support and friendship to people in difficulties: this is what makes our church feel like a caring community.

May God bless us all as we seek to serve him in the year ahead.

Preach the Word

By David J. Cowley

This  Epistle,  2 Tim. 4: 1, is relevant to the issues facing our Chaplaincy - as we discuss Outreach - a moving out to care and to share the good news of Jesus The solemnity and seriousness of Paul’s charge to Timothy is above all to proclaim the word of the GOSPEL –to tell the JESUS STORY         

What is this word ? It is the core of our faith, the heart of the deposit of truth, found in the sound teaching of the God-breathed Scriptures, and centred on one  person, Jesus - He is the good news - for in Him God is reconciling the world to Himself.

Preach the Word of the Gospel,  2 Tim 4 : 1,5,  that is doing the work of an evangelist. The apostle Paul wrote these words a very short time before his anticipated execution by Emperor Nero. From his experiences, often difficult and painful, he gives urgent and serious advice and encouragement to a young (30+ ?), inexperienced church pastor, Timothy.

Timothy had been thrust into a position of responsible Christian leadership, far beyond his natural capacities (prone to illness and not robust) and the inclinations of his personality (timid, shy, introverted by temperament).

There were pressures from outside his church. There was the high stress life in the busy city of Ephesus, given over to material prosperity and the good life; and inhabited by arrogant, selfish, pleasure bent, uncaring, callous people. There were glaring gross social inequalities. Paradoxically religious observances were popular but seemed irrelevant to real life. There was a hostile climate to any faith that implied moral changes in conduct and lifestyle.

There were problems inside his church too where plenty of people just wanted to debate petty irrelevant issues, to criticise and reject with impatience basic Christian teaching. Many preferred to believe anything so long as it was new, the latest philosophy -  especially if it just happened to make them feel comfortable with their way of living and thinking. Strange and confused views went with lax moral standards.

Temptations and dilemmas faced the young pastor. Should he  remain silent and aloof and thus avoid the challenges? Should he tone down and mute elements in Christian teaching that did not go down well with his congregation? Should he argue back, set them straight, lay down the law as the pastor? The future of the transmission of the Christian faith in that city rests with him and his congregation!

Many of our churches  today urgently need to listen to the mature advice, encouragement, and urgings of that veteran pastor and missionary Paul.  All around us we see individual Christians and whole churches relaxing their grasp of the original gospel, fumbling it and in danger of letting it drop from their hands altogether. But this charge to « preach the Word » is laid upon the church of every age. We are not at liberty to re-invent our message in order to bow down to contemporary sensibilities but only to communicate what God has spoken and given us in trust.

Guard the gospel as a valuable inheritance , 2 Tim 1: 14

We need to keep it intact, safe, untarnished, free from distortion. Of course good communication means that we must adapt our style and presentation to the culture and thought patterns of the age so that it is understood, meaningful and relevant to our experience, but that is not the same as « dumbing down the challenge » or removing unpopular or unpalatable ideas.

If we are to pass on the Gospel story, what should characterise our way of  proclaiming the message ?  Paul gives some very clear guidelines to Timothy  (‘2 Tim 4: 1 – 5) on how It should be done.  It should be done:

- with urgency  and insistence, not waiting for just the right moment because  a vital message of life and death cannot wait.

- with relevance and intelligence, with able careful teaching. He must use reasoned argument  to convince doubters. He must use moral reproof -  to rebuke/convict those who have fallen into sin. He must use emotional appeal to the will - for those who  are haunted  by fears, and needing the encouragement God’s love can give  them.

- in season, out of season  This is  not an excuse for insensitive brashness or invasion of people’s privacy which rightly gives some evangelism a bad press.  This refers to the messenger, not the listener! Whether in very favourable circumstances or under difficult or hostile conditions for us - do it as the opportunity comes ; always be on duty!

- with steady consistency  -  our actions and living should support what we say.

- with patience -  gentleness not abrasiveness (even to those who oppose us heatedly and  who propagate error and bad conduct, ‘(2 Tim 2:24,25 ).

- with persistence  whether or not it’s what people want to hear (human pride and self-centredness) and in spite of opposition and ridicule, or rejection and suffering : Be ready to take it ! 

Why  should Timothy (or we) keep on telling the Gospel? Note :that  Timothy, who is diffident by nature and temperament would quite naturally shrink back from such a responsibility to preach the word in his difficult situation. So Paul in his advice insists and adds incentives and encouragements.

1) What is to be done is « in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus »

 It is also in the light of the Christ’s personal visible return to this world, in judgment and the final bringing in of the rule of God. The challenge is God-given : Timothy is to be faithful to that commission, he answers to God and God’s approval is the most important thing

2) The desperate deterioration in the contemporary world: and its great need

One feature is singled out in both positive and negative ways. People cannot bear the truth! They will «  not endure sound teaching » but rather « will accumulate …teachers to suit their own likings » They will « turn away from listening to the truth » and will «wander aimlessly into myths », loving to have their ears tickled like a lethargic cat. They will substitute their own subjective fancies for God’s revelation..  

3) We are the next to continue the chain of witness (runners in a relay race)  

Paul’s race is coming to the finishing line : he has run with patience, endurance, sacrifice and suffering, leading an exemplary life, and a faithful holding to and proclaiming of the gospel. The execution and martyrdom of the aged apostle Paul is imminent . It is now the turn of Timothy to continue and complete in the same way. The gospel needs to be passed on to the future generations     

The church is always one generation away from extinction!  Which is where we come in! Previous generations of ordinary unspectacular people have lived out the gospel with faith and integrity, willing to be known as Christians - disciples of Jesus Christ.. They quietly shared the news of the gospel, the sound teaching of the Word of God. Otherwise we would not be in church today.           But what are we doing about sharing this gospel of the redeeming reconciling love of God ?

Why  are we reluctant, lack motivation or fail to « share the Good News » ?

Here are some reasons. Think  where would you place yourself.

1)         We have no firsthand personal experience of commitment to Jesus Christ  We are unsure whether we are really Christians  -we just hope we are!   In this case we  need to hear the gospel afresh and respond to it.

2)         We see no need or reason to be dogmatic on the uniqueness of Jesus as Saviour and Lord .There are many ways to God ,  are not they all equally valid ? Indeed God’s truth does surface in many ways in human culture and religions, but He has spoken supremely in His Son. We should read again Jesus' words about himself and his relationship to God he Father..

3)         We feel that faith is  too personal and private a matter and we are embarrassed and fear being thought weird. People today are bombarded with all kinds of ideas, ideologies, and fantasies. Some of these  are benign; others are damaging, exploiting and patently false and deceitful illusions. Is the church to stay silent when we have the words of « eternal life »?

We are beginning to be very concerned about our global physical environment, for the sake of our children and their children. What about the spiritual and moral environment of the millions of young people who never see the inside of a church and who are totally ignorant of even an elementary Christian faith?

4)         We are ignorant in  some areas and unsure of how to explain what we believe and why. We fear  losing an argument, of looking stupid, and getting tongue-tied.

We are called primarily to tell the story of Jesus and bear witness to our experience of knowing Jesus, not to argue like lawyers. God’s Holy Spirit does the convincing and can use our feeble attempts sometimes more than our eloquence, as we honestly say « how it is for us to trust Christ »

5)         As Christians we are  perhaps « running on an empty tank »

There is no loving « overflow » because we are not living closely each day with Jesus.

6)         The sharing of the Good News is too costly. It makes us  too vulnerable, and we are unwilling to suffer rejection. It makes unacceptable demands on our time, consistency and compassion in our daily actions.  But as Phil Vickery, who captained the English  Rugby team against France in October 2007 said « If you haven’t got that will to sacrifice body and soul for the cause, then things won’t happen »!

The challenge is to live and experience the joy and the hardship of discipleship, of seeking to put Jesus first in our daily life  to do in practice what we say we believe.

So to conclude  it is possible to say that we need to be renewed in our vision  both of who Jesus Christ is and of what are God’s purposes for this world full of people whom He loves

Out of gratitude to God who gave us His Son as our Saviour, and in gratitude to those who pointed us to Christ, let us in turn share our faith with others and show its reality in  lives transformed by Jesus, as we let Him take over and patiently seek to please Him..

A sermon preached autumn 2007

ROMANCING THE STONE IN INDIA

Roger Massie

If anyone, even Thomas Cook, suggests an India tour; especially in March, say yes if you can! In our case, the pretext was a birthday to be celebrated in the land of my birth. Claire and I also had a special reason to be looking for a ruby in Rajasthan. It’s a big country but Cook will look after your transport whether by elephant (what other form of transport lasts 100 years after an initial investment of 7000 pounds?) cycle rickshaw, “tuc tuc” taxi or less traditional bus, train and plane. If you drive yourself, all you need is ‘a good horn and good luck’. To take care of the latter make sure you have, like all good Hindus, an image of the blue Elephant God, Ganesh.

It seems appropriate that the idea of going should have taken shape following a memorial service early last year in our Dominicans’ Church – no one goes to India to escape the great existential questions! This resulted in a “gang of four” within the group, consisting of us two, the sister of the departed and another ex-colleague from the Council of Europe. Cook was quite right, early in the tour, to get us up with a brutal pre-dawn call and into rowing boats on the Ganges to see the sun rise on Holy City Benares (Varanasi). The crowds, the poverty, the dirt, the burning bodies on the famous ghats should have been deeply repellent but somehow were not. Christianity, identified with its well-preserved Victorian gothic churches, often situated among the bungalows in the former colonial cantonments has, one felt, uphill work to do, though Bombay Cathedral where my parents were married, was impressive. Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate and one of the world’s richest men, is, we learned, a good example of a Hindu Jain (= “victory over the senses”), a sect into which Gandhi too was born. Typically, Jains wear white (also the colour of mourning) or walk about naked. Being opposed to agriculture and weaving (though Gandhi’s spinning wheel is on the national flag), they carry a peacock’s feather to brush the dust where they are about to step, for fear of crushing an insect. Their reverence for life in all its forms leads to a preference for dealing with inanimate metals, precious stones etc.

Benares was for this child of the declining British Raj, another kind of pilgrimage to the Gurkha Headquarters there. My father had made his main career in the Indian army and my mother plainly loved the easy life of the colonial memsahib. Vestiges of the racist attitudes of their class and kind of course horrified their priggish post-colonial offspring. But visiting some of their old haunts brought some overdue humility about a “shameful” heritage and reassurance that they didn’t do as badly as all that. Today’s Indian military, facing nuclear-armed neighbours, are, we learnt, almost pathologically security-conscious and shy (with the exception of a handsome retired Admiral who whisked our “doyenne” off to his Delhi Club on our first evening, half a century after attending her 21st birthday party in England!). The regimental HQ seemed destined to remain impregnable after total failure of official channels (military attachés and the like), but a local fixer called Mahendi somehow talked me past barriers guarded by suspicious, narrow-eyed Nepalese. Inside, pre-Independence battle honours were proudly displayed and Kipling’s “If” occupied a large mural. The Colonel Commandant seemed happy to relieve me of an item of tropical mess uniform, imported from Kolbsheim, for the museum of this proudly-proclaimed “best regiment overall”.

Everywhere we were greeted by warm smiles and interest and often requests for photos – please hold/be photographed with my baby etc. How is it that Indians are not only friendlier but in general strikingly better-looking than us grumpy, crumpled, overweight Westerners? Also unforgettable of course were the curries (with their complement of Kingfisher beer) not to mention the marvels of the gem-encrusted Rajasthan palaces (and invariably the hotels), with their inlaid mirrors, and marble, all conspiring to make us feel like royalty.

The monuments and gardens, including the Taj Mahal and Forts (which we would call castles and palaces) were even more stunning than expected. Most, including of course the Taj, which really does seem to float between water and sky, are of Mughal (Islamic) origin, far exceeding the wonders of Istanbul. Was Partition in 1947, with its horrific frenzy of ethno-religious cleansing, avoidable? It would certainly have been even worse without the effect of Gandhi’s martyrdom (at the hands of a Hindu fanatic) and the extraordinary personal courage of leaders like Nehru and Dickie (and, especially, Edwina ) Mountbatten, who we of the priggish tendency feel (or felt in our ignorance) so free to despise for their role. The British in general tended to get on better with the more straightforward monotheistic Moslems, but Pakistan, one feels, may still need time to recover from its comparatively inauspicious birth, with no passionate Vicereine to fall in love with its Founding Father, Ali Jinnah, so different from Nehru. Today the economy of a self-confident India is booming, with the reverse brain drain (“brain gain”) in full flow. While we were there Mr Tata bought up Jaguar and Land Rover. However, with the boot firmly on the other foot, Indians are openly grateful to the former colonial power for democracy, the English language, the efficient railway system.

It was not so important in the end to get to my birthplace Ahmednagar, a mere 300 miles from Mumbai where we finished our 17-day tour, which was highlighted by a visit to the wonderful Gandhi museum. Ahmednagar’s actual claim to fame is to have been the place where, during the war years, the British imprisoned the subversive Nehru who allegedly hung on his wall a photo of his old school, Harrow, while two million of his compatriots helped us win the war.

SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF INDIA

Diane Murray

As a child I listened to the stories of those coming to England or New Zealand after India became independent in 1947. Some of these people had lived for three or four generations on the Indian subcontinent and gave glimpses of a life full of colour and warmth, rather removed from the greyness of suburban life in London or Christchurch. They often showed real concern for their former servants posting parcels of clothes and sending money to their former ayahs and  dhobis.

This thread continued through literature,, starting with Frances Hodgson Burnett’s  “The Secret Garden” and moving onto E. M. Forster’s “A Passage to India” and gave birth to a long desire to visit this country.. Then the chance came to accompany a friend from university days to South India.  Margaret had lived in India – how that had come about is a story on its own for another day. Suffice it is to say that all her friends there were Indians and so for over three glorious weeks I had the unique privilege of getting to know India through Indian eyes, and lived closely with  these  friends in their own homes.. I would like to create in just a few words pictures of things that impressed me  particularly and have stayed in my mind..

Trains.  It is said that at any moment of the day or night nearly two million Indians are on a train. I had several long, cool and comfortable journeys -  the choice in the carriages was between air conditioning (my choice), windows with no glass (Margaret’s choice) or sleeping carriages with only four people in them (our host's choice). We experienced them all. There was no restaurant car but food was ordered ahead of time and delivered hot to the train when it got to the appropriate station. .There was a continual passage through the train of men with metal containers containing hot sugared “tea”. It was thirst quenching and perfectly satisfying when I convinced myself this was just a hot drink. .

The dabbawallas  Everyday some three million people pour into the centre of Mumbai  to work  or study  An interesting system has evolved for getting lunch to some of these people who embrace a multitude cultures and ethnic groups and many of whom observe  strict dietary rules. It is preferable to lunch on hot food prepared at home, collected during the morning and conveyed by the efficient suburban trains into the city  The food travels in round metal canister type containers with various compartments for rice, chapattis, vegetables etc  These containers are marked with a series of symbols according to their destination and person Once they arrive in Mumbai. an army  of men on bicycles, carts or auto rickshaws deliver them to the correct destinations and people. When the food has been eaten the containers are collected and delivered back to the appropriate homes.. It is claimed that the right lunch always gets to the right person in a system which operates without databases or bar codes  Few dabbawallas are educated and many are illiterate.

Diwali  I was India at the time of Diwali perhaps the best known of the Hindu festival. . Diwali when translated means "rows of lighted lamps" and the occasion is also called the Festival of Lights  Small candles  are placed around the house, in courtyards, on verandas and in gardens  - and there are many firework displays..

The festival lasts for five days and the fourth day falls on the first day of the lunar New Year. On that day old business accounts are settled and new books are opened. The books are worshipped in a special ceremony by Indian priests and those participating are encouraged to remove anger, hate, and jealousy from their lives.

Gifts of sweets are exchanged and  festive meals are prepared during Diwali. It is a time when families make a great effort to be together.. Everywhere, it signifies the renewal of life, and, accordingly, it is common to wear new clothes on the days of the festival..

Poverty  But turning from festivals, “wasn’t the poverty dreadful?” was a question often asked when I returned. I first stayed in Mumbai where it is estimated that forty percent of the population of sixteen million  live on the streets. Certainly a lot of people lived in small shelters on the footpaths, but perhaps to my shame, t it did not seem too awful. The weather was clement and there were glimpses of family life  A mother surrounded by a circle of expectant children cooked supper over small stove in the cool of the evening, a father and his little son slept hand in hand on a string bed The women were striking with their long braided dark hair and colourful saris. Beauty and squalor often seemed to cancel each other out.  From the train .you would glimpse a village rubbish dump with an enormous clump of orange flowers resembling lilies growing alongside.

Since I first wrote this I have seen a BBC documentary on the garment industry in Mumbai and if I had seen any like the scenes portrayed there this article would, I know, have been very different.

And now?  Everywhere in India where I went there was an optimism and a bounce,  pride that India has been a democracy for sixty years and its achievements and strides forward had been made in a democratic context. There is immense satisfaction in the very real progress. In 1947 the average life expectancy was 37 years  - today it is 67 years  and the population is now over a billion. That being said one evening five of us sat at dinner and three of those present had lost a husband or wife before they were 35 – one in childbirth and two in accidents.  Life is still precarious!

There was a real determination among Indians to identify and work through the problems. I visited an agricultural centre where a great deal of thought was being given to finding practical ways whereby Indian village women can augment the family income.- one of them being to set up wormeries!  I visited an enormous eye hospital started by an Indian eye surgeon who had left the States, selling everything that he had to respond to Mrs Nehru’s call to educated Indians abroad to come home. Now he has founded a large hospital where sixty percent of the patients are treated free and where the vibrant research sector has just  created an artificial cornea using stem cells from adults. An Indian and world first!

There is this readiness to move on but pride in the traditional ways.  For example in two of the homes where I stayed the daughters had university doctorates, having studied in the States, but seemed ready to assent to arranged marriages. In India the wife goes to live in the family and/or the neighbourhood of her husband after marriage but returns to her parent’s home for the three months around the birth of a child and I saw this tradition still being observed.

In her book “White Cargo” Felicity Kendall who spent most of her young life in India wrote this on returning there later in adult life

“The poverty, the corruption, the begging children, the political madness that prevails half the time - none of them can alter the spirit of the place. The apparent lack of concern for human life conceals a far greater understanding, more valuable and impossible to describe. On the surface is a benign chaos. The cars don’t start. It takes five men to do the job of one. The lights in my five star hotel flicker because of a faulty switch -, but the things that bring real comfort are in place. The service is gracious and genuine, the smiles are meant not bought. But more important are the people. Children are cuddled and stroked by men and women, friends and servants alike. There is no shyness and everyone is welcome. Conversations are started at every given opportunity. There is a grasp of reality here, an acceptance of the fragility of this one life and the certainty of death; some unspoken understanding that there is more beyond our need for high achievement; that there is a past and a future as important as the moment and that we are not to take ourselves so very seriously.”

Liebfrauenberg  March 2008

Forty people attended a very thought provoking Liebfrauenberg weekend in March. The meditation that follows was presented by the two leaders to put into context the theme of  “Creation and Christianity: our responsibility for the planet”

It is probably best read aloud! 

MEDITATION ON THE SPHERES

Claire Foster and David Shreeve

The hydrosphere

Earth is the only place in the solar system where water exists as liquid. There is so much water in the earth – 1.4 billion km3 – that some call it the ‘blue planet’. More than 97% of the earth’s water is in the oceans. Every year, the sun gathers up about half a million km3, which falls back on to the earth as rain and snow. This is the source of the entire world’s stock of fresh water. Over two-thirds of it (69%) is currently frozen in ice caps and glaciers, almost all in Antarctica. Of the 31% that is left, nearly all of that is underground at currently inaccessible depths. Only about one-quarter of one percent of the world’s fresh water (approximately 90,000 km3) is in lakes and rivers where it is accessible. Of this, about a quarter is in Lake Baikal in Siberia. Water is also found in the atmosphere, in permafrost (sub-soil which remains freezing throughout the year), and in living organisms.

People need water as surely as they need oxygen. For a very long time, humans only needed water to drink. But in the last few thousand years people have also relied upon water to irrigate their crops, carry their wastes, wash their bodies and their possessions, and much more recently to power their mills and machines. Humans used cheap labour and then modern technology to move and control water on vast scales. The 20th century saw a vast increase in the use, waste and pollution of water supplies.

Water flows through all things, binding them together. It can be thought of as symbolising love, wisdom, and the Spirit. When you next do something involving water, such as drinking a glass of it, watering a plant, or taking a shower, become aware of the cycle of water through the universe. Become aware of it travelling to where it is needed, for nourishment, growth or cleansing. Think of the water of baptism, by which you affirm your responsibility to the whole community. Think of water as embodying the possibility of rebirth, empowerment, and the hope of a renewed Creation. In the rainfall, in rivers and oceans, in watersheds, in your drinking and your washing, water cleanses, nourishes and heals.

Polluted water transforms nourishment into poison. Absence of water kills very quickly, but not quickly enough for the terrible suffering of thirsty people and land. Become aware that within 10 years more than 40% of the world’s most vulnerable will suffer from water shortages.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground.  (Isaiah 44:3

The atmosphere

The atmosphere is the thin gaseous envelope that surrounds the earth. It is about 100 km thick, although the outer boundary is arbitrary as it shades off gradually into outer space. Air contains thousands of gases, but two predominate: nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). In the long term the chemistry of the atmosphere has changed, for example in the very early days of the earth many low-density gases were lost to outer space, and before there were plants on the earth there was not much oxygen. Now there are many cycles of motion of gases, created by changes of temperature in the outer regions of the atmosphere known as the stratosphere, and at the lowest altitudes by exchanges of heat, moisture and gases with soil, water and living things. The outermost regions of the atmosphere receive and reflect the all-important sun’s rays

The gases in the atmosphere maintain a balance between them to make life possible. If such a balance were not maintained the planet could be more like Mars, whose average temperature is –23 C, or it could resemble Venus, where temperatures are above the boiling point of water. Not much needs to be done to the gases to alter conditions on earth fundamentally.

The acceleration of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere from 1800 onwards, together with other greenhouse gases following industrialisation, meant that heat from the sun was more effectively trapped. Soot and dust injected into the atmosphere slightly lowered the amount of solar energy reaching the earth’s surface. The slight increase in the warmth of the earth during the 20th century was probably due to these factors. But the earth is warming more quickly now. Between 1890 and 1990 the earth’s surface temperature increased by 0.3 to 0.6 C. Nine of the ten hottest years on record occurred between 1987 and 1997, and the 1990s were globally the hottest since the 14th century

When you next find yourself walking, feel the air on your face, become aware of your breathing, and realise the total and automatic dependence of the life of your body on the atmosphere. Gain a sense of ‘being breathed’ rather than the other way around. See how the air is one thing: wind, breath, invisibly supporting, moving and enlivening all things.

Become aware that this same atmosphere is warming up and that for some living things, human, animal and plant, the 21st century will see the final destruction of their habitats and their livelihoods.

The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.(John 3:8)

The lithosphere and pedosphere

The lithosphere is the outer crust of the earth, some 120 km thick, rock floating on molten rock. The pedosphere is the soil that lies on top of the lithosphere like skin on flesh, about half a metre thick, made of sand, clay, silt and organic matter. It acts like a cleansing and protecting membrane between the lithosphere and the atmosphere.

On average the earth’s rocks have eroded, deposited on ocean floors as sediment, consolidated into rock again, and been thrust up above sea level again, 25 times in the history of the earth. By contrast, human impact was miniscule until the industrial age.

During the 20th century humans moved enough soil and rock to rival natural disturbances for the first time. By the 1990s humans were moving 42 billion tons of rock and soil per annum mainly through mining and accelerated soil cultivation (see below). This is comparable to natural movements such as, for example, the 30 billion tons moved per annum by oceanic volcanoes, or 4.3 billion tons per annum by glacier movement (Hooke p 217).

Changes to the pedosphere take place continually by means of water and wind. Humans have affected the pedosphere through cultivation of the land as they settled on it. The first wave of human expansion and settlement took place in the Middle East, India and China, when agriculture spread from the river valleys to forest lands, between 2000 BC and 1000 AD. As forests were cut or burned to make way for crops and animals, erosion of soil resulted, though this stabilised as farms developed.

More significant and potentially damaging effects to the pedosphere took place as Europe expanded, beginning with the Americas after 1492, when inappropriate farming methods were applied to new landscapes. Northern European farmers were used to mild rainfall, low slopes and heavy soils resistant to erosion. Their hoofed animals and sowing methods desertified the more fragile landscapes of the Americas, South Africa, Australasia and Inner Asia. Moreover, the power of the European conquerors to shunt native populations around meant that marginal lands came under the plough and digging stick.

When you are next in a garden, crumble some soil in your bare hands and smell its rich aromas. Think of the life growing in the soil, the way the soil nurtures and sustains new life, holds the seeds and shelters the roots, becomes the foundation from which the plant grows. If you are weeding, notice how the earth holds on to her own as you gently dislodge roots from the soil. Notice how the actions of your hands affect the soil well or badly. Become aware of the cycle of life and death, crucifixion and resurrection:

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24)

The biosphere

The biosphere is the sum of all the habitats in which species live. It includes every home in every part of the world, from the bubbling seafloor vents teeming with bacteria to glaciers at dizzy heights where the occasional beetle may be found, and everything in between. The biosphere is the home of the biota, which is the name for all living things, including the human species.

By the 20th century, for the richer third of the world, the human species was able to dominate all other species as never before. This was due to its ability to feed itself and treat the diseases that had hitherto been fatal. For species other than human, the chances of survival depended on their ability to live within a human-dominated biosphere. There were those organisms that met human needs and were capable of being domesticated, such as cattle, rice, and eucalyptus, and they fared well. There were those that found niches within the biosphere, such as rats, crab-grass and tuberculosis bacillus, and these, too survived well. Creatures that humans found useful but incapable of domestication, such as blue whales and bison, and those that could not adjust to a human-dominated biosphere, such as gorillas and the smallpox virus, faced extinction. Their survival depended upon whether humans suffered them or not. This human domination is only apparent however. The changes for which humans have been responsible have for the most part been inadvertent: humans have not intended to wipe out species (apart from some disease-bearing viruses and bacteria), but that is what has happened.

It is the very diversity of species that ensures a balance of life on earth, and creates and sustains the circumstances in which life flourishes, including human life. In a thimbleful of earth can be found algae, fungi, nematodes, mites, springtails, enchytraeid worms and thousands of species of bacteria. This is a tiny fragment of one ecosystem. It is a sample of the living force that maintains the earth as a place where life can flourish.

Bring to mind the glorious, unimaginably numerous diversity of all living things. There are not even two blades of grass that are the same. Think of this biological diversity as a web of interrelationship that sustains all life on the planet, including your own. You are not a tenant of the earth, you do not exist on its surface or despite its terrain. You evolved with every bit of it, and that shared history is deep within you. That is why the natural world has the power to restore you. Perceiving aright, humanity can appreciate, speak of and protect this riot of life, created by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and continuously sustained by the Holy Spirit.

God has arranged all things in the world in consideration of everything else.  (Hildegard of Bingen)

Contemplation

Stretch out by a distinct act of loving will towards one of the myriad manifestations of life that surround you: and which, in an ordinary way, you hardly notice unless you happen to need them. Pour yourself out towards it, do not draw its image towards you… As to the object of contemplation, it matters little. From Alp to insect, anything will do, provided that your attitude be right: for all things in this world towards which you are stretching out are linked together, and one truly apprehended will be the gateway to the rest… A subtle interpenetration of your spirit with the spirit of those ‘unseen existences’ now so deeply and thrillingly felt by you, will take place. Old barriers will vanish: and you will become aware that St Francis was accurate as well as charming when he spoke of Brother Wind and Sister Water.

Yet there was something still more important than movement, and that was pressure. If I put my hand on the table without pressing it, I knew the table was there, but knew nothing about it. To find out, my fingers had to bear down, and the amazing thing is that the pressure was answered by the table at once. Being blind I thought I should have to go out to meet things, but I found that they came to meet me instead. I have never had to go more than halfway, and the universe became the accomplishment of all my wishes… If my fingers pressed the roundness of an apple, each one with a different weight, very soon I could not tell whether it was the apple or my fingers which were heavy. I didn’t even know whether I was touching it or it was touching me. As I became part of the apple, the apple became part of me. And that was how I came to understand the existence of things…Before I was ten years old I knew with absolute certainty that everything in the world was a sign of something else, ready to take its place if it should fall by the way. And this continuing miracle of healing I heard expressed fully in the Lord’s Prayer I repeated at night before going to sleep. (Jacques Lusseyran)

The daily practice of silence, deepening sense of God’s presence within, reference point for all ills, point for the sake of which everything, absolutely everything, can be confidently set aside, is the most important doing, or rather undoing, that can be engaged in. By this means you can know for a fact that the most important thing is not material, not external, cannot be bought with money or bartered for with anything that you have, when you know that the only way to reach that unbelievably special place is precisely by putting down everything you believe you are and own, your faith in the capacity of the material world to bring you lasting satisfaction is utterly undermined.

When you open your eyes afterwards and contemplate what is before them from the deep love you have touched within,, you know that you are not different from the world, and to harm the world, to touch it harshly, to ignore it or to claim it, is to harm yourself. You also see, with your eyes of love, that you can play in and with the world, you can, sometimes, demand things of it, that your gifts of work and contemplation are lovingly received, and that your questioning will be partly answered and partly left open to fresh questions and  mysteries.

What's been happening

Women’s World Day of Prayer, 7 March

The service prepared by the women of Guyana was held at the Dominicans Church and was found interesting and moving by those who attended. Many thanks to the three men who successfully ran a crèche during the service..

Visit to the Synagogue

The Grand Rabbin gave the group of twenty people from both the Anglican Chaplaincy and International Church an interesting and very informative visit to the synagogue ion 6 March.

Liebfrauenberg Sleepover,  16 May

Some forty people came to this weekend of fun, food, fresh air,  worship, walks, music and friendship.

Joint Study Evenings

In the latest of a series of evening meetings organised jointly with the International Church  there wee two speakers who talked of the problem of the human trafficking – an increasingly serious problem worldwide.

I Asked God  

[author unknown ]

I asked God to take away my pain.

God said, No.  It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.

God said, No.  Her spirit is whole, her body is only temporary.

I asked God to grant me patience.

God said, No.  Patience is a by-product of tribulations, it isn't granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness.

God said, No. I give you blessings, Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain.

God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow.

God said, No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.

God said, No.  I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me.

God said... Ahhhh, finally you have the idea!

2 - NEWSLETTER, AUTUMN 2007

EDITORIAL

Another rentrée, another Newsletter. In France the year really begins not on 1st January but when the schools go back in the early autumn. It is also interestingly the time of the Jewish New Year so, at this time of new beginnings, your Chaplaincy Council has been thinking about what should be the main aims of our Church during the coming year. Worship and pastoral care must always be central concerns for any church, but the Council feels that the area where we need to make special efforts at present is: Outreach.

The Church does not exist primarily for the benefit of its members (we are not a mutual help society, a mutuelle) but for the benefit of the world around us. Jesus Christ sent his disciples out to continue the mission he had started and to extend it “to the ends of the earth”. We are part of that ongoing story.

But what does Outreach really mean in our context? The Chaplaincy Council has been reflecting about outreach as communication, outreach as service to others and outreach as evangelism. But outreach is not just something for the Chaplain and your elected representatives; it is something for everyone – we all need to see how, in our different ways and in our different circles, we can pass on to others something about our church life and something about our faith. We're now planning to involve everyone in this reflection by making it the focus of our discussions at the annual Chaplaincy lunch at Kolbsheim on Sunday 18 November (do please note the date).

In this edition of the Newsletter, you'll find the text of a sermon on some aspects of outreach, but, you'll also be taken to exotic destinations such as Northern Alsace, Armenia and Switzerland and you will make the acquaintance of several windows.

I should also like to draw your attention to the note about preparation for Confirmation. Now is the time to let me know if you or someone in your family is interested in Confirmation. This is for both for adults and for children from the age of 10.

John Murray

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THINGS PAST

Liebfrauenberg Sleepover May

After nearly being cancelled for lack of support the annual more informal event at Liebfrauenberg was one of the most well attended with nearly 40 people present and only ju