The Priory Church, St. Bees

‘Tis the season’, and all around us we are witnesses of and participants in a mass act of consumption. What used to be the simple exchange of tokens of affection between loved ones has now become a cornerstone of our economy. Our stores actually need us to be ‘good consumers’ in order for their businesses to be successful. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for gifts. However, I know also something about being trapped in a consumer mind-set, and what it means to be in the grips of that old vice called ‘avarice’.

Avarice simply means ‘extreme greed for wealth or material gain’ and I’ve got it bad from time to time. I especially like gadgets and music (oh, and books). Errm, and DVDs… Actually, I’ve got quite a list of things that I like, and I often think about how I can get them (this usually involves extensive lobbying of our domestic finance committee — comprised of one significant person). The interaction that occurs around Christmas time isn’t just about consuming, however. It’s also about asking, and about making our desires known to one another. This can be a redeeming feature of Christmas because even though I think most of us would acknowledge our consumption to be excessive around this time of year, showing our love and appreciation for one another, and letting one another know what our desires are (most importantly not our desires for gadgets etc) can never be excessive.
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Click here for page one of the winter programme

Click here for page two of the winter programme 

Tim Taylor planned and led a special service with an emphasis on youth last Sunday.  We had a local youth worship band join us at our 10:30 service.  They played very well and were well received, leading in worship and singing some songs for the congregation.  Thanks to Tim and to Waymark for coming along.  We’re going to have them back again.  You can visit their web site by clicking on this sentence.  

Friday night the Friends of the Priory hosted a supper and quiz around a 1940s theme.  The food was prepared by Colin and Joan Wadey using World War 2 recipes.  Colin’s source for the rabbit meat in the rabbit stew was top secret.  I suspect, like during the war (apparently) the peddling of wild meat was a tricky business.  The food tasted great.  The quiz was run by Alan and Sandee Hawkins.  The vicar and his wife continued their rather successful parasitical streak by picking the winning team in advance and joining them.  We were crammed into New College Hall due to roof leaks in Old College Hall.  Below are some photos from the night (h/t to Ian McAndrew for the photos).

The Mellors came in authentic attire thanks in part I’m sure to the drama department at St. Bees School.

 A Boy Scout and the Warbricks (with a couple of gas masks withheld and hidden in the attic after the war–I’m not sure what they were expecting).

 Vicar clothing doesn’t change much.

 Colin and Philip dishing out the food to the orderly queue (but it looks as though Philip is casting a sharp glance at one of the over eager Boy Scouts outside the photo).

Heavenly Avarice [1]

The Theology of Prayer

By The Rev’d Dr. Robert Crouse

A Paper from a Western Canadian Theological Conference,

published in Dr. M. Treschow, ed., The Lord is Nigh: The Theology and Practice of Prayer

(Kelowna, B. C. Sparrow’s Editing, 1997), pp. 74-78.

 (h/t to The Parish of Petite Riviere and New Dublin)

I. Prayer as Human Desire

Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks:so longeth my soul after thee, O God.My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God:when shall I come to appearbefore the presence of God? (Psalm 42:1-2)Regarded from the standpoint of human psychology, and as a phenomenon of universal religious practice, prayer appears to be simply the articulation of human desires, human longings and human aspirations. “My soul is athirst for God,” cries the Psalmist, and it is indeed that thirst, that desire for God, which­ whether acknowledged or merely implicit ­underlies and impels every quest of the human spirit.

“All men by nature desire to know,” says Aristotle at the beginning of his Metaphysica.[2] But what is it that they desire to know? They long to know the reasons of things, the causes, the truth of things; finally to know that truth by which and in which all things have their truth. Thus Dante, in the Paradiso, compares the intellect’s desire to a wild beast’s racing to its den, where alone it can find rest.[3] What are all our sciences, what are all our fragments of knowledge but droplets from that fountain of which we long to drink in all its fullness? “My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God.

“What is our quest for happiness, but a desire for the good; and what is that good we seek­ whether knowingly or not­ but some participation in the pure and perfect good which is God himself? What is our quest for liberty, but our longing for God’s own city, the heavenly Jerusalem, which is above, and is free, and is the mother of us all? “My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God” (Ps. 84:2). What is our quest for beauty, but a longing for that pure and perfect beauty which belongs to Sion; and what are all our fragmentary images of beauty, whether in music, or painting,  or sculpture,  or  poetry, or whatever human arts, but pallid reflections of the unimaginable beauty of the countenance of God? “My heart hath talked of thee, Seek ye my face: thy face Lord, will I seek. O hide not thou thy face from me: nor cast thy servant away in displeasure” (Ps. 27: 9).

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When I was a child and teenager (and young adult) I loved setting things on fire. Fire is one of my most favourite things. I used to spend time figuring out which household chemicals burned with the most interesting light. I used to spend a lot of time simply burning things that I found lying around the house. I also spent a lot of time being grounded by my parents and scaring myself. I set fire once to a ceiling light switch string and was amazed at how quickly the fire sped up the string towards the light fixture. Luckily I had a glass of water on hand to extinguish the fire. I usually planned ahead in order to avoid catastrophe, but one time (at least) I thought I had extinguished a fire in the forest behind where I lived, only to return later to see evidence of the fire department having sprayed everything down… Read the rest of this entry »

It was a grand event that filled the church.  We had special music from the Brownies, poems from the Sunday School, and a special anthem from the Choir.  There was a lot of donated food that is being distributed on Monday to various people around the village.  Thanks you to everyone who worked so hard to decorate the church, prepare the music and poems, and gave food. 

A photo of the sun shining through the west windows and the chancel screen on a crisp sunny autumn evening.  Please click on the thumbnail for to enlarge the photo.

This last summer Claire and I had the opportunity to spend some time with my parents on their boat on the west coast of Canada. This isn’t just any old boat. They live on it. It’s a 57 foot pre Second World War fishing boat with a checkered history. When my dad first saw it it was nothing but a wreck. It had sunk in the slip and was being fixed up by a drug smuggler. This drug smuggler ended up getting caught in another boat off the Washington coast with a substantial drug cargo so the work on it stopped while he sat in prison. Dad saw potential in this old boat. It had fine lines. It didn’t look like a typical wooden hull fishing boat. He bought this boat off of the marine salvage agent who initially raised it up and set to work on it.

A lot of the guys working on the ship yard thought the boat was too far gone, but my dad has an understanding of how long term projects unfold (he supervises mechanical contracting on large scale building projects in Vancouver). So, methodically and deliberately, he set about giving this old boat a new lease on life. He gave it a new name (Axelina, after my great grandmother). He went through Axelina beam by beam, plank by plank, pipe by pipe. Sorted the mechanics out, removed, replaced, revitalized whatever needed to be done. As my dad began to work on Axelina the smuggler’s illicit purposes became more clear. There were two water tanks in the back containing petrol with a pipe running from each tank into the bilge. The boat has a diesel engine. The intentions were clear enough, the smuggler was going to set fire to the boat if he got caught off the coast. Read the rest of this entry »

The Priory had a service of mixed emotions yesterday.  On the one hand we witnessed Jim’s ordination to the diaconate.  This service is part of a long process of prayer, consideration, meetings, and theological education.  Jim began to get involved as a Reader following his participation in an Alpha course, and one thing has led to another.  The parish has been unflinching in its support for Jim through this process.  It was a wonderful service of worship and celebration.  The Bishop of Penrith (James Newcome, pictured in the background of the photo below) presided over the service.  The archdeacon of Westmorland and Furness (George Howe) preached.  The church was full and a sense of joy was palpable as people sang and participated in the service.  The ‘mixed emotions’ come into it because now that Jim is ordained he is leaving the Priory to begin ministry in a neighbouring parish.  He’ll be missed.  We pray God’s blessing on Jim and Sheila as they begin life in ordained ministry.  We pray that as Jim seeks to be faithful to his calling God will draw him closer in relationship and dependance upon the Holy Spirit.

Jim Marshall

Hail the new ‘clergy spouse’ Sheila.

Jim being presented with a present by one of the church wardens, Rosalie.  The vicar

Lars is providing background music by quietly singing into the microphone…