God in Music

'There is sweeter music here': the dance of the flute

In the mid 1970s James Galway brought the flute into the musical spotlight with his brilliant, virtuosic playing. He showed the beauty and agility of the instrument: how it can sing out in melody and dance from note to note. The flute is a member of the woodwind family in the orchestra, but unlike the other members, it does not have a reed. The musical sound is produced from air blown across an opening.
As such, it is one of the oldest instruments: a flute was found in Slovenia dating
back 43,000 years. Jubal in Genesis may have played it, and it is certainly
mentioned in Daniel. Shakespeare described the flutes playing to the rhythm of the oars as the barge bearing Cleopatra came to meet Antony. Its special qualities mean that the flute can display spirited runs of notes and sing out the infectious rhythms of the dance.
In dance we find ourselves not just in the company of Jubal and Daniel: we find
ourselves at the beginning of creation as God delighted to bring into being the world, while scattering off stars and galaxies for the sheer exuberant joy of creation.
Creation is movement: creation is dance. The historian van der Leeuw has written, 'In the dance shines the recognition of God, himself moving and thereby moving the world.'
And dance and movement are there in the work of salvation. In the carol,
'Tomorrow shall be my dancing day,' Jesus dances his way into this world and on into heaven, calling us, 'his true love,' to join in that dance. Creation and salvation reach out to eternity, and dance is there also in the words of the apocryphal Acts of St. John: 'Divine grace is dancing. Dance ye all for the heavenly spheres make music for us....All things join in the dance.' God's Spirit is moving in the world and beyond and calling us to take part.
That same spirit moves in the music of the flute in Bach's 2nd Suite in B minor.
The flute is accompanied by strings, and the work opens with a stately overture. But the dance quickly takes over the suite, and we hear one moment a regal sarabande, the next a delightful polonaise. There are two bourées and a minuet, and the work ends with a playful badinerie – all different forms of the dance. It is hard not to get caught up in the melody and rhythm of the music in this suite. So much of Bach's work is inspired by the dance. He is like a Pied Piper, inviting us to share in the movement of his music that dances off the pages of the score into our hearts and lives.

In the dance and movement of creation, we see the Spirit of God at work. In
dance and movement we see the spirit of music. We hear the melody of the flute, calling us, like the carol, to join in the dance. And when we join in, we find it is the dance not just of creation, but of redemption.
Rev. Michael Burgess, image St John's Church member Beverly Hirst

Gardening helps your health – in spadefuls

As you put your garden to bed for the winter, and perhaps rake endless leaves, there
is at least one very positive advantage in all that work: you are doing your health a lot of good.
Research has found that only two and a half hours of gardening a week can improve fitness levels and also reduce the risk of heart disease, the risk of type 2 diabetes, lower blood pressure, improve mental alertness, and encourage your children to get more active.
One expert says: “Gardening is a fantastic way to exercise. By digging and
weeding, every part of the body.

Healing Scriptures

A dear friend from schooldays wrote to me of how her husband tackled his illness.
Keith had a very rare condition that caused his immune system to attack his skeletal muscles. My friend knew of only two other people with the condition – one died within six months of diagnosis; the other, awaiting a lung transplant, had the
condition for only two years before dying.
Keith lived for 15 years with the condition. So his grandchildren got to know him.
And all the family got to witness his daily facing potential death by his absolute faith in a God who loved him, so that he could serve the community (being a Pastoral Hospital visitor for his Church) for as long as he lived.
'We were also constant recipients of his jokes', she told me, 'as he loved to laugh and see others do so too! Even better when he forgot the punchline'.
Apart from hit and miss relatively experimental medicine, Keith's medicines were seven Bible verses that he typed up, printed and would quote aloud twice a day. He would share his strategy with the medical profession and one young Canadian Christian doctor said “prayer and pills work wonders”, and to this Keith added, “and the surgeon's knife”.
Keith's 15 years of very happy and productive life amply proved this.

Here is Keith's lifesaving list of Healing Scripture: Bible NIV
Psalm 103. 1-5
“Praise the Lord O my soul, all my inmost being praise His holy name. Praise the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits. He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. He satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

Psalm 118. 17
“I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done.”

Isaiah 53. 4-5
“Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced by our
transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and by His wounds we are healed”.

Jeremiah 30.17
“I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.”

Matthew 18. 18-19
“I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you, that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven”.

Phillipians 4. 5b-7
“The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

1 John 5. 14-15
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him.”

Life at St. James-the-Least
The Rectory,
St. James-the-Least

Your enthusiasm for attending training courses has until now baffled me. Why should you want to become a better preacher, when congregations only use the
sermon for catching up on lost sleep? What more do you need to learn about time management than being able to recognise those fixed points of 12.30 for the pre-luncheon sherry and 6pm for a stiff gin? And what is the point of learning about how to lead Bible study groups when all you will end up discussing is who failed to provide flowers for the altar last Sunday?
But after this last week, dear boy, I take it all back. The bishop sent me on a
week's pre-retirement course. Of course, he was dropping hints, but until I reach my century, I have little intention of relinquishing a vocation to annoying parishioners and frustrating the plans of bishops. What else, after all, is parish ministry about?
The first move is to arrive early, receive your room allocation and then discard it. Tour the whole establishment, find the best room and then unpack and make sure your dog is nicely settled in the centre of the bed, just in time for the arrival of the intended occupant. I naturally apologise effusively for my innocent mistake, begin to remove possessions and dog while hoping that he will excuse all the hairs in his bed. This ensures that he magnanimously offers to take your original room.
At the first session, you need to establish the ground rules – and with a course
leader, who in my opinion, should still have been wearing short trousers, it was all too easy. You make it clear that you are extremely deaf and so all the lectures will, sadly, be wasted on you, you also add that you will need some time alone to prepare for a surfeit of funerals which inexplicably all came in the day before you left and that you also will need time out to exercise your dog.
By the end of that first session, you will have accounted for your absence for the rest of the week. In my case, it passed delightfully with gentle strolls in the grounds, visits to the local second-hand bookshops and much silent meditation in one's room.
I attended the final session in order to congratulate the leader for his magnificent course, was effusive in my comments on those wretched evaluation forms and on my return wrote a letter of thanks to the bishop for having thought I was worthy of receiving pre-retirement training – while also noting that I was sure it would be of use when I begin to make plans for that happy event in a few decades time.
Your loving uncle,
Eustace.

A day to remember . . .

John Chrysostom (347-407)

The literal translation of 'Chrysostom' is 'Golden Mouth'. Such was the power,
eloquence and skill in John's preaching that during his time as priest in Antioch
people began to call him by this nickname which was both descriptive and well
deserved. His sermons were full of biblical exposition and practical application. He combined this with a flair for words and a fierce commitment to practical Christianity. His lifestyle matched his words. John's early ascetic life meant that he was as spiritually sensitive as he was linguistically eloquent.
Born in Syria, John started to live the ascetic life after his baptism. His desire for authentic Christianity led him into the desert, where he placed himself under the authority of an old Syrian monk for four years, before moving on to live in isolation in a cave for further two. Ill health finally forced him back into the city, and he was ordained priest in 386. During the twelve years he spent at Antioch he made great use of the skills of public speaking that he had learned as a youth, and was given spoecial responsibility for preaching. His sermons were directed towards the instruction and moral reformation of a nominally Christian society. He was apppointed a special assistant to the bishop, with responsibility for the poor of the city.
In 398 John was chosen to be Bishop of Constantinople. There was no reason to suppose that he did not welcome the move to a city which was the seat of power of the Eastern Emperor and which surpassed Rome in terms of authority and prestige.
John was quietly whisked away from Antioch without he or his people being told of his election as Bishop of Constantinople to avoid popular demonstrations.
In Constantinople Chrysostom inherited an undisciplined clergy living in luxury. The disparity between the huge fortunes of the ruling class and the needs of the poor was often emphasized in his preaching. He instigated many practical works to redress the balance, which meant that in turn he was both loved and hated by the citizens of the city. The Emperor's wife, Eudoxia, took a particular dislike to his highlighting of the moral and practical aspects of Christianity.
The Empress incensed at John's preaching, erected a statue of herself outside the Church of Hagia Sophia to provoke Chrysostom. Charges were brought against him, alleging that he had called the Empress a 'Jezebel'. Other charges were concocted and brought against him but John refused to defend himself or tone down his preaching. The Empress had him exiled, but only to recall him a short time later when the city was hit by an earthquake. John never moderated his position, preaching against excess and continuimng to rein in the worst excesses of the Church- He was made to walk the journey (of some 150-200 miles) and given no rest, and he died en route.
Chrysostom's flair for words is evident in his writing on prayer:

By prayer I understand not that which is
found only in the mouth, but that which
springs up from the bottom of the heart.
Indeed, just as trees with the deepest roots are
not broken or uprooted by a violent storm...
so too, prayers that come from the depths of
the heart, rooted there, ascend to heaven with
confidence. They are not turned aside under
attack from any distracting thought at all.
. . . the day we remember John Chrysostom is
13th September

And God created laughter . . . . .
- what do you call a tiny mother? A minimum.
- what do you call fruit playing a guitar? A jam session.
- What do you call a priest who becomes an attorney? A Father-in-law.
- What do you call shoes that all spies wear? Sneakers.
- What do you call a pony with a sore throat? A little horse.
- What do you call a row of rabbits hopping away? A receding hare line.
- What do you call a camerl with no humps? Humpfrey.
- What did the pirate say when he turned 80? Aye Matey.
John Cumins

Coins for Funds

Do you remember 'Barbara's Bottle'

which used to be at the back of the church to collect any current euro or sterling coins which were no
longer needed by people returning to their home countries or which were weighing too heavily in their purses? Well, Beatrice has now taken on the collecting of such coins in aid of our Church funds, so please give the coins you no longer want to Beatrice or The Rev'd Chris. Thank you.

How does the Cross affect me?
I know that Jesus Christ died 'for' me. But what does that mean ?
Someone says: 'Would you go shopping for me?' They hope that you will go instead of them. If you don't go, they will have to! It's the principle of substitution, or – in the case of the Cross – 'penal substitution', as the Bible students term it. Someone else has endured sin's penalty in my place. That person has become my substitute.
In football, to send on a substitute sounds like a 'second best'. Not so at the Cross.
Nothing that God provides is second best. Jesus Christ, who is God in human form, had no sin of his own; consequently, he was the only person qualified to take upon himself the penalty of separation from God, which is spiritual death (Romans 6:23).
Christ came 'to give his life as a ransom for (or instead of) many' (Mark 10:45).
This principle of substitution is the underlying reality. He died instead of me. This works out in different ways:
1. The Cross means penalty paid. The theological word here is REDEMPTION (Ephesians 1:7). It's the language of the slave market. A price, Christ's 'blood', has been paid for us (1 Peter 1;18,19). Always in scripture, the word 'blood' – when it is separated from the body – refers to death. So, by his death, Christ became 'a curse for us'; delivering us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
2. The Cross means wrath averted. The word now is PROPITIATION. It's the language of the Temple – and a sacrificial offering. God's holy antagonism to human rebellion brings us all under judgement. The story of the Bible is of God intercepting his own judgement, in the Person of his Son.
3. The Cross means righteousness exchanged. Now the word is JUSTIFICATION
and it's the language of the law courts. How, despite my sin, can I be treated as though I had never sinned? Only by Christ taking my place at the Cross, and being treated as the sinner – so that his righteousness can be freely accredited to me. It is an amazing truth completely unique to the Bible.
4. The Cross mens relationship restored. Now it is RECONCILIATION – the language of the family (Romans :9-11). It is illustrated in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). But our reconciliation required that Christ be 'made sin for us' (2 Corinthians 5:19-21). Only by the Cross is it possible for us to be adopted back into the family of God as his sons and daughters.
Four wonderful effects of the Cross. The rock principle behind them all is 'substitution'. (from The Beacon - April 2007)

The English Library at St John's Church.

Upcoming events include:

-Saturday mornings, Scrabble and Backgammon : Join us for coffee and a friendly game of scrabble. 10h30-12h30. All are welcome.

-Children's English Lessons continue with Arabella on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 17h00. To join email Arabella at: arabella.isca@gmail.com

The Library is always looking for reliable volunteers to help out on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornimngs. No qualifications required. Email: sjel.menton@gmail.com