A Reflection from our chaplain Chris . . . .
Independence or interdependence?

A strong message (overt or implied) in our western culture is that of independence. To be strong and have a good quality of life, this message says one meeds to be self-sufficient and self-contained. But in recent weeks in church life, we have been reminded that independence is not at the heart of the Christian message. Instead, interdependence is.

We reflected on the idea of the Triune God on Trinity Sunday. There are all sorts of implications that follow from this understanding of God. In Michael Lloyd's book Café Theology, he writes, 'If God were One and not Three, if God did not exist eternally in relationship, if God were a unity and not a triunity, then what would God's worshippers value? I suggest they should
value independence and self-sufficiency. For those would be the qualities
most pertaining to a God who had spent “most” of eternity in splendid
isolation with none to love or relate to.' By contrast, a Trinitarian God
reminds us that interdependence and love are at the heart of the Creator and
established as a principle within the creation.

On Trinity Sunday, we also welcomed Bob Sluka, a marine scientist with A
Rocha International, as our preacher, after his week attending the UN Ocean
Conference in Nice. He reminded us of the impact plastics are having across
so many aspects of marine life, showing us yet again how connected we are
with all of creation, and reminding us of our interdependence with all
creation. He told us of the Horseshoe crab, which has existed for around 450
million years on the eastern seaboard of North America, and the amazing
ability of its blood cells to detect the smallest quantities of pathogens. That
ability has benefited us humans enormously, as scientists now use the crab's
blood to test the purity of injected medicines. Yet in many places the
Horseshoe crab is under threat. We depend on the Horseshoe crab. In many
ways its active flourishing depends on human actions: yet another example
that shows us how we are dependent on the wider creation, and vice versa.

The following week, it was Refugee Week. Human migration in our world is
only increasing as wars continue and as various parts of the world face
dramatic and increasingly extreme events due to climate change. It's a
question which is causing tension in numerous countries. Yet, the profound
truth is, refugees bring invaluable diversity and richness to our societies and
are often the hardest working contributors to our economies.
Interdependence, together, makes each of us all the better.
How would our responses change to the various challenges we face, if we
valued interdependence over independence? Something I will continue to ponder. In peace, Chris

Valerie is settled in her new home in Sospel.

If you wish to write to her, please use this address:

EHPAD Françoise Pellegrin

Chambre 202, AUCOUTURIER

Place Saint-françois

06380  Sospel

If you wish to ring, her in room phone number is

0 04 93 04 31 40

(please add the additional 0 at the beginning)

God in Music

'Glorious the song when God's the theme: Surely angels play Mozart at home'

The German theologian, Karl Barth, is reputed to have said, “Whether the angels play only Bach in praising God, I am not quite sure; I am sure, however, that en famille they play Mozart.” It is a lovely image of angels in the heavenly courts above mirroring the human enjoyment of music making here on earth.
And what more wonderful music than Mozart's! From child prodigy to fully mature composer in the space of just 35 years – encountering frustrations and disappointments, poorly paid and exploited, beset by problems of debt and ill-health – and yet rising above all that to create a wealth of music for voice and instrument that continues to lift the human heart.

Mozart was nothing if not life affirming in his music. He enjoyed life in
spite of the disasters and tragedies that occurred along the way. This from a letter he wrote to his father after the performance of one of his symphonies:
'It was performed on Corpus Christi day with great applause. I was so happy that as soon as it was over I went off to the Palais Royal, where I had a large ice'. Enjoying this world, he had that rare ability to transcend it and open up a greater world of beauty and harmony. That realisation caused Schubert to write in his diary in 1816, 'O Mozart, immortal Mozart, how many, how infinitely many inspiring suggestions of a finer, better life have you left in our souls.'
As illustrations of that, we focus this month on two works, one early and
one late in his composing life. In January 1773 Mozart wrote a motet,
Exsultate Jubilate for a castrato who had appeared in one of his operas. It is almost a concerto in miniature for the voice. The opening Allegro calls on heaven to join in the praises of earth and leads into an Andante of great beauty, where Mary is praised as the mother who brings light to a darkened world. The work ends with a glorious Alleluia with notes cascading off the page and into the air. Perhaps Mozart had in mind a thank offering for the success of his opera Lucia Silla. Whatever the music's origin, we cannot deny the inspiration and skill with which Mozart weaves together words and music to dazzle and transport the listener.

In the last year of his life in 1791, when his mortal body began to fail, his
mind took on a new vitality with the composition of two operas, a clarinet
concerto, a Requiem, and a wonderful, concentrated setting of Ave verum
corpus. This motet in praise of Jesus on the cross and in the sacrament was
written for the choir-master at Baden. It is just two pages in the manuscript,
written out by Mozart, without any corrections. There are no flourishes and
runs here as in the earlier work. The music is simple and yet sublime as
Mozart conveys a sense of holiness and serenity. Michael Levey has written
of this work: 'Short but not slight, it seems to float like a cloud of incense on
the air.' Here, as in all Mozart's music, a creation of this world opens up for
us that greater world where all is light and joy.

The Rev. Michael Burgess

(image: Mozart aged 14 in January 1770 School of Verona, attributed to Giambettino Cignaroli)

St. Oswald's Day (5 August)  – a King with faith, courage and humility.

Many Christians have indulged in fantasies from time to time about doing something spectacular for God, which would be remembered for centuries afterwards. Oswald, who lived from 605 - 642AD, was in a position to do so.
He was a King, but in those times such a title exposed him to danger as well as power. His father Aethelfrith was a great warrior who laid the foundations of the great kingdom of Northumbria. But Aethelfrith was killed by a rival, and Oswald was only twelve years old when he was driven into exile with his elder sister and two younger brothers. For their own safety, all were taken to Irish territory in the West of Scotland.
The three brothers were educated by the Christian monks on Iona. Meanwhile, warfare raged in Northumbria, and in due course the time came for Oswald to make a difficult decision. Should he remain in safety, or return to claim the kingdom? In 632 his older brother led an expedition there to sue for peace, but instead he was put to the sword. It was a time of brokendreams and bitter grief for the young Oswald, who must have spent manyhours in prayer before he decided to risk his life by following his brother south.
In his famous book, The Ecclesiastical History of England, Bede tells us that
Oswald prepared to meet his enemies Cadwallon and Penda in battle on a
December night at a place which is now called Heavenfield. His small army
was likely to be outnumbered and victory seemed impossible. But that night,
Oswald had a vision of St. Columba, the founder of Iona. Columba
prophesied that Oswald would be king, and reminded him of God's words to
Joshua at the river Jordan, “Be strong, and of good courage.....for you will be
the leader of these people as they occupy this land.”
Before battle commenced, Oswald made a rough cross from two young trees
and held it upright until soldiers were able to fill in the hole around it. Then
he led his army in a prayer that God would bring victory and deliverance to
his people. He also promised that if they survived, he would send for
missionaries from Iona to bring the Christian faith to Northumbria.
Oswald's subsequent victory has become part of the region's folklore,
commemorated by the name of that battlefield and the more permanent cross

which now stands at Heavenfield. Many leaders would have regarded such a
triumph as the high point of their career, advanced to the royal palace and
quickly forgotten their promise to God. But Oswald remained faithful, and in
due course St. Aidan arrived in the new kingdom and made Lindisfarne the
centre of his ministry. Now it was time for Oswald to reveal a quality less
frequently associated with kings, but even more vital to the spread of God's
work. That quality was humility. As the sponsor and protector of Aidan, he
could easily have imposed his own agenda on this new mission. Such a test
came early, when Aidan declined Oswald's offer of resources at court in
Bamburgh castle, and chose the remoter location of Lindisfarne.
Not only did Oswald accept the monk's decision gracefully; he continued to
spend many uncomfortable weeks on the road acting as Aidan's interpreter.
His willingness to lay aside his kingly privileges and play second fiddle to a
spiritual leader ensured that the Gospel spread quickly through the new
kingdom and transformed many lives.
Within a few years, dark times returned to Northumbria. Oswald was slain in
battle and his brother Oswin succeeded to the throne. Penda continued to
wreak havoc with his marauding raids; on one famous occasion, Aidan
watched him attack the royal fortress as he prayed on the Farne Islands, and it
is written that his intercessions caused the wind to change direction and beat
back the flames from the castle gates. But through it all, the light of
Christianity continued to flourish and grow. Aidan is rightly remembered as
the missionary who brought the good news to Northumbria, but he could not
have succeeded without Oswald, the man who was brave enough to claim an
earthly kingdom, yet obedient enough to play a humbler role in advancing a
heavenly one-
Prayer from the liturgy for St. Oswald's day (August 5th) written by the

Northumbria community:
“I place into your hands, Lord, the choices that I face. Guard me from
choosing the way perilous of which the end is heart-pain and the secret tear.
May I feel your presence at the heart of my desire, and so know it is for Your
desire for me. Thus shall I prosper, thus see that my purpose is from You,
thus have the power to do the good which endures.”
(copyright Northumbria Community Trust)

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

Press one for vicar, two for curate, 12 for prayer
My dear Nephew Darren,
Now you have got your new telephone system in the parish, I shall not be calling you again. I refuse to wait for ten minutes every time I ring to have to listen to the cycle of “press one for the vicar, 2 for the curate, 3 for the secretary”, until we end with “12 for requests for prayer”. I was tempted to leave a message on 12 to ask that the wretched machine would break down, but then realised I would have to call a second time to leave a message on 13 for making a confession.
And if I have to listen one more time to someone playing “Thine be the glory” on one finger on an electric organ while I am “on hold” I will have him excommunicated . At least you have the grace while I am waiting not to ask me not to hang up, as my call is important to you. I would even warm to your system if a voice occasionally said that they couldn't care less whether I hung up or not as my call was utterly irrelevant to them.
Those poor people who have to wait to reach 7 for leaving messages regarding marriages might as well leave a second on 8 for baptisms and save on a large phone bill in months to come; in fact, another on 9 for funerals may well be necessary by the time that number comes up. Entire families could be born, marry and die before they hear that 15 is specially reserved for urgent calls. And may I suggest that your car parking attendant who stuck a note on my windscreen telling me not to park there again is given the number 666.
My own answerphone tells people firmly that the machine is specially designed not to accept incoming messages and that I only answer the thing personally on Thursdays between 10am and 12noon, provided nothing better has turned up.
Alternatively, they could write me a letter which may be answered at my convenience, or could be ignored if I disapprove of its contents. This has the added benefit that I have not received any invitations to buy photocopiers or to learn that I have been selected to have a new kitchen installed, for many a year.
For the few who have got hold of my mobile number, my response is to tell them that I am just about to enter a tunnel and then to switch it off. Callers from other parts of the country now believe that the parish of St. James-the-Least is honeycombed by mile-long tunnels, making communication all-but impossible.
You can now be assured that your new system means you will be contactable at any moment, wherever you happen to be. But don't call me to complain and expect to receive sympathy, I shall be just about to enter a tunnel. Your loving uncle Eustace

You’re warmly invited to join us once a month in Bordighera, Italy,

for an informal Eucharist service — a time of reflection, community, and worship in a relaxed setting.

Wednesday 16 July, 10h30

The English Cemetery Chapel Bordighera.

For more information see

The Rev'd Chris.

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.