good morning and welcome on this tuesday the 15th of december as we gather for our morning prayers here in the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral wherever you are in the world please feel welcome and bring your own concerns and your own prayers to this time of reflection and prayer it's a a nice morning this morning it's very much an uh early winter morning but no winds no really um no sign of rain although it's rained very hard yesterday and in the night and a nice blue sky above above us so leo's arrived actually here we are put some stuff up here for you leo if you want and we are sitting particularly here because our tree today is the wild cherry no more beautiful tree as uh an indigenous tree here in england from the mists of time and here is a self-sown wild cherry i say self-sown but cherries have given much help to sow by the birds eating the wild cherries and then distributing the the pips all around and here's one with its beautiful wood this time of year is a great time to notice the architecture of trees when they have no leaves on them so here with its shining wood is the leafless cherry tree there's a little beech tree with with leaves still on it near me and an oak tree and all kinds of trees around me and i'm sitting of course in front of the wild hedge which has all english trees growing within it but it's the cherry we're looking at today as a sign of all kinds of things which we'll talk about in our reflection december the 15th if we look back and we'll scatter gun a little bit just for two or three minutes um the piccadilly underground line was opened in 1905 today and was the longest line at that time all the way from finsbury park to hammersmith and so it's uh got a station that we both use a great deal at baron's court and we remember that with affection at this time when poor london tomorrow is going into tier three just as we are in kent and that will mean much severe restrictions there's a date from the long past which reminds me of our reflections in the book of revelation it says in 37 a.d nero was born well i'm not going to dwell on the emperor nero today we've done that quite a lot in the last few weeks in 1675 the dutch painter vermeer died and in 1832 the french architect gustav eiffel was born who gave us the iconic eiffel tower the sign of paris just as the london eye has become a sign of london both used on new year's eve as an icon to the world when the fireworks are lit of the the life of those two cities london and paris in 1892 john paul getty was born john paul getty senior born and we remember all our friends at the the geschi are both sketchy museums on the coast of california near los angeles and remember them all today and remember them in our prayers in 1939 the film gone with the wind which when you adjust for inflation is still the highest grossing film ever produced and it had its premiere in the grand theater in atlanta georgia which causes me to remember beautiful sin phillips cathedral in atlanta and send a prayer for dean sam kandler a dear friend and all his people there i have a happy memory of um driving with two horses uh pulling the cart with dean candler down the whole length of peachtree avenue on a ceremonial bringing of stone at that time a very very exciting memory and then in 1966 walt disney died who gave us so many images and so much pleasure in his films and in 1962 the actor charles laughton died again his creative ability in earlier films was well known by my parents generation and remembering mutiny on the bounty quite often when they were eating cheese one of them would say are you partial to cheese mr christian which is one of captain bly's uh questions for to fletcher christian in in that that iconic film of mutiny on the bounty there are two saints in the calendar of the episcopal church they're actually they ministered in canada robert mcdonald in the northwest arctic and john horton uh who amongst the kree and inuit people we remember them their late 19th century saints who don't appear in our calendar but any of you from canada and the states we remember them with thanksgiving remember also the island of alderney in the channel islands homecoming day for them remembering the 15th of december 1945 alderney with the nazi occupation of the channel islands was completely evacuated and on this day in 1945 the first boatload of citizens went back homecoming day so god bless alderney and the whole channel islands on this day 1938 saw the breaking of ground for the building of the jefferson memorial on the mao in washington dc we'll come back to that when we think about the cherry trees and also 1993 on this day saw the anglo-irish pact which paved the way for better agreement theater john major and albert reynolds the two prime ministers united kingdom and ireland signed that on the steps of downing street on this day in 1993 and maybe also we remember that in 1775 on this day the bill of rights was ratified in the united states congress and that bill of rights actually has its roots in the magna carta and the magna carta of course was inspired by the work of archbishop stephen langton and the canterbury or a copy of that which was stolen and to go into the history of all that still done by the governor of dover castle and but now finds itself in the british library and all of that we we remember with thanksgiving because the roots there but even earlier the textures for a fences which is kept in rochester cathedral and based itself on the work of king ethelbert of kent gives the deep roots of that bill of rights so both cathedrals of kent rochester and also canterbury have that uh connection with with uh with the the bill of rights there so um we're going to start saying our prayers at this particular time o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise reveal among us the light of your presence that we may behold your power and glory blessed are you sovereign god of all to you be praise and glory forever in your tender compassion the dawn from on high is breaking upon us to dispel the lingering shadows of night as we look for your coming among us this day open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this 15th morning of the month is psalm 77. i'm going to read the first part of that it begins with the sense of someone in trouble and then goes on in a remembrance of the almighty power of god overarching all things psalm 77 i cry aloud to god i cry aloud to god and he will hear me in the day of my trouble i have sought the lord by night my hand is stretched out and does not tire but my soul refuses comfort i think upon god and i groan i ponder and my spirit faints you will not let my eyelids close i am so troubled that i cannot speak i consider the days of old i remember the years long past i commune with my heart in the night my spirit searches for understanding will the lord cast us off forever will he no more show us his favor has his loving mercy clean gone forever has his promise come to an end forevermore has god forgotten to be gracious has he shut up his compassion in displeasure and i said my grief is this that the right hand of the most high has lost its strength and i will remember the works of the lord and call to mind your wonders of old time i will meditate on all your works and ponder your mighty deeds your way o god is holy who is so great a god is our god you are the god who worked wonders and declared your power among the peoples with a mighty arm you redeemed your people the children of jacob and joseph the waters saw you o god the waters saw you and were afraid the depths also were troubled the clouds poured out water the skies thundered your arrows flashed on every side the voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind your lightnings lit up the ground the earth trembled and shook your way was in the sea and you part your paths in the great waters but your footsteps were not known you led your people like sheep by the hand of moses and aaron a psalm of great pondering and reflection here as we say it on this 15th morning where it belongs remembering that the psalms go through so many different moods of our humanity thus by what verse as we say them so we come then to the last of our readings from the first letter to the thessalonians paul's earliest letter that we have recorded in the new testament and we're starting at verse 12 of chapter five we ask you brothers and sisters to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work be at peace among yourselves and we urge you brothers and sisters admonish the idol encourage the faint-hearted help the weak but be patient with everyone see that no one repays anyone evil for evil but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone rejoice always pray without ceasing give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of god in christ jesus for you do not quench the spirit do not despise prophecies but test everything and hold fast for that which is good abstain from every form of evil and now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our lord jesus christ he who calls you is faithful he will surely do it brothers and sisters pray for us greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss i put you under oath before the lord to have this letter read to them all and the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you well the end of a most beautiful letter and that section we've just read is one of the most blessed passages in terms of benediction that you could possibly find in the new testament it gives the as george herbert says the cream of all his heart to his beloved thessalonians and we have felt that as through the days of last week and the first two days of this week we've had the privilege of reflecting together on that early work of paul as he wrote to them from corinth longing to come back to them but having had the good news from timothy and silas of the way in which their faith is growing and as a leader he can't help but worry about all the temptations surrounding them but at the end there's a plea that they respect the leaders who they have with them now in their own christian community and also recognize the hard vocation and task of leaders making decisions and sometimes having to admonish people but at the same time there are signal words in everything that we read and it's wonderful to see it in this earliest of epistles be at peace amongst yourself admonish the idol encourage the faint-hearted help the weak but be patient with them all that was a lesson that paul himself quite often found hard to to follow and he all the way through is saying do not quench the spirit for it's through the grace of the spirit that all things become possible and then as we finish that little section we have his word rejoice rejoice always give thanks always for whatever situation you are given for everything has the possibility of being a situation in which the good news of the gospel can be communicated rejoice always we remember that from the letter to the philippians he will expand that in that letter but also as we read all of this hold fast to what is good render to no one evil for evil it takes us back to that wonderful blessing go forth into the world in peace and be of good courage render to no one evil for evil support the weak help the afflicted honor all all of that coming from this little paragraph and paul in his works will expand on all these things but here we have the seeds of them all and then the uh advice to greet one another with the holy kiss being patient and encouraging and building one another up we've had all of that and the kiss of peace is in christian worship the greeting of peace strange at the moment because we can't touch one another and so there's no even shaking of hands so we do it with a gesture but it's a physical gesture and notice how the sanctification which paul is talking about the reaching out for salvation and the the purity of life which paul is suggesting with all patience and encouragement is given for body mind and spirit they're all there how many things that we've seen we shall think of when we read the epistles of sin paul faith and hope and love these three he says to the corinthians but the greatest of these is love but all there in this little epistle which we've shared to the thessalonians and perhaps the cherry tree is a good place to start with all of this in our reflection there's a lovely robin sitting on the cherry tree at the moment he's very friendly he's hopped onto the table once or twice and it's my companion here he's a bit more my companion now leo has chosen to go up into the orchard but he's looking at me all the time when i'm speaking to you this morning and here's the cherry with its shiny wood which is so often used for beautiful furniture but also this native tree is a tree which bursts into easter life in the spring with its white flowers and at the same time the bees come out and and find sustenance there for their hives and they pollinate the tree and then first the leaves give shelter and the berries in their green and then they're red give both beauty but also food for champs like this little robin who's now sitting on the oak tree and looking down at me and singing a little bit as well his song is very beautiful through the winter but they are the friendliest birds with their red breast and signs of christmas so often appearing on an english christmas card but the cherry then after the fruits have been taken by the birds in fact the latin name for this tree is prunus avium and that second word is about the birds and uh they spread the the cherry seeds all over it's found except in the far north it's found everywhere in these islands and so we give thanks for its life but what it represents and then the way the leaves give us great beauty as they turn from one color to another in these autumnal days around the cherry are many other guests we've got here a maple tree and then beyond and nearest to what you're looking at probably the horse chestnut tree both of them guests here and maybe we should remember also at this time a cousin of this cherry tree the wild cherry of england and i'm talking now about the prunus autumnalis the winter flowering cherry which came over from japan here at the beginning of the 20th century we have them in the garden we had a big one in the garden which has faltered through savage pruning at some stage but for a long time at christmas time its white flowers would shed its petals and even if no snow had fallen it looked on our forecourt here as though snow had fallen well we planted some more of the prunus autumnalis in the front garden and they are flowering beautifully with their tiny flowers at the moment at this time of year for they are winter flowering but this is very much spring flowering and the cherry river reminds me most of all of a poem by the poet houseman here's my tiny ancient copy which has come with me all over the world i tend to carry things like elliot's four quartets and the poems of gerald manny hopkins but this little copy of the shropshire lad and i became an honorary shropshire lad when i was ordained to become the curator of shrewsbury in shropshire and again all my years as dean of hereford when all of south shropshire is in the diocese of hereford in this town of ludlow particularly is very relevant of houseman's poetry but here in this little book number let me just find it number two i hardly need actually to have the book in front of me to read it poem number two is a hymn of praise to the wild cherry here it is loveliest of trees that cherry now is hung with bloom along the bow and stands about the woodland ride wearing white for easter tide now of my three score years and 10 20 will not come again and take from 70 springs a score that only leaves me 50 more and since to look at things in bloom 50 years are little room about the woodlands i will go to see the cherry hung with snow well that's an easter tide promise of resurrection which will be fulfilled and an easter promise also of the fruits which saint paul speaks of in the lives of his thessalonian christians faith and hope and love and encouragement and courage and faithfulness all those things which like seeds will develop and grow and flower with resurrection loveliness and if you go to the prunus autumnalis flower it christmas tide as well and all of that we remember with massive thanksgiving as we give thanks for the cherry but one more thing when i came here first 20 years ago every august the japanese ambassador would come for an act of reconciliation at the time when the anniversary of the end of the war in the pacific in 1945 took place and the act of reconciliation would include those who had been guards in the japanese camps and those who had been prisoners of war in those camps lining up on the compass rose in canterbury cathedral and shaking hands in an act of reconciliation and on two occasions the japanese ambassador planted a cherry tree as a sign of peace and reconciliation we remember all those cherries trees blossoming also in the mall in washington as we think of the jefferson memorial there and everything else so all those cherries along there there are spring cherries not autumnalis but here the autumn niles remind me because they're guests from japan but now we've received gifts from japan and because that ceremony no longer takes place because the guards and the prisoner grew too old to do it physically then more cherry trees have been given as gifts from the emperor of japan to this place and other holy places and we shall plant those as a sign of peace and reconciliation greet one another with the holy kiss of peace says sin paul and when he's talking about the little community there with most of the qualities of patience and good will he says and do this not only amongst yourself but to everyone so the cherry becomes a sign of peace as well as a tree of great beauty but here is our native one and we give thanks for that as it will blossom really well as a sign of easter resurrection and then become fruitful as we ourselves are expected to be well now let's uh say our prayers for this particular day and we are today on the 15th of december giving thanks for the diocese of sokoto in nigeria and augustine omole the bishop there and his people and the diocese of el salvador in central america and juan david avarado melgar the bishop there and all of his people and here in our own diocese as we give thanks for the ministry of justin our archbishop of rose bishop of dover of tim bishop at lambeth and the ministry of all in ministry in every parish today we are asked as a diocese to give thanks for nhs and care workers and we do that with great gladness we used to stand out in the garden and clap them and we do that together virtually across our prayers this morning but let's then say our prayers and we use first of all the colic for this week which is about ministry and the fruits that we are asked to share with each other wherever we are oh lord jesus christ who at your first coming sent your messenger to prepare your way before you grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready your way by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just that at your second coming to judge the world we may be found in acceptable people in your sight for you are alive and reign with the father in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen and the advent collect almighty god give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life in which your son jesus christ came to visit us in great humility that in the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead we may rise to the life immortal through him who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen so we say the prayer our savior taught us in whichever language you like to use our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen moment of silence now for your own prayers at this time [Music] christ the son of righteousness shine upon you scatter the darkness from before your path and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men oh [Music]