good evening and welcome at the closing of this lovely day as we come to say some evening prayers in the deanery garden at canterbury cathedral oh lord open thou our lips and our mouths shall show forth thy praise o god make speed to save us o lord make haste to help us glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen praise see the lord the lord's name be praised this 15th evening of the month gives us normally if we're singing it in the cathedral the longest psalm of the month by far psalm 119 is split up into sections but psalm 78 always used on this evening is sung as a whole with all its verses we're not going to do that tonight nor read it all it's a wonderful historical poem about the way in which the history of the chosen people of god in the old testament are led from captivity back to their land that god has promised them and how he found them a leader in their anointed king so we're just going to read a few verses from the end to get the flavor of that but at some stage you may want to read the whole sound to yourself this is the end of psalm 78 but as for his own people god led them forth like sheep and carried them in the wilderness like a flock he brought them out safely that they should not fear and overwhelm their enemies with the sea and brought them within the borders of his sanctuary even to his mountain which he purchased with his right hand he chose david also his servant and took him away from the sheepfolds as he was following the yous great with young ones he took him that he might feed jacob his people and israel his inheritance so he fed them with a faithful and true heart and ruled them prudently with all his power god's care for his people and we're going to use tonight a section of the book deuteronomy chapter 22 just the first few verses where that particular book of the law shows a family neighborliness about possessions and livestock this is how this part of the law runs you shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them you shall take them back to your brother and if he does not live near you and you do not know who he is you shall bring the creature home to your house and it shall stay with you until your brother seeks it then you shall restore it to him and you shall do the same with his donkey or with his garment or with any lost thing of your brothers which he loses and you find you may not ignore it you shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way and ignore them you shall help him to lift them up again sometimes the law is very fierce and sometimes you find enormous flashes of kindness and generosity within it jesus tends to suggest that when the pharisees accuse him of healing someone on the sabbath day and he mentions that part of the law you wouldn't allow your neighbor's donkey leave it in your own donkey to fall in a pit without pulling it out on the sabbath and here i am healing and helping humanity on the sabbath let's carry on with our evening prayers with the magnificat my soul doth magnify the lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my savior for he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath magnified me and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations he has showed strength with his arm he has scattered the pride in the imagination of their hearts he hath put down the mighty from their seat and has exalted the humble and meek he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich she has sent empty away he remembering his mercy has opened his servant israel as he promised to our forefathers abraham and his seed forever glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen some verses from the second chapter of the first letter of saint peter so put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the lord is good does you come to him a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of god chosen and precious you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to god through jesus christ for it stands in scripture behold i am laying in zion a stone a cornerstone chosen and precious and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people israel glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy ghost born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of god the father almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead i believe in the holy ghost the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen let us pray lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon us 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 lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil are men the lord share thy mercy upon us grant us thy salvation our lord save the queen and mercifully hear us when we call upon thee and do thy ministers with righteousness and make thy chosen people joyful o lord save thy people and bless sun inheritance give peace in our time o lord because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou o god oh god make clean our hearts within us and take not thy holy spirit from us almighty god who alone can start the unruly wills and affections of sinful men grant unto thy people that they may love the thing which thou commandist and desire that which thou just promised that so among the sundry and manifold changes of the world our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found through jesus christ our lord amen o god from whom all holy desires all good counsels and all just works to proceed give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness through the merits of jesus christ our savior amen lighten our darkness we beseech thee o lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only son our savior jesus christ amen i said this morning that this is the anniversary of the death in 1886 of the wonderful american poet emily dickinson her verses have given such pleasure comfort but also challenging words to so many over the years some of you may know this book i love this book it's called poem for the day with a forward by wendy cope and for every day of the year there's a particular poem chosen with some little notes at the bottom often to help one in one's understanding on this occasion may the 15th it's hardly surprising that it's emily dickinson who is chosen emily dickinson said of her art her desire to be a poet and write verses if i read a book and it makes my whole body so cold i know no fire can ever warm me i know that is poetry if i feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off i know that is poetry these are the only ways i know it is there any other way i think being her she could have used so many different kinds of images to show exactly how she felt about verses which moved her to the depths of her being and that moving is the only way we know sometimes that this is poetry there is no more poetic book than the scriptures with its psalms but there are so many poems that suddenly catch us in the throat or in the depths of our being and we know that somehow something much deeper is speaking to us in the same way that music or art or the loveliness of god's creation does but also the pain of grief when we lose someone that we love the poem that's set on may the 15th is one of emily dickinson's which reads because i could not stop for death he kindly stopped for me the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality we slowly drove he knew no haste and i had put away my labor and my leisure too for his civility we passed the school where children strove at recess in the ring we pass the fields of gazing grain we pass the setting sun or rather he passed us the dues drew quivering and chill for only gossamer my gown my tippet only tool we paused before a house that seemed a swelling of the ground the roof was scarcely visible the cornice in the ground since then tis centuries and yet feel shorter than the day i first surmised the horse's heads were towards eternity she has a great feel for that which is eternal she also has an economy of words and so many of her verses are just very short lines so many of her poems three four line verses long yet they always pay dividends in their reading we give thanks for that creative art of poetry which gave us such salmony the psalms that we associate with david's musicianship king david the one whom saul asked to come and play for him when he was feeling in the depths of despair but poetry truly is something more than an ordering of words it's an attempt like any art to communicate the sense of both this life and that which is so much more infinite beyond let's just use one little set of verses just three verses in which chris the emily dick dickinson gives us the flavor of how night establishes itself at the end of every day here we are the cricket sang and set the sun and workmen finished one by one there seem the day upon the low grass loaded with the dew the twilight stood as strangers do with hat in hand polite and new to stay as if or go a vastness as a neighbor came a wisdom without face or name a peace as hemispheres at home and so the night became we give thanks for the day for the sunrise we also give thanks for the sunset which presages the night a time of rest time of quiet a time for prayer for those whom we know and those whom we love that they may pass the night safely and awake happily to a new day let's keep silence for a moment before we say the prayer of synchro system as we said we think of all those for whom we want to pray tonight wherever they are in the world give thanks for them for their love for us for their love which has been shown in this world and will be treasured in the next almighty god who has given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee and has promised that when two or three are gathered together in thy name thou wilt grant their requests fulfill now o lord the desires and petitions of thy servants as may be most expedient for them granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth and in the world to come life everlasting amen the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus that great shepherd of the sheep by the blonde of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be amongst you remain with you and with those whom you love and would pray for tonight and always amen