good morning and welcome to this little wood outside the cottage we're using in shopa on this morning of April the 23rd it's an important morning but we've come outside here and behind me is our bird table it's not the time of day really because we're rather later in the morning today cuz fetcher was working on his travel log earlier and so we found some time now to do morning prayer on this important day but I doubt that too many birds will appear so he's he's added to the invitation by putting two little birds that he bought in the some of you will remember in the travelog uh he bought in Kent Connecticut uh and they're sitting in the tree hoping that perhaps the blue tits will return for this little occasion and other birds who come in the morning we have wonderful golden uh um birds and and the pheasants the pheasant full of color with his three hens he always to show them off but I think our presence may just keep them away for for this and we can show them to you in in other pictures I know so April the 23rd an amazingly important day it's St George's day the patron saint of England and it is also the birthday or the supposed birthday it's it's fairly certain this was the birthday in 1564 of William Shakespeare and it's also the day on which he died April the 23rd in 1616 and so we can think of all those things but Shakespeare was someone who clearly loved pastoral scenes and often his his plays are set in in beautiful woodland or country scenes and little songs sometimes come into his mind as that's happening and and so the the song as in as you like it which is probably his most pastoral scene in The Forest of Arden and remember there the song is under the Greenwood tree who loves to lie with me and turn his merry note unto the sweet Bird's throat come hither come hither come hither here shall he see no enemy but winter and rough weather song from as you like it and at the same time we give thanks for all the creativity in tragedy in comedy in history of William Shakespeare but we'll come back to that when we're reflecting later in the program let's turn back to our Saints Day for St George who is usually thought to be a saint from the early 4th Century uh is the patron saint of England and we therefore give thanks for that patronage and the qualities which are normally associated with him again we can come to that in our reflection uh and think how that has been played out in the calendar of saints but for the moment we'll begin our morning prayer as we sit here I'm surrounded by flowering birn cherry it's a lovely tree and it it's slightly more delicate than the Lilac which is also out at the moment but the trees are high around me and covered in the lovely white flowers which now are beginning to drop their petals and they fall like snowflakes around us there are birch trees here as well and Beyond is the meadow where eventually lambs and sheep will come last year we had two very naughty Lambs who used to keep squeezing through the fence and and upsetting their mother because she was far too big to get through but would call them and call them and both of them would seem to be giggling on the other side of the the the lane the before they came back but they came back and they were they were quite safe but for the moment it's earlier uh in the year and so they've not come and here's the sun come out for us as well as we begin our prayer oh Lord open our lips and our mouths shall Proclaim your praise in your Resurrection o Christ let Heaven and Earth Rejoice Allelujah blessed are you Lord God of our our Salvation to you be praise and glory forever as once you ransomed your people from Egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land so now you have delivered us from the Dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your risen son may we the first fruits of your new creation rejoice in this new day you have made and praise you for your Mighty acts Blessed Be god father Son and Holy Spirit blessed be God forever the night is passed and the day Li 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 oh God set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our son this morning is Psalm 96 sing to the Lord a new song sing to the Lord all the Earth sing to the Lord and bless his name turn out his salvation from day to day declare his glory among the Nations and his wonders among all peoples for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised he is more to be feared than all gods for all the gods of the nations are but Idols it is the Lord who made the heavens honor and Majesty are before him power and Splender are in his Sanctuary ascribe to the Lord you families of the peoples ascribe to the Lord honor and strength ascribe to the Lord the honor due to his name bring offerings and come into His courts oh Worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness let the whole earth tremble before him tell it Out Among the Nations that the Lord is King he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved he will judge the peoples with Equity let the heavens rejoice and let the Earth be glad Let the Sea Thunder and all that is in it let the fields be joyful and all that is in them let all the trees of the wood shout for Joy before the Lord for he comes he comes to judge the Earth with righteousness he will judge the world and the peoples with his truth glory to the father and to the son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be World Without End Amen there may be no birds around but there are plenty of bees because the flowers of the bird Cherry are attracting the bees from the hives over Beyond this part of the garden and so we hope for uh a good produce of Honey later on in the season but for the let's turn to our lesson from the scriptures this morning and it's a special one particularly for St George's day it's taken from the very end of St Paul's letter to the Ephesians and it speaks of uh the the way in which armor can be used in a symbolic way to show the virtues of the Valiant fight against evil throughout the world I'm in chapter 6 of the Ephesians and beginning to read at verse 10 finally brothers and sisters be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the Ws of the devil for our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic powers of this present Darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly places therefore take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day and having done everything to stand firm [Music] stand therefore and fasten the belt of Truth around your waist and put on the breastplate of righteousness as shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace and with all of these take the shield of Faith with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and pray in the spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication and to that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints pray also for me so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in Chains pray that I may declare it boldly as I must speak St Paul then speaking from his imprisonment and giving almost in Parable and simil form metaphors using human armor to express the defenses which the followers of the way Christians have against all the weapons of the evil one I think we're going to go to a different location for the next part of our thinking and so um I'll see you in a different place in a moment and that will help us to concentrate on the beauty around us but also on the reflections that we have today this day of St George and of the bard of statford Upon A William Shakespeare so we've come down here in the meadow just below the Farmhouse uh and it's a meadow which isn't close cropped so there are lots of nice daisies and flowers poking through on this lovely morning and sun coming onto these seven Sentinels we might call them they're tall silver birch trees set here perhaps in your picture you can't see all seven but there are four around me as a front row and then three more behind and it makes a lovely change from the Woodland we've been in this is the day that we remember St George the patron saint of England and we remember qualities of what used to be called chivalry but there are qualities which St Paul mentions when he's talking about the armor of faith and the equipment of those who follow in the way of Christ and fight against evil and struggle even with evil within themselves from time to time but these qualities are ones which are expressed by that Shield of faith and sword of the spirit Lily is having a lovely time here chasing the various things that are flying around for this Meadow is left for the the birds and bees uh and it's a a lovely place to be on a Sunday morning I remember singing in uh School A Hymn which was written by Jan struther now Jan struther was known best as Mrs Mina for she was someone who wrote a column in the Times newspaper in the Years leading up to the second world war talking about the life of a m middle class family and she was the mother of that family uh and people would follow this fictitious life which Jan struther actually wrote about and she in the war itself was used by an American filmmaker William Wier to make a film of an ordinary English family coping with the war and the film was called after her heroine Mrs Mina many of you would have seen it it it was starring grea garon and Walter pigeon and Dame May witty as the lady of the manor but it was showing English life and what was under threat and the son of the family Vin joins the Royal Air Force and there the father of the family is part of the Dunkirk evacuations and Winston Churchill said the film was so good for morale it was worth two flua a battle ships and even Geral himself pronounced himself worried by this piece of propaganda it's become a famous film a black and white film made in 1942 but Jan struther was also known as the writer of hymns she was approached when the HM book songs of praise the musical editor of which was Ray Williams was being composed to get put together immediately after the the war the first first world war had ended in the early 1920s and Jan struther was approached uh to and was asked for a couple of hymns or so to put into the book she wrote the hymn Lord of all hopefulness Lord of All Joy but I remember another hymn which we tend not to sing so much now but which is a favorite of all of us when we were in school days and it speaks to the qualities of St George today it went when a knight won his Spurs in the stories of old he was gentle and brave he was gallant and bold with a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand for God and for Valor he rode through the land no charger have I and no sword by my side yet still to Adventure and battle I ride though back into Story Land Giants have fled and the Knights are no more and the dragons are dead let Faith be my shield and let Joy be my Steed against the dragons of anger the ogres of greed and let me set free with the sword of my youth from the castle of of Darkness the power of the truth it's a lovely folk tune that vaugh Williams had discovered which was no doubt sung to other words in Village communities but Jan struther set them to those their words using the imagery I feel of banan and his Pilgrim Christian who's armed with the armor of Faith by those who greet him at the castle beautiful so he may set out bravely on the highway of salvation but it's also of course using the metaphors that's in Paul used to the people of the church in Ephesus at the end of his letter to the Ephesians which we read just now it's amazing how things like this can affect morale for morale is everything and we give that kind of morale one to another in imaginative ways when we think what would cheer so and so art she or he going through really bad times at the moment and I perhaps am the one that can help them help them by a letter help them by a telephone call help them by a text message or if you're physically near help them by a visit we know how much that kind of encouragement from our friends and companions or family across the world can help when we ourselves are feeling low or threatened by all kinds of thoughts which are of anger or we're wrestling with something in our lives which we feel isn't part of God's vocation for us and all of that is expressed in that lovely hymn in that metaphor that symbolism of the night questing as he go goes forward and it's gender nonspecific in in terms of the way in which we go forward for all of us can play our part in the simplest ways and with a little imagination but this isn't just uh the the day when we remember St George perhaps I ought to to mention here a book which we read uh in the middle of the pandemic which was written by Kenneth Graham who wrote The Wind in the Willows and that one was called The Reluctant Dragon and you remember in that story The Dragon has no qualities of anger against folk he's just given a bad name because he's a dragon and it's the little boy who corrects the impression like St Francis with the wolf corrects the impression of what the character of the dragon or the wolf might be Shakespeare though is the other person of of today both a birthday and a Year's mind the date on which he died April the 23rd 1616 in his sonnets he very often conjures up the beauty of the countryside of everything growing and lovely of the springtime and of the flowers and birds which make us feel happy at that time of year but at the same time he's very ious in his sonnets of the fact that that kind of beauty passes away with time and several of his Sonics Express the fact that what he is doing like an artist painting a picture of someone or something natural and beautiful which will grow older with time preserving it by his verse preserving a beautiful companion by his verse perhaps one of his best sonets speaks about that this is Sonet 15 if you want to read it and look it up later but I'll read it to you now when I consider everything that grows holds in Perfection but a little moment that this huge stage presentes not but shows whereon the stars in secret influence comment when I perceive that men as plants increase cheered and checked even by the self-same sky vaunt in their useful sap at height decrease and wear their Brave State out of memory then the conceit of this inconstant stay sets you most rich in youth before my sight where wasteful time debth with Decay to change your day of Youth to solid night and all in war with time for love of you as he takes from you I engraft you new what he's saying to his beloved young companion is all your beauty is encapsulated in my sonnets and preserved new and those sonnets speak of that ability as any creative work might speak of something which in time will wear away because it is living and grows older just like these silver birch trees looking so tall and slim all these things and like you and me grow older with time but certain things can Capture Moments I find that with memories even even a sentence or two from an old Journal will recapture that point in time but we all have creative gifts which do that and we do it for one another too by Conjuring up memories and thinking of days as they were in order that we may have morale to go on even though strength decreases with age this is a day when we think of all of those things giving glory for the image of St George as someone who is an image of questing and fighting against evil and also the image of William Shakespeare in all his creativity on this day of his birth and this day of his death a whole life as he gave his creativity to us in those histories in those comedies in those tragedies and explored our human condition and in his sonnets preserved the love of one human being and then another in different sonnets let's move on now because we're going to a different place to say our prayers together and we'll have some more Reflections there so we've come up to this top Meadow now and this is a field which as you see is covered in the brightness of dandelion it's like a little sunshine all over the place responding to the sunshine in the sky It's a beautiful morning and there are dock leaves amongst the uh dandelions dock leaves were leaves that when we were children if we stung our legs by mistake with stinging nettles we would rub dock leaves onto them and that would help in some way to get rid of the pain of the sting so there were always nice uh remedies for things in the countryside if one herb hurts you another would heal you now Lilia is here with me but she's desperate to get back to Fletcher who's on the camera so I'm going to let her go and see what happens I think she'll run straight down the field there we are uh she's a brave little lady cuz she followed me up but I wanted you to see that she was here amongst all the long grass this field is used for silage and so although sheep were in here in the winter uh this is left so the Grass Grows long and Lush and the plants grow long and Lush and then it will be cut and not dried but put into huge airtite containers and used for when it's compacted used for feeding through the winter a silage field but it gives us the wonderful sight of all these dandelions and I'm sitting high up on a hill and around us we have uh Lars who nest in the ground and then fly High singing as they go and you remember we were talking about rform Williams earlier on as the composer of the tune or not the of the finder of the folk tune and then the setting of that folk tune to to Ellena to um uh um Jan str's words uh but raay for Williams also wrote that wonderful uh uh Skylock uh Rising the and and with the violin playing and playing and playing as the as the lck ascends into heaven and he you hear that all the way up but when they come down there's no song they want to hide their nest and they shoot right down onto the nest in the floor generally along in in the middle of long grass so that they're protecting their nests but they are beautiful songsters now all around here I'm looking out on the hills of shopshire and werer and also Beyond uh into whales some of these are hidden by the trees but if I point in that direction that goes down to tenbury Wells and when you cross the river there then you're into werer whereas we are very much here in shopshire shopshire the the count that I did my curacy in it's rosebury and also this part of the the county was it part of the dasis of Herford where I was Dean at the Cathedral for 10 years so it's not unknown to me at all we've got the height of CLE hill behind feter where he's filming there great big hill and from there you can see all the counties around and then over the the half of the Hill here you would look back into uh England itself but for the moment we're sheltered by this hill with these golden dandelions dandelions always remind me of uh sort of fortitude and and and pushing through whatever happens I remember uh preaching a a sermon at Keel college chapel a long time ago now uh about hope and we had just had a a new covering put on the tennis court in Herford uh and uh that covering was threatened by the fact that dandelion even if you cover up the roots and put tarmac on them have the strength to push through it and to flower again and certainly if all these were clipped off it wouldn't be long before they flowered again there are flowers of enormous determination and and all these things become symbols of what it means to be something living which is determined to show strength but they not only show strength but great uh pictures of of in that they they like sunshine as they come out of the ground each of them and then when they grow as as seeds we used to use them as as dandelion clocks and blow the the seeds off some of them are already showing those seeds to make a dandelion clock so this all fits in very well with the fortitude of St George and the the sense that there is always going to be evil and anger and greed as the hymn says to fight in life even though we may not be Knights on Horseback we have plenty of battles to fight for the right and going through with those qualities of the Kingdom of Heaven that St Paul enunciates in the epistle to the Ephesians but at the same time the dandelion clocks show that time inexorably moves on and by his creativity Shakespeare says ah yes but we can Capture Moments of Beauty in Time beauty in our companions Beauty in creation and we can do it by Creative Arts of All Sorts vaugh Williams by his violin showing the Larks ascending Shakespeare by his words and poetry encapsulating the beauty he sees around him and others with paint brush and oils or whatever you use to to Simply recollect something precious in your life but we've come here to say our prayers and we have a world around us that has enormous troubles Jesus talked when he sat on the mountain of olives with his disciples just before the days of his arrest and trial and crucifixion and they were saying tell us when the time of the end will will come and Jesus Jesus says to them not yet it's not for you to know times there will be wars and rumors of wars there will be earthquakes there will be famines there will be distress among nations looking into the future Jesus was as he looked at the temple which he knew by its own violence would be destroyed air long and we think of our world now with everything that we need to do to strive for peace to give encouragement and suer and help to those who are in the midst of wars or climatic dangers the moment there are huge floods in China in that part of China where our own school at shenzen is there's red alerts for torrential rains still to come but the floods are already there because they've been having those torrential rains and typhoons for some time now in South China and at the same time we think of the wars uh and and the the people of what we call the holy land that the people in Gaza the people in Palestine the people in Israel all of these things were a settlement is needed and peace needs to be restored and people need help medical supplies and food and we continue to pray as we have since oh since we were saying the the um morning prayer in the garden of the dinery for the people of Ukraine and those caught up in that war and we remember those in Russia who are are are sent to fight in the same way people facing the dangers of weapons of war all of these things together with problems which may be our own or those of our friends and companions or families and they need our prayers too you can name them quietly in your hearts but let's say as we sit amongst these glorious flowers of fortitude and color let's say first of all the collect for St George's day and then the collect for Easter tide so bring your prayers as we say these collects God of hosts who so kindled the flame of love in the heart of your servant George that he bore witness to the Risen Lord by his life and by his death give us the same faith and power of love that we who rejoice in his Triumph may come to share with him the fullness of the Resurrection through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen God of Life who for our Redemption gave your only begotten son to the death of the Cross and by his glorious Resurrection have delivered us from the power of our enemy grant us so to Die daily to sin that we may ever more live with him in the joy of his risen life through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen rejoicing in God's New Creation as our savior taught us so we pray 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 tres trp us 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 we're going to return now to the place we started from uh and just have our blessing and our last thoughts about this important day just there for [Music] [Music] for just so we returned to the little Copus and I'm surrounded here by the lovely Blossom again of the bird Cherry from these trees what things we've seen this morning with those Sentinels the silver birch trees the seven silver birch trees so straight and Tall but these elegant trees this burnt Cherry in full flow and uh here's our other flower Little Lily coming to join us as well we'll leave that to her I was just going to say that we're talking about dragons uh no longer being around there is in one of the stories that we read the most Charming tale by Kenneth Graham who wrote Wind in the Willows which is another book which we read during the pandemic and this one is called The Reluctant Dragon and it's a really Charming story about a Dragon who is too shy but everyone thinks that he is a great danger and it takes little boy to find out that he's no danger to them at all so it's it's worth following up and reading you will find it uh somewhere in the stories dur in the um Garden congregation website the relection dragon by Kenneth Graham but this is Shakespeare's day and it's England's day because of St George and so Fletcher uh suggested that we read John of G speech in uh Richard II in and so it's act 2 scene one of Richard II and I'll read part of it now it's talking about England this Royal Throne of Kings this sceptered aisle this Earth of majesty this seat of Mars this other Eden Demi Paradise this Fortress built by nature for herself against infection and the Hand of War this happy breed of men this little world this precious stone set in the silver sea which serves it in the office of a wall or as a moat defensive to our house against the Envy of less happier lands this blessed plot this Earth this realm this England this nurse this teeming womb of royal kings feared by their breed and Famous by their birth renowned for their deeds as far from home for Christian service and true chivalry well may it be so on this day when we think of the qualities of St George so necessary for our world and qualities which can be exercised by any human being and uh this this Christian service of encouragement and the giving of morale of Faith and Hope as St Paul set out in terms of metaphoric armor in the lesson that we read earlier on so thanks be to God for Saints days Saints with their different qualities and thanks be to God for each other to give those qualities and share them each of us with different creative gifts we come to the end then of our morning prayer with an act of blessing the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and Minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his son Jesus Christ Our Lord and the blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be among you and upon those whom you love this day and forever amen well wherever you are God give you a safe and and good day and companions to share the day with and we shall meet again air long at our prayers Fletcher and I are going on now to some friends over in pristine in Wales and they are glass blowers very expert glass blowers and what we're going to to do is not only have supper with them but hopefully to film a little conversation on creativity which philli and Monica and I will conduct this afternoon so have a a rest of the day well e