good morning and welcome to the deanery garden in canterbury cathedral on this saturday morning the 2nd of october i'm sitting in the orchard but you're looking through the trees of the orchard at the cathedral on a morning when there's a gleam of morning sunshine but the clouds are full of foreboding and when the sun came up earlier it was red red sky in the morning shepherd's warning and there's dire warnings of really bad weather coming for the rest of the day torrential rain and lots of high winds but for the moment we're peaceful here in the orchard and we're beginning our morning prayers in a moment so whenever you wherever you are in the world please feel welcome last night was a really special night for canterbury it was really the first uh concert we've ever broadcast live on stream and it was a tribute both to our new director of music david news home to our i.t uh team particularly gerardo who helped set everything up and get everything we were very nervous about it everything ready it was a packed choir and congratulations to all our verges and staff who got that ready and carried it through but the event was a terrific success particularly because the organists that had david newsham had managed to secure when thomas trotter who was going to give the the first guest recital on our rebuilt and in large grand organ last night thomas trotter was injured injured his arm and i hope he'll come in the future but david managed to get nathan lauber to come here and nathan changed all his programs around and this young man just wowed everyone there was an instant at the end standing ovation for a performance that i shall never forget and i don't think anyone there will forget but the glory of it all is that you can see it online so you can watch it it's on our youtube on the website there click into it and if you're not particularly an organ specialist then do just look at the last piece perhaps the the the the tanhauser overture by wagner and the pyrotechnics and the skill of nathan this young man who's whose hands and feet seem to have magic in them but he's also got a great grace and and charm with people and he won all hearts last night so do click in and see a bit of that because on on screen the the versatility of the organists hands and feet are very very evident and at the same time this was uh an attempt to gain support for our musical outreach uh all the things that you'll find on the the website described and you can click in and if you would like to um contribute everything everything is free for the whole of the online concert but if you want to contribute there are ways of doing so there so you can click in and write in garden congregation music so that your contribution is absolutely set for the music of the cathedral and its outreach this is also a special day for us because on the 2nd of october 1921 archbishop robert runcie was born and today the centenary of his birth his family are coming here at coral even song with bishop richard charters lord charters now uh formerly bishop of london and at a time lord runs his chaplain and a great friend of his but richard and i were both at constant the seminary together when robert ranci was the principal of our theological college and we both so much valued the leadership he gave and the inspiration he gave to us as seminarians there so we're rejoicing in that this afternoon i fear it will be rather a wet and blowy afternoon for people arriving but i think it will be a great celebration now i have one task to do before we start it's saturday morning and i'm going to just so that i don't have to interrupt prayers put some food out here clemmy and winnie are over there chemi winnie come on hey and we'll there we are come on kenny kimmy here i think come on come on come on come on here they come and they can have their breakfast while we're saying our prayers and probably after they finish their breakfast the rest of the the rest of the gang will join in as well so let's begin our morning prayers on this saturday the 2nd of october [Music] oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the day star dawn in our hearts and triumph over the shades of night blessed are you sovereign god creator of all to you be glory and praise forever founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands in the fullness of time you made us in your image and in these last days you have spoken to us in your son jesus christ the word made flesh as we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us let the light of your love always shine in our hearts your spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips 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 second morning of the month is psalm 10 it's a psalm questioning why god always seems to hold back from scenes which are distressing to humanity why stand so far off oh lord why hide yourself in time of trouble the wicked in their pride persecute the poor let them be caught in the schemes they have devised the wicked boast of their hearts desire the covetous curse and revile the lord the wicked in their arrogance say god will not avenge it in all their scheming god counts for nothing they are stubborn in all their ways for your judgments are far above out of their sight they scoff at all their adversaries they say in their heart i shall not be shaken no harm shall ever happen to me their mouth is full of cursing deceit and fraud under their tongue lie mischief and wrong they lurk in the outskirts and in dark alleys they murder the innocent their eyes are ever watching for the helpless they lie in weight like a lion in his den they lie in wait to seize the poor they seize the poor when they get them into their net the innocent are broken and humbled before them the helpless fall before their power they say in their heart god has forgotten he hides his face away he will never see it arise o lord god and lift up your hand forget not the poor why should the wicked be scornful of god why should they say in their hearts you will not avenge it surely you behold trouble and misery you see it and take it into your own hand the helpless commit themselves to you for you are the helper of the orphan break the power of the wicked and malicious search out their wickedness until you find none the lord shall reign for ever and ever the nation shall perish from his land lord you will hear the desire of the poor you will incline your ear to the fullness of their heart to give justice to the orphan and oppressed so that people are no longer driven in terror from the land it's a prayer it's in the end a statement of confidence it's also an encouragement for us to to be involved in everything that that sound desires for the people who are most oppressed we're going to turn back now to the book of genesis i said we were going to finish it today i'm not quite going to finish it today we'll do that on i think tuesday monday is in france's day and we shall keep that but i'm i'm reading from genesis 49 and verse 28 where we left off yesterday all these are the 12 tribes of israel this is what their father said to them as he blessed them blessing each with the blessing suitable to him then he commanded them and said to them i am to be gathered to my people bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of ephron the hittite in the cave that is in the field at machpila to the east of mamrie in the land of canaan which abraham bought with the field from ephraim the hittite to possess as a burying place there they buried abraham and sarah his wife there they buried isaac and rebecca his wife and there i buried leia the field and the cave that is in it from the hittites when jacob finished commanding his sons he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people then joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him and joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father so the physicians embalmed israel 40 days were required for it for that is how many are required for embalming and the egyptians wept for jacob for 70 days and when the days of weeping for him were passed joseph spoke to the household of pharaoh saying if now i have found favor in your eyes please speak in the ears of pharaoh saying my father made me swear saying i'm about to die in my tomb that i hewed out for myself in the land of canaan there shall you bury me now therefore let me please go up and bury my father then i will return and pharaoh answered go up and bury your father as he made yusua so joseph went up to bury his father with him went up all the servants of pharaoh the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of egypt as well as all the household of joseph his brothers and his father's household only their children their flocks and their herds were left in the land of goshen and there went up with him both chariots and horsemen it was a very great company when they came to the threshing floor of atad which is beyond the jordan they lamented thou with a very great and grieving lamentation and he made a morning for his father for seven days when the inhabitants of the land the canaanites saw the morning on the threshing floor of etan they said this is a grievous morning by the egyptians therefore the place was named abel israel it is beyond the jordan thus jacob's sons did for him as he had commanded them for his sons carried him to the land of canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of machpelah to the east of mamrie which abraham bought with the field from ephron the hittite to possess as a burying place after he had buried his father joseph returned to egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father we'll stop there russell you're a big baby you're frightened of the pigs go and have your breakfast and don't be such a scaredy cat uh so we come to our reflection on that particular lesson as russell greets the morning all the feathered friends are going to be in for a bad shock with the rest of the day which is going to be wet and blowy it's weather that they hate so i think they'll probably retire to their shed and after they have buried jacob in the tomb for his family notice there is one name missing and that's the name of his beloved wife his second wife rachel the mother of joseph and of benjamin remember she is buried at beslehem we remembered that from time to time but for the while the family of joseph with all the high servants of the pharaoh looking like an egyptian funeral bury jacob in the cave that he had received from his father isaac and his grandfather abraham where they are buried too and there they do as jacob asks them they bury their father but then they return to their flocks and children back in egypt for there are years also of famine left and there they settle and are resourced tomorrow we will sorry on tuesday we will continue that story tomorrow sunday we have special lessons and then on monday saint francis day on this day there are several dates that are important to remember it was on sunday the 2nd of october 1836 that hms beagle the ship of captain fitzroy came into falmouth harbour the captain as he had been his custom through the whole five-year voyage around the whole world with many many different experiences for both robert fitzroy and also charles darwin who was with him on that expedition both as a friend to keep the captain company but at the same time someone who was investigating creatures the life of our planet and all kinds of uh geology and even archaeology and the specimens that darwin had sent back to england had come well ahead of him as they had been given to ships which were coming back as they went round now that voyage of the beagle ended on that sunday morning with robert fitzroy holding the normal service that he held with the services for those who were at sea from the old book of common prayer he had never missed a sunday morning there was a faithfulness in the rhythm of the captain and there is a famous picture painted by the ship's artist of the captain doing more or less what we are this morning with his crew on a sunday morning they're below deck because it must have been stormy above and he's he is sitting there with the crew all around him uh uh painted and pictured in in their various stations but they're at sunday morning service and the captain is reading the service and being a godly and faithful man robert fitzroy also read them part of the scripture and explained the scriptures as he saw them to them and in darwin's diary he says as they came within sight of falmouth harbour and dropped anchor the captain led the last of the services that darwin would attend because he was going to leave the ship at falmouth say that the faithfulness of robert fitzroy in the rhythms of worship which we do each day morning by morning is something of that voyage all the way through and darwin remembered that and set it down but darwin at this point on the 2nd of october 1836 leaves the beagle he wants to get home he's not seen his family whole five years and much may have happened of course they've had letters which took an age to reach him at various places that ships brought them to and when the beagle arrived there there would be letters waiting for him and for robert fitzroy and for the rest of the crew and if you read the journal of darwin or the voyage of the beagle or the journals of fitzroy you realize that that little company in the ship had to fend for itself but they kept making landfalls and when they made landfalls darwin tended to go ashore and investigate what was there and now he's come back and first of all he goes home to shrewsbury i remember very well the house where his father the doctor in shrewsbury lived at that time a big house sir uh and darwin went back to that but later on quite soon after that he would marry emma wedgwood and they themselves would find another home and that would be in kent it's down house and it is the most wonderful house to go to it is now a heritage site not a world heritage that but a heritage site there and you can go there and visit it and as you go there you realize that this is the home that darwin chose for quietness reflection and the sifting in scholarship of all that he had found the evidence of all that journey and the way in what which he wanted to set it out and to go there and stand in those greenhouses and walk the sand walk which darwin walked up and down thinking thinking but at the same time he was a father of a large family and other members of his family came to see him there and if you go there there's a a reconstruction of the house just as it was in darwin's time you see his study you see the way in which he reflected walking up and down and kept in touch with people like fitzroy and those of the voyage but also was fated of course by scholars in england itself when he came back so he got a house where london was possible in a journey but mostly he wanted quiet in the countryside his journeying days were over now was the time for reflection and down house is very much a sign of that reflection and scholarship so we give thanks for that new beginning being at home in a different way in down house i want to think of our home on this day the deanery here in canterbury for this is the day on the 2nd of october 1816 that mahatma gandhi was born and mahatma gandhi later on in 1931 when he was visiting this country and had a very tiring time received an invitation from the dean here hewlett johnson to come and spend time with him in the deanery and gandhi came this this day the 2nd of october is kept as a an international day of non-violence because of gandhi's great philosophy of um okay resistance but always non-violence which wasn't to the taste of many trying to help in a particular cause but when he came here he came in a different way he bought a hand loom he brought a goat he stayed in the house the hand loom and the goat were the sign of everyone needing to be self-sufficient in the way they looked after themselves but the conversations that she had with hewlett johnson my predecessor here at the time before the war before the deanery received the bombing at the front so it was the the house as it it was before the war but they talked together as gandhi used his loom and they also sat side by side in the cathedral when the dean went to worship so that gandhi could sense the rhythm of the life of this place i talked about fitzroy's rhythm of worship on the beagle and gandhi came here and experienced the worship of the cathedral in its rhythms as the dean went across to morning prayer uh in hewlett johnson's diary there's a scene of gandhi sitting on the table with his bare legs swinging as as hewlett johnson boiled the kettle for a cup of tea in the morning before going across and it's a lovely thing there's a lovely photograph in black and white of gandhi standing outside the deanery with hewlett johnson and when i went to visit uh india and was was there and i went as the dean of canterbury that photograph gave me an enormous passport to everywhere because there was the the dean of canterbury one of my predecessors standing with gandhi at the front door of the deanery but we remember most of all the joint rhythms of life that both gandhi and hewlett johnson and fitzroy needed as a a balance and an encouragement for one another and a sharing of reflections and vision i want to say also that on this particular morning the 2nd of october we remember that in 1951 the singer the british singer sting was born and i i've always enjoyed his his uh his songs the one i remember best of all i mean i enjoy a lot of his song fields of gold i i love and an englishman in new york always amuses me when he's singing that or every breath you take which is a a moving song and he insisted about this was how love can become obsessive and do damage um and uh but the song i i i really enjoy him singing is uh spread a little happiness it's an older song written by vivian ellis uh and in his his uh video of the song at the time when the the single was was set out he is acting the part of i should think either the curate because he's quite young with his coat off and his white sleeves and his black stock and collar it's all in black and white and the people that are sitting at the table in the church hall or in the church are dressed in the clothes that i was used to my parents older generation wearing at the end of sort of wartime and i think this is reckoned to be or meant to be one of the areas where people who didn't have resources were were given food and and drink they could call in and i remember even in my growing up there were places called british restaurants where good square meals were given to people and sting is there and he's holding a big teapot and he's obviously idolized by all the the women there in brightening their lives and he's singing the song even when the darkest clouds are in the sky you mustn't sigh and you mustn't cry spread a little happiness as you go by please try you know the song very well i'm sure what's the use of worrying and feeling blue when days are long keep on smiling through spread a little happiness till dreams come true surely you'll be wise to make the best of every blues day don't you realize you'll find next monday or next tuesday your golden shoes day and as he does so he begins to dance with all the people in the hall and then still with the teapot in his hand uh so that introduced me to him the first time and i wanted to say that that little video is a sign of great encouragement you can find it actually on on on google and i i watched it this morning just to remind me on this birthday of sting of that song which cheered me up when i first saw it all those years ago that was uh i don't know when he when he did that actual song but it's it's early in his career in the the late 80s i would think so um let's then begin to think of the the next part of what we're going to do this morning which is going to be quite different and we'll keep it as a surprise but i'm going to move now and join you in another place in the garden i said we'd be coming to a different part of the garden we've come in fact to the propagating house one of our greenhouses here which at the moment is not being used for propagation but is actually taking the last of the tomato crop tomatoes have not done well this year like potatoes they seem to have suffered from a very damp year but we're using them for a special purpose today um they're sheltering at the moment three young pheasants who are growing up here and the tortoises are in here too because it keeps them warm on days when it's been quite cool recently but you'll remember that uh right at the end of july and we remember because it was her birthday on that day the 31st of july beryl came with alan to show us the little hedgehogs and we held them and shared them with you at that time well now they are 17 weeks old and they've come to be residents in the dinery garden because it's nice and safe here with walls all the way around and lots and lots of places which hedgehogs will like to go but to begin with we're going to acclimatize them here in the greenhouse so let me ask beryl something about them to start with and then let's get one or two of them out shall we to see well they've done very well indeed they came anybody that saw us at the beginning in june when we first brought them here um they were two weeks old and they were found so we didn't think they'd do so well and as you've seen in a minute they have done so well indeed good they've been indoors they've been hand reared and then they started that to be weaned it's just like any other baby then feeding themselves then we have to move them outside so they climatize and now they're just ready to go they're sniffing the air and you get to know what they need next and here they will learn about being out in the world if you like because they've been hand-reared we can't just throw them out into a field they have to be properly climatized let's see how big they've grown it's eight weeks i think since we saw them last they're 17 weeks old now and it was the 31st of july they were last here so let me spikey oh i'll take a spiky one good here we are little chap you've grown big and you're much heavier you're about a kilo in weight [Laughter] is lazy they're going to have a wonderful time and in a moment we're going to put them down to find their way around and then they'll become brave but over the next few weeks they can wander in and out from here when they want to there's no predator that's any danger to them in the garden we don't have any badgers or anything of that kind here and as i say the whole garden is walled and so they can wander around and find food and for the moment they can make their way around the greenhouse with all this vegetation yes they'll like it here i think we're there yeah yes yeah they're growing quite restless no this is the bad tempered one he's hissing i think we all feel like that when we've been woken up he does bite as well at times so what should we do put them down and let them find their way let's see what happens okay let's see let's put mine on the floor here then we're going to get down there we are how's that you'll probably go straight into the leaves and we shall lose sight of them it's amazing isn't it they are incredible creatures really and of course they're they're endangered because their habitats are are getting smaller and smaller so we have a duty to look after them because they are very very good for gardens they are very good and we don't want to lose them we certainly don't losing too much yeah and that's why we try to move them into places where we can conserve them and increase them next year absolutely it is really wonderful work in terms of being able to look after ones that have been either left without any kind of parents let me let me bring you back in you're a bit more active than this little chap who's going to sleep again i think we want him to be comfortable here so that's really lovely and he's curled right up i see that yeah yeah he said i'm not waking up it shows how protective the the the prickles become because they all crisscross on their backs so that you in picking them up you're bound to get spiked in one way or another but when they're walking along then the prickles are all quite smooth and when they become happy and and happy with you then that becomes an easy thing to do but for the moment they're going to explore the garden this one over here is is already sniffing around and you see how he feels and how they seal you know where they absolutely get together absolutely amazing which makes them waterproof an amazing defensive posture we're so glad to have them as residents here thank you we shall look after them but um we probably won't see that once once they get used to things we won't see them too much because of course they they tend to trundle around and then suddenly you come across them uh maybe at twilight going along the garden paths but in the orchard and near the stream and all of the the area where there's a water and all kinds of things for them to feed on then they will be doing huge amounts of good for the garden and uh so these three guests he really is bad [Laughter] these three little guests are now new guests that maybe we shall see from time to time as a garden congregation but their home for the moment will be in here um protected with only the the three pheasants and also the two tortoises and tiger who will do them no damage at all he'll enjoy the little bit of company here so let's finish off our morning prayers say on beryl and i'll just complete our prayers and and then we can have a cup of tea before i go across to cathedral matins so today in our prayers we are praying for in the anglican communion the diocese of gahini in the anglican church of uganda and i'm sorry over rwanda and uh in the diocese itself for archbishop justin of course for bishop rose of dover bishop emma at lambuth and the parishes we're praying for the ashford town parish now that's mary the virgin ashford great chart singleton saint francis south ashford kennington kings north shadducks house willsborough sevington and christchurch we also remember in that area um friends of ours uh chris and martin christoph of course the the vet who uh looked after tiger uh and has made him into a very active cat again and also a great friend of of beryl as well because he's someone who sometimes refers creatures to you and knows that they'll get a good home so we give thanks for all those parishes the clergy there jeremy worthen bonnie appleton dawn stamper cassie aldis richard bellamy and the curious bruce watson jeff abbasello mannery and andrew brown we think of all those as you bring your own intentions from right across the world and we join together in the collect for this day almighty god you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself and so bring us at last to your heavenly city where we shall see you face to face through jesus christ our lord amen so together in your own language in whichever way you like to say it the prayer that our savior taught 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 and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men moment of silence now for your own prayers 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 upon you from those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always amen this time in the morning we've escaped the rain but it's certainly on its way and thank you to beryl for being here today and thanks for the gift of our two friends he's getting himself acclimatized by licking himself in that way you want to explain that yes he's self-labitating because he's now being eaten eating some of the tomato plants and also your cassock i'm used to that with absolutely everything so this is this is fantastic yeah he's making himself acclimatized in in that way yeah yeah our friend here is still not woken up until he'll make himself and the other one has gone exploring in a very big way so he's gone into the straw i think over there this is going to be a wonderful home for them and lots of companionship for tiger and the rest and i don't think the tortoises will come out much today i think it's too too chilly for them is yeah it's strange that it's just october the 2nd and the temperature is yeah well it's not quite winter but it's certainly feeling like it isn't i think it's time that we had a warm cup of tea let's do that wonderful yes a little bit more cassock it's very good food remember the words of sting spread a little happiness as you go by you