good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this morning of wednesday the 13th of october it is the most beautiful morning with sunshine and a blue sky but i've come up here onto the bastion garden and i chose to come here uh rather than fletcher choosing because i wanted to be in a place which was created absolutely from nothing at all and uh it was special who chose to do it so in fact he's he's been brought up here under false presidencies really to to to be in one of his own works from nothing at all and when this little garden on just tarmac here on the the the roof with a drain in the middle of it began to be created a lot of people said uh you're crazy doing that and now is one of people's most favorite parts of the garden because it gives you the most lovely private space high up i'm looking at sunlight on a huge ash tree and bay tree and we have around us the the acanthus dying down for the autumn now the aloe vera but so many other plants which have flowered through under water gardens with water that is still coming up to flower at this time of year the sun will gradually come round to the garden but it's a lovely place to come early in the morning at all times of year but the dawn is getting later and later at the moment and so as tiger and i sit here we are in shade but we're looking at bright sunshine with a blue sky above us so please bring your prayers from wherever you are in the world because the the creating something out of uh material most unlikely is part of our theme today when we begin our reflection but let's start our prayers and bring your own concerns as always to our morning prayers 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 creator of all to you be praise and glory forever excuse me as your dawn as your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation may we rejoice in this day you have made and as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will and 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 sorry so our psalm this morning i think the frog in my throat is gone um our song this morning is psalm 68 the sun for the 13th morning of the month it's a long song so as usual we'll read uh some sections of it psalm 68 let god arise and let his enemies be scattered let those that hate him flee before him as the smoke vanishes so may they vanish away as wax melts at the fire so let the wicked perish at the presence of god but let the righteous be glad and rejoice before god let them make merry with gladness sing to god sing praises to his name exalt him who rides on the clouds the lord is his name rejoice before him father of the fatherless defender of widows god in his holy habitation god gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners to songs of welcome but the rebellious inhabit a burning desert oh god when you went forth before your people when you marched through the wilderness the earth shook and the heavens dropped down rain at the presence of god the lord of sinai at the presence of god the god of israel you sent down a gracious reign o god you refreshed your inheritance when it was weary your people came to dwell that in your goodness so god you provide for the poor blessed be the lord who bears our burdens day by day for god is our salvation god is for us the god of our salvation god is the lord who can deliver from death sin to god you kingdoms of the earth make music in praise of the lord he rides on the ancient heaven of heavens and sends forth his voice a mighty voice ascribe power to god whose splendor is over israel whose power is above the clouds how terrible is god in his holy sanctuary the god of israel who gives power and strength to his people blessed be god so we're returning to the book of exodus where we left off yesterday and uh we are going to go back to moses having received the absolute command of god to go and set his people free we saw moses arguing with god that he wasn't the right person the wrong sort of material to do this particular very very significant piece of work for his people there would be others better suited than him but god has chosen moses and in the conversation they have you remember god says perhaps you can't speak very well so i will give you aaron your brother and aaron shall be your mouthpiece but as we shall find out on the way through moses grows in confidence once he has the courage to embrace his vocation he goes back to jezreel his father-in-law tells him what he intends to do and jeff rowe jethro gives him leave and so with zipporah his wife and his sons he goes back back to egypt i'm starting at verse 27 of chapter four the lord said to aaron go into the wilderness to meet moses so aaron went and met moses at the mountain of god and kissed him and moses told aaron all the words of the lord with which he had sent him to speak and all the signs that he had commanded him to do then moses and aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of israel aaron spoke all the words that the lord had spoken to moses and did the signs in the sight of the people and the people believed and when they heard that the lord had visited the people of israel and that he had seen their affliction the people bowed their heads and worshiped afterwards moses and aaron went and said to pharaoh thus says the lord the god of israel let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness but pharaoh said who is the lord that i should obey his voice and let israel go i do not know the lord moreover i will not let israel go then they said the god of the hebrews has met with us please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the lord our god lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword but the king of egypt said to them moses and aaron why do you take the people away from their work get back to your burdens and pharaoh said behold the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens that same day pharaoh commanded the task masters of the people and their foremen you shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as in the past let them go and gather straw for themselves but the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them still you shall by no means reduce it for the people are idle therefore they cry let us go and offer sacrifice to our god therefore let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words lying words i do not know the lord and all these responses from the king of egypt at the sense of his labor force being taken away by moses and aaron the two brothers of the house and tribe of levi a very different kind of tribe from the tribe of levi all the priests and levites came and they will have a very different role when they reach the promised land in the end but for the moment moses is of the house of levi as is aaron and they stand before the pharaoh and everything they've asked has actually proved for the people a harder thing than ever for in his anger at what's being asked the pharaoh decides to increase the burden moses has argued about his location with god he's embraced it received his father-in-law's blessing come back to egypt met his brother and aaron and he have performed the signs that god has given them to his people it looks as good so this work is going to be a smooth path and then suddenly as so often happens when a work like this begins they strike seemingly an immovable object and that is the will of the pharaoh that the people should not be allowed to go into the wilderness it is a trick to release them from their work they are idle says the pharaoh so that the fulfilling of moses vocation for the moment seems to make the situation for his people worse things get worse before they get better [Music] and now would be the time for moses and aaron to lose heart and we shall see tomorrow that the people's reaction to what's happening is anything but favorable to moses and aaron not a clear path but often god's will calls us into areas where different gifts are needed and one of those gifts is steadfastness in the face of difficulty how often we see that in the gospels of the new covenant or the writings of the apostles in the epistles afterwards and difficulties when we're going forward and thinking this surely is the way that i'm being led but it seems that there's something in the way which is immovable holding on at that moment and praying and offering things to god is all that we can do and moses staff in hand and brother by his side is reduced to that not a clear path well it's only really the beginning of our story so we shall come back to that but we have some dates which tend to speak of the same kind of thing this is in our calendar the day when we remember the saxon king the last of the anglo-saxon kings who had also many connections with the normans just across the channel from from england at that time and uh edward the confessor had norman cousins one of them of course william of normandy but edward the confessor himself is given that title because of his holy life and the stability he created at the end of that anglo-saxon period he became king in 1042 and he would cease to be king in 1066 the day of his death in 1066 a significant date for our history in these islands 1066 is it's actually a date that that most people know here edward had been crowned in winchester cathedral in 1042 and when he became king he had a project that he wanted to accomplish and that project was the building of westminster abbey october the 13th isn't a date in edward's own life it is the date when the new abbey which later on was finished by king henry iii with a completely new building at the end of the 13th century it was the date on which his body i mean edward the confessor was translated moved into the new shrine created for him the date october the 13th 1269 and this is a a festival day for westminster abbey so we send out our our prayers and our greetings and good wishes to the dean uh david and the chapter of the of the westminster abbey uh and uh and and let me say martin their head verger who's one of our garden congregation as well so as we send out our greetings to the the staff and and uh the the dean and canons of westminster we actually are sending greetings to a similar kind of community as our own it was a benedictine abbey for many years until the reformation but it was edward the confessor who wanted to build this royal chapel which has become so significant to our nation and in which monarchs are crowned and when he began to build it he was building the first norman romanesque church in england it was completely demolished by henry iii and rebuilt in the way that you see it now but from the 13th century right up to 1649 the coronation regalia with which the king would be crowned was in the possession of westminster abbey and it was used for every coronation that took place there in the thrones in deadwood and it was only in 1649 in the after the execution of king charles the first that oliver cromwell destroyed completely the royal regalia and when charles ii became king later that new regalia crown and and and uh scepters were created at that time the regalia became so much a sign of kingship that cromwell wanted them gone but then in 1660 new ones had to be created for the the coronation of charles ii well that creation of the abbey led then to the throne being there but also at the end of edward's holy life he had no clear air he had given up a promise to william of normandy his cousin in 1051 that he would recognize his right to the throne when he died and when harold the saxon son of al godwin was in normandy with william he promised also that he would uphold williams claim when edward died as we know harold himself claimed the throne and for a few months was the king until william intending to take what he saw very much as his rightful place as king of of this land came with the norman army and at the battle of hastings harold was killed and william then marched on triumphant all of that actually is told in that wonderful tapestry the bayer tapestry which tells the story beginning and there's a scene of of edward uh the confessor seeming to to make the promise there's a scene of harold uh making the the oath to accept that too but it was created that tapestry was woven here by anglo-saxon weavers in canterbury in 1070 so only four years after the conquest and it tells the story it held it by yeah because king william had had created it for his new cathedral in bayer in normandy but remember the two lands were one one kingdom at that time and so it went back there and you can see it in and many of you would have done so when you've been to bayer i certainly saw it with wonder as you go around the room where it's displayed and beautifully beautifully preserved but the pictures are telling the story as far as possible in an accurate way through and they are very dramatic as they go through so we give thanks for that colorful piece of history in bayer which had its genesis here in the hands of the saxon weavers in 1070. just four years after that date but in 1070 we tend to think of this cathedral being restored by archbishop lam frank who came with the normans and thought he must build a fine stone cathedral here too canterbury of course was founded in 597 but it had many buildings that built and destroyed by danish invaders and foundations of that lie below but at the same time landfrank built the first norman cathedral here in that way and it's thought that some of our stained glass which uh is in the building now came from that earlier cathedral which suffered and and was restored in many ways but our glass as you know has recently been found to be much older than than some of the the pieces were thought to be and some is thought to go back to that cathedral of land frank i mustn't get diverted because i want to go on to a new date this morning today on the 13th of october 1822 in venice which was his home place that that part of venetia the sculptor the marble sculptor antonio canova one of the most famous of all sculptors in marble uh died he'd been born in 18 in 1757 in the what was the republic of venetia at that time a republic which napoleon abolished and after the battle of waterloo at the congress of vienna venice became the part of the habsburg empire from and ruled from vienna but uh canova was a citizen there and carved not carved in marble not just for venice but for folk who commissioned him all over europe and especially one can see his sculptures you can see uh sculpture sculpture that he created in saint peter's basilica uh the the the tomb of clement the thirteen thins in peter's basilica you can also see the tomb of the stuart monarchs there over where they are buried as as uh kenova created that that huge tomb but at the same time lovely pieces of sculpture like the three graces which sometimes you can see in the victoria and albert and sometimes you can see in the national academy in scotland because it belongs to both and so the three graces spend time in both such a a beautiful piece of of sculpture but what i wanted to to to say um is that we had the happy chance of being in the metropolitan museum in new york in february of uh 2014 when some of our own glass was on exhibition at the cloister part of the museum and i was giving a lecture there about the glass in the metropolitan museum itself and we found there and went back to see it uh at the same time an exhibition of the seven last works that canova created and they're not in marble they're in uh plaster on a bath relief and we had already seen some of that in in venice in the museo cora where there are panels like that which can over really elegant panels created from scenes from the odyssey and the most famous of course is the dancing of the sons of arsinois at the phaetian games where uh odysseus is fated and welcomed there but these uh relief panels in new york that we saw all together there were of a very different nature they were biblical panels and each was immensely moving just to see it i think we went round each of them in silence and we were allowed to take photographs of them and they moved you to tears because they were so beautiful he was intended to create about 32 biblical panels to go on his own tomb um but at the same time that that pyramid term tomb in the ferrari in venice which some of you will know of great simplicity but he only managed to achieve seven and those seven begin with the creation and it it's a most moving relief of god creating the heavens and the earth and sun and moon are there in great drama i'm i'm doing it from memory but next also in great drama is the creation of adam the human figure standing as the creator places a hand on his head giving life starting a work from the beginning a work which was to have many pitfalls throughout human history and that continues today but we're on a day when good beginnings uh can can find of things which get in the way but but courage and a belief in the fact that this is the way forward is is absolutely necessary well the next one is of the murder of of abel by cain very dramatic indeed and that is followed by an equally dramatic one of abraham with isaac on the altar abraham's hand raised with the knife and a hand from heaven stopping him and then we go into new testament times and these are panels of great beauty the three new testament ones which he achieved the first is the annunciation with the graceful figure of the archangel gabriel and the figure in all humility of the blessed virgin herself standing before the archangel the most unlikely vessel in her own mind rather like moses arguing with god but she doesn't argue she asks the question how can this be and then uh after the angel has given the the the uh vocation that is has she responds with behold i am the lord's handmaid behold the handmaid of the lord be it unto me according to thy word in the traditional way and that panel really says it all but so too does the joy of the panel of the visitation with mary and her older cousin elizabeth both bearing children within them and both sharing our physical joy as that visitation happens and then the last one is of stretching out with the child and the two little dubs for sacrifice at that point and the child is being given not to the priest at that point but to simeon the old man who recognizes the lord's moment and is about to say lord now let us now thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen my salvation that's the moment that's captured by canova in that vast relief i've gone in detail through these because with such an unlikely material as plaster that wonderful sculpture sculptor has created pictures for us which move us in a wonderful way and then lastly i wanted to speak about the way in which humanity can interpret words into human figures and set before us human characters i say that because on this day in 1905 the very famous late victorian and early edwardian actor sir henry irving died and he was well known for his portrayal of hamlet with ellen terry as as ophelia but of almost all the shakespearean characters whether it was hamlet or king lear he out of shakespeare's words with his own humanity could create the human representation for those watching to receive and be moved by or cheered by or moved to sorrow or moved to real sympathy of love in romeo and juliet or one of the other plays goes through the shakespeare plays but also the marlow plays i say that because on uh the a particular day the 13th of october in 1905 he died but in 1891 he came here to canterbury to unveil outside our christchurch cathedral gate in the butter market a statue honoring uh christopher marlowe who was educated here and he he marlow had written many plays that irving had acted in and especially tumbling and uh the the the statue which no longer stands outside the butter market for a time it went off to the dane john gardens in the 1920s but now it stands quite rightly so outside the marlow theatre and and as it's there you see around four characters of marlow's own plays being played by famous actors but there is tumbling played by irving himself well we don't need to dwell further on that because it's following the theme through of someone being called to a particular vocation who can out of most strange and sometimes material which people say can you do that with that and at the same time they themselves might find difficulty and have to stop and think is this the right path but it reminds me of that simplest of stories which i've heard told by so many people of the little girl standing before the sculpture sculpture creating a sculpture of a lion out of a piece of marble and the lion's head is forming and the little girl saying to the sculptor how did you know the lion was inside there and we remember stephen cox who has carved in beautiful marble for canterbury cathedral the water stoop and the altar in the sintan selms chapel saying you have to believe in the material and know intuitively what is in there and what that piece of material in partnership with you can do and it becomes a relationship between the human figure and the material which is being used uh just as moses saying i'm the most unlikely person in the world but in the end with a little help from god he goes forward but he's going to find many many stopping places seeming to counter the vocation he's feeling well that's an ongoing story so let's see the sun is still shining on the ash tree above me here and it's going to be a really nice autumn day let's say our prayers we're praying today for the diocese of gaetega in the anglican church of burundi and we are praying also in our own diocese of course for archbishop justin for bishop rose of dover for bishop emma at lambeth and today continuing to pray for the area generally of dover that's the town of dover and all the villages which we shall name next week one by one day by day uh all the villages and communities around but today we're praying for every clergy person with permission to officiate that means those who out of good will in a voluntary capacity help out in all the churches and communities there but let's pray also for all those who worship in whatever christian denomination in that area and bring your own prayers also for the concerns that you have and perhaps your own faith communities and leaders at this time let's use the collect which we've begun to know now oh god for as much as without you we are not able to please you mercifully grant that your holy spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts through jesus christ our lord amen so the prayer our savior taught us in whatever 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 to deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men go into silence now for your own prayers and concerns so so [Music] 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 upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men i wanted to mention that uh we've been speaking about westminster abbey so we send special greetings and thanks to jamie hawkey there in his ministry there but last night fletcher and i um tuned in to a lovely webinar which she introduced and took part in at the anglican center in rome it was a webinar about our response as uh individual human beings of course but also as as churches and communities who believe in the care of our planet and in an hour and a half we learned many things from the various speakers and so we're grateful to be there when we have the link from the anglican center in rome we will add that to the website so that you could yourself use the link to join in with that webinar and and uh hear the same kind of message well we've been in the sun not that in the shade not the sun today you and i haven't we so i think we'll go and get some warmth shall we shall we move on perhaps i can give you a bit of warmth first maybe see where we are okay it's a nice day good okay back down into the warmth of the garden okay tiger we must go come on can i come you want me to stay come on we've got to be in our work come on that's right there we go so you