good morning and gong had fat choi to all our chinese friends celebrating chinese new year on this day reaching across the world we remember and greet archbishop paul kwong the primate there and we uh also remember that he's a member of this cathedral council and give thanks for his support here remember the the dean matthias and and the staff at hong kong cathedral saint john's and remember felix the organist there who's been such a help in planning the music for next year's lambeth conference he's even translated one of my hymns into chinese and i have no idea what the accuracy is like but i trust felix implicitly and then our team at the king's school in shenzhen the executive principal our great friend jeff coxworth who is the founding executive principal of that school but was for many years the deputy head academic of our king school here in canterbury and among the team there who support the school and are developing it we remember on this morning and send greetings to cynthia and hubert to peggy and bernard and olive and also to chairman and mrs kung and to the family especially justin and sam and to lincoln and we remember chinese friends as you will around the world celebrating this particular day with great joy and festivity among friends here we think of will and helen and martha celebrating chinese new year a new year is a turning over of all kinds of new leaves and so we join our aspect of joy and celebration with the chinese celebrating new year today now i found a chinese new year song which is converted onto the piano it'll probably sound nothing like the song but i'm going to have a go and see how it is so it's well intentioned this is a chinese new year song [Music] [Music] so let's move over we're inside today and it's freezing cold outside there's snow left but it's not the attractive snow of yesterday on all the branches there it's actually lying on the grass and very crisp underfoot but the ice is also lethal underfoot so one has to take care and wherever you are in the world please feel welcome here in the deanery at canterbury as we say our morning prayers with this theme of new year for our chinese friends 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 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 as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind does 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 this morning on the twelfth day of the month is psalm 62 on god alone my soul in stillness waits from him comes my salvation he alone is my rock and my salvation my strongholds said that i shall never be shaken how long will all of you assail me to destroy me as you would a tottering wall or a leaning fence they plot only to thrust me down from my place of honor lies are their chief delight they bless with their mouth but in their heart they curse wait on god alone in stillness o my soul for in him is my hope he alone is my rock and my salvation my stronghold so that i shall not be shaken in god is my strength and my glory god is my strong rock in him is my refuge put your trust in him always my people pour out your hearts before him for god is our refuge the peoples are but a breath the whole human race that is seat on the scales they are all together lighter than air put no trust in oppression in robbery take no empty pride though wealth increase set not your heart upon it god spoke once and twice have i heard the same that power belongs to god steadfast love belongs to you o lord for you repay everyone according to their deeds so we turn to our reading from st mark's gospel and we take up from where we left off yesterday and we're reading at the end of chapter 7 verse 31 it's immediately after the incident and the healing of the syrophoenician woman's little daughter which as we saw yesterday was a vocational stepping stone and opening up of a new dimension in jesus's ministry it meant that his ministry was for the whole world taking place in a foreign place for him and then being given as a gift to that but that was the beginning of so many things which now will begin to unfold here's verse 31 of chapter 7. then jesus returned from the region of tyre and went by way of sidon towards the sea of galilee in the region of the decapolis they brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech and they begged him to lay his hand on him jesus took him aside in private away from the crowd and put his fingers into his ears and he spat and touched his tongue then looking up to heaven he sighed and said to him that is be opened. and immediately his ears were opened his tongue was released and he spoke plainly then jesus ordered them to tell no one but the more he ordered them the more zealously they proclaimed it they were astounded beyond measure saying he has done everything well he even makes the death to hear and the mute to speak that word mute is one that i used to use very little and now i find myself using all the time because in any virtual meeting we have the power to mute ourselves into silence or unmute and be free to speak and if you're the chair of the meeting you have on zoom especially the particular power of being able at a press of a button to mute everyone except yourself or to mute everyone except the speaker and that becomes an extraordinary exercise let me say that i find meetings on screen with lots of people much more difficult to share than meetings where i can see the body language totally of everyone and be intuitive about how they're reacting but nevertheless as with all online aspects of what we're doing at the moment if you have great groups there it is a way of keeping in touch with each other and there is a sense also of being in conversation with each other but today what jesus is doing and we don't know what nationality the man was uh we crossed that bridge with the syrophoenician woman yesterday but jesus is still walking through lands of tyre and sidon predominantly non-jewish and now he's come to the greek towns of the decapolis on the other side of the sea of galilee so this man could have been one of the gentiles or one of the jews we don't know they brought him to jesus and he had no hearing and an impediment in his speech it's almost a sign of the way in which the people's ears including the disciples are not hearing what jesus is saying and for the moment the disciples are unable therefore to proclaim the message so we've got both a parable and also a miracle happening at the same time jesus wants his ministry not to be known by signs and wonders he's against signs and wonders because he wants the message to be heard plain the only signs he gives are little signs and we've surrounded ourselves with little signs here of the chinese culture and new year but the only signs he wants to give are those which will lead to the message and hopefully will in the end lead his disciples to be able to speak it's wonderful that this man who had no hearing and the impediment has hearing restored and with the words be opened that hearing is restored and the tongue is loose to speak it's a pentecost moment but at the same time language is a source of misunderstanding if you don't understand the language being spoken but there are things like music where the language is universal and there are other things like body language and and smiles and gestures which go the world over learning not only a person's language but also their culture in which that language is used becomes an essential step in going forward in any kind of relationship and this morning we're crossing all sorts of barriers with the really ancient culture of china and that has always been attractive here because through the spice roots the influence of china is age-old both in horticulture but also even in things like porcelain we have some chinese pottery here which has given us as a gift we also have bits of english pottery but this is a piece of pottery which is actually in the cathedral shop which is based on the patterns found on the vestments and buskins of archbishop hubert walter when his tomb was excavated and the patterns speak not only of the what we would call the middle east the the arabic um where which um walter knew because of his conversations with saladin but also of dragons from much farther over for there is a land route which always has been travelled and at the same time the act of making porcelain came from china it was a way in which people showed themselves rich by the fact that they had proper glazed porcelain for when originally the teapots were made of just china clay unglazed if you put things in it too hot then they would crack but when they're glazed then the hot water could go in the same with a cup as well and so tea has come across from china too and the making of tea and the drinking of tea took its customs from from that so that the the uh rich people with their glazed porcelain could show they had glazed forcing a bit of show-off stuff that they took the cup the hot tea then went in first as it could now without cracking the cup and then the next thing that came the milk would go in after those who had only clay would put the cold milk in first and then the tea hot would go on top of that so that the cup wouldn't crack in the inferior cup without its porcelain glaze it's bit of chinese culture coming over here but you see here an english pattern on another teapot there and around there are scatterings of all kinds of beautiful things and this little chap has come today as a gift because this year is the year of the ox steady i can perhaps get him out without disturbing much behind this lovely orchid here he is he is a sign of the new year steadiness the ox and we'll put him here the creatures of the new year 12 of them we no time to go into but they're as interesting in their story as an esops fable and they represent all kinds of of signs and here another aspect of chinese culture which we so much enjoy and use this is the mahjong box and in it are all kinds of lovely tiles here's a one of the the one of the drawers and on it if you play mahjong you'll know that there are seasons and in uh sunsets as here flowers and dragons and all kinds of signs of a culture so that on this occasion we have in this little box i see plum blossom and i see bamboo and the various things that can happen here and the four winds north south east west so that here makes a little picture when you put them back into the trays four trays to make up all the tiles and the pleasure of hearing them rattle onto the table so that a game is going to begin with the building of the emperor's palace and then the enjoyment of getting the tiles onto the racks and the enjoyment also if you're playing special hands with the titles of those hands gathering the the moon from the bottom of the sea or the plum blossom from the roof all those sorts of things but the wriggling snake is one of the the best hands to get because you win many points indeed games from another place but all games have the sense of keeping the mind active and joining people together but i must say that when i see mahjong being played in china the speed with which it's played would make me very nervous of playing there and at the same time we have various other things the oranges here as a sign of fruitfulness because the new year greetings are all about fruitfulness and color and the greetings of of the the new year which have been sent to us by friends across the way and gifts that have come from china well we remember that in our prayers our ability with games and and and music to cross barriers which we're doing also online and have been able to send greetings straight to china this morning we're going to use our capacity now to discover the the flowering fruitfulness of the chinese culture as well as we go on with our reflection we've come out into the greenhouse because here in the greenhouse we have peach blossom blossoming behind me against the old stone wall peach blossom is a sign of fruitfulness of romance of longevity all kinds of wonderful gifts both in human life and in culture both for china and let's remember on this day that yesterday was foundation day in japan when the emperor jimmu founded what is now japan in 660 bc both the cultures of china and japan remind us just how long those ancient cultures have had to develop and the influence is we could have gone to so many places in the cathedral where stained glass and even the border of a 12th century painting in the saint anselm chapel of saint paul and the viper excites scholars because there is a mongolian influence coming through and showing just how much the culture of that part of the world has influenced art and culture here all that we give thanks for on this chinese day and when looks when one looks at the orange one remembers that in mandarin the word for orange sounds very much like congratulations and good wishes for the new year word just as when we celebrated rosh hashanah with the jewish people the fruits that were on the table which are used at that point of the year are like words that give the kind of greetings people want to hear on the new year occasion so today we've come out here for symbols of that fruitfulness i want to remember one or two other dates while we're out here and then we'll return to our reflection of new year and i want to remember that some sad things happened on this day in 1554 lady jane gray age 16 had been queen for nine days by the political intentions of others and was beheaded with her husband on tower green political life always very dangerous as well as very complicated in every nation on this day in 1943 william morris the founder of morris cars founded the nuffield foundation which is britain's biggest charitable trust so again on a day when we remember fruitfulness we remember generosity in 2016 pope francis and patriarch kirill of the russian orthodox church signed an ecumenical declaration the orthodox and catholic churches separated with the schism of 1054 but this was a step of reconciliation with the russian orthodox church and those things we remember with thanksgiving but i also wanted to remember that on this day in 1809 and this brings us back to the plants and the creatures on this day in 1809 charles darwin was born and his own family home as i know very well was in shrewsbury where his father was a doctor and the house that they lived in is still there well i served my first position as a priest as a curator in shrewsbury and at that time i would walk up to mount house as it's called there but even more so the library is in the building the public library is in the building which was the school in which darwin went to school and outside the library there is a wonderful wonderful statue of charles darwin sitting outside in a sense of of being there and and being a presence there so when we were thinking yesterday of the way in which homesickness would uh come across people and i think a few days ago when i mentioned darwin's letter to his sister catherine remembering home when he was in van diemen's land tasmania as it now is it was the hills of shropshire he was remembering and when beagle landed he went straight back you're coming on to me tiger this morning um we he went straight back to shropshire and was really really glad to be home again for all of us having our hearts that sense of coming home wherever we are but let's go back to the sense of uh the sharing of culture darwin was of course bringing home specimens of plants from all over the world and that went into his scientific theories but here is a a lovely peach blossom which is a sign of life in other areas of the world where peach blossom and cherry blossom and also so many plants we were looking at the mahjong set and if i go back to the flowers in the mahjong set well one has in those flowers plum blossom which is linked in terms of the season with spring and the fisherman in activity is the sign of that spring and then there's the orchid linked in the set with summer and the woodcutter and then the chrysanthemum linked with the autumn and the farmer and then the bamboo linked with the winter and the scholar at leisure in the warmth i would think uh um uh writing and and and and using his brush to do those wonderful elegant chinese scripts that one sees in exhibitions and the lovely chinese paintings too all of those things we remember on this day and the ability to share them of one culture to assimilate that of another and we've done this on a day when jesus himself is traveling through different cultures phoenician cultures in tyre and seijin the culture of his own galilee the culture of the greeks in the decapolis the culture of the romans right across the empire all of those things but his message is for all his good news is for all because at that point he has realized his mission is a global one and it's a good day to think about that as our minds are wishing people well right across the world let's say our prayers then on this day and we have here the prayer for today for the diocese of north ancola the church of the province of uganda and at the same time we are praying for the ashford deanery here in our diocese all the villages around the town of ashford pray for the area dean caroline mansley and the late chair phil sybil to again like archbishop paul kuang is a member of our cathedral council and then also we remember the ministry of archbishop justin and bishop rose of dover and bishop tim at lambeth we bring our own prayers as we think of all our chinese friends but think also of all the intentions that you would have and the things that you would want to pray for this morning as we say the prayer for this week almighty god you have created the heavens and the earth and made us in your own image teach us to discern your hand in all your works and your likeness in all your children through jesus christ your son our lord who with you and the holy spirit reigns supreme over all things now and forever are men so each in our own language now breaking the barriers of language uh we use the prayer our lord 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 amen moment of silence now as we say our 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 upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men all right can you get across good point we now go on to two pieces which we've included in this morning's service the first is a happy greeting from the youngest children at our school in shenzhen we hope you'll enjoy their exuberance as we receive their new year greeting from them and then there is a piece of music it's friday so friday at five from our king school not in shenzhen but in king's canterbury where the young lady is playing the marimba and it's a piece called polaris polaris of course the north star and looking to the dreams and good things that may open out not particularly connected with the new year but for every day but it's a good thing to think of on this day when we're thinking of people celebrating a new year so that's called polaris we hope you'll enjoy it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] do [Music] do [Music] [Music] do [Music] so [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Laughter] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] do [Music] you