good evening and welcome as this sunday the 12th of july draws to a close we've remembered today many anniversaries and many things but one anniversary i didn't mention in any of the other services we are missing at the moment the feeling of music around us when we go into the cathedral no live music the organ is playing live but no human voices are raised and we're not allowed to sing and we long for the day when we can sing and all kinds of lyrics come into our head well today is the anniversary in 1895 of the birth of oscar hammerstein ii and he is one of the great lyricists of the mid 20th century so many of his songs and words are in our hearts and minds to give us cheer to give us comfort simply to give us a chance to sing along if i started to read the list of them your mind will be full of music and many of the words you could say for me and as i said them and uh i thought well what would what would be a symbolic piece of poetry which was set to music which has given people comfort from the many many lyrics of oscar hammerstein and the one i settled on is will never walk alone from carousel here are the words the tune will be in your head and you can think of the many occasions when you've heard people sing those words to give them comfort in a dark place when you walk through a storm hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark at the end of the storm is a golden sky and the sweet silver song of a lark walk on through the wind walk on through the rain though your dreams be tossed and blown walk on walk on with hope in your heart and you'll never walk alone we give thanks for hammerstein's ability to craft lyrics and we give thank that they were set to music and that one day we shall sing again but tonight we say our last little service of the week as we always do the last little service of the day compline the lord almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end amen be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resist steadfast in the face but thou o lord have mercy upon us thanks be to god our help is in the name of the lord who has made heaven and earth so as always at compline we spend a moment of reflection on the day past or even upon the week past as we begin again today a sunday and a working day monday morning so we reflect on any ways that we believe ourselves to have failed others to have fallen short of the standards we set ourselves but most important of all fallen short of the exacting standards which god would expect of us with the unique gifts that he has given us we confess to god almighty the father the son and the holy ghost before the whole company of heaven that we have sinned exceedingly in thought word and deed through our fault our own fault our own grievous fault therefore we pray god to have mercy upon us almighty god have mercy upon us forgive us all our sins and bring us to everlasting life amen turn us oh god our savior and let thine anger cease from us though god makes speed to save us o lord make haste to help us glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen psalm 91 whoso dwelleth under the defense of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty i will say unto the lord thou art my hope and my stronghold my god in him will i trust for he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter and from the noisome pestilence he shall defend thee under his wings and thou shalt be safe under his feathers his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and butler thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor for the sickness that destroy us in the noonday a thousand shall fall beside thee and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee yea with thine eyes shall thou behold and see the reward of the ungodly for thou lord art my hope thou has set thine house of defense very high there shall no evil happen unto thee neither shall any plague come neither dwelling for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways they shall bear thee in their hands that thou heard not thy foot against a stone thou shalt go upon the lion and adder the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet because he has set his love uponzi therefore will he delivery he will set thee up because thou has known his name he shall call upon thee and thou shalt hear him yea he is with thee in trouble he will deliver thee and bring me to honor with long life will he satisfy thee and show thee his salvation glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen in psalm 134 behold now praise the lord all ye servants of the lord ye that by night stand in the house of the lord even in the courts of the house of our god lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the lord the lord that made heaven and earth give the blessing out of zion glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen thou o lord out in the midst of us and we are called by thy name leave us not o lord our god thanks be to god into thy hands o lord i commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me o lord thou god of truth i commend my spirit glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost into thy hands o lord i commend my spirit before the ending of the day creator of the world we pray that with thy won'ted favor thou wouldst be our guard and keeper now from all ill dreams defend our eyes from nightly fears and fantasies tread underfoot our ghostly foe that no pollution we may know oh father that we ask be done through jesus christ thine only son who with the holy ghost and thee thus live and reign eternally amen keep me o lord as the apple of an eye hide me under the shadow of thy wings so at this time as always it's compline at the end of sunday we light a candle for those whom we have known and loved those who have died recently those who have died from covid19 during this time of pandemic we remember them in our hearts and minds and commend them to the everlasting mercy and love of god [Music] rest eternal grant unto them oh lord and let light perpetual shine upon them may they rest in peace and rise in glory amen save us o lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with christ and asleep we may rest in peace lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people israel glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen savor so lord while waking and guard us while sleeping that awake we may watch with christ and asleep we may rest in peace let us pray lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us 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 will lay us down in peace and take our rest blessed art thou o lord god of our fathers and to be praised and glorified forever let us bless the father and the son and the holy ghost let us praise and exalt him above all forever blessed art thou o lord in the firmament of heaven and to be praised and glorified and exalted above all forever the almighty and merciful lord guard us and give us his blessing amen vouch safe o lord to keep us this night without sin o lord have mercy upon us have mercy upon us o lord let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust is in thee oh lord hear our prayer and let our cry come unto thee let us pray visit we beseech thee oh lord our homes and drive far from them all the snares of the enemy let thy holy angels dwell therein to preserve us in peace and may thy blessing be upon us ever more through jesus christ our lord amen oh lord who by triumphing over the power of darkness does prepare our place in the new jerusalem grant us who have this day given thanks for thy resurrection to praise thee in the eternal city whereof thou art the light wherewith the father and the holy ghost thou livest and rainist one god world without end amen be present oh merciful god and protect us through the silent hours of this night so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this fleeting world may repose upon thy eternal changelessness through jesus christ our lord amen so in a moment of silence we make any prayers special to us on this night and bring before god all those whom we would pray for those whom we love and those who are on our hearts and minds in any kind of need sorrow or anxiety 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 would pray for tonight and always amen as we focus our hearts and minds in reflection upon the candle two reflections for this day first some words of antoine sent exupery whose little prince we read on our website a little while back he was someone who loved to fly but loved also to fly at night and he wrote of night night the beloved night when words fade and things come alive when the destructive analysis of the day is done and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again when a person reassembles their fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree as i say he love to fly and this has been a day when we've remembered those who flew in the skies of kent with courage 80 years ago when the battle of britain really began and would go on for the next almost three months we thought of them this morning and thought of all those who were remembering their memory virtually because they could not meet together at cable la fern on the white cliffs of dover but also we think of the way in which there's a special gift of flying above the earth and getting not only perspective but a sense of lifting above all things and one of the poems that goes so much with this day is a poem by john gillespie mcgee the anglo-american parish who early in the conflict against nazism joined the royal canadian air force and took part in the battle above kent he's called his poem high flight and it's probably well known to you it's a celebration of flying in the air oh i have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter silver wings sunward i've climbed and joined the tumbling mouth of sun split clouds and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence hovering there i've chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air up up the long delirious burning blue i've topped the windswept heights with easy grace where never lark or ever eagle flew and while with silent lifting mind i've trod the high untrespassed sanctity of space put out my hand and touched the face of god