[Music] now [Music] so [Music] good morning and welcome on this morning of sunday the 20th of september as we gather to say our morning prayers in the deanery garden at canterbury cathedral wherever you are in the world please feel welcome sundays are different days as far as our readings are concerned and today we find ourselves with a wonderful passage of creation in the prophet isaiah in the 45th chapter we'll be thinking of that later but we've come therefore together with the the creatures uh on a lovely morning here with sunshine and the blue sky as the morning begins so let's say our prayers and we think back as always on this date in other centuries and remember with enormous thanksgiving that on this day in 1258 salisbury cathedral was consecrated still the highest spire in the united kingdom 404 feet or 123 meters but we remember the community living there worshiping there and it's worldwide ministry we think of dean nick and all the chapter there in their work and life of prayer and community but also we remember on this day in 1378 that an enormous schism began in the holy catholic church when two popes were recognized one in avignon one in rome a division and in 1932 the four branches of methodism united are coming together we've looked at how councils in the church can cause division for a time or can promote unity and sometimes those divisions last for a long time well the 1378 division lasted in christendom until 1417 but some divisions have gone on much longer and we always pray for the unity of christ's church well two other dates become important to us one in 1941 when the glass sculpture dale chihuly was born we'll think about him in our reflection and also we shall think about the mongolia brothers in france who in 1783 and september went first up in a balloon into the uh so let's reserve that for the reflection as we begin our morning prayers together oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the true the only light banish all darkness from our hearts and minds 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 refresh 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 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 the morning psalm is 103 and i'm beginning at verse 8. the lord is full of compassion and mercy slow to anger and of great kindness he will not always accuse us neither will he keep his anger forever he has not dealt with us according to our sins nor rewarded us according to our wickedness for as the heavens are high above the earth so great is his mercy upon those who fear him as far as the east is from the west so far has he set our sins from us as a father has compassion on his children so is the lord merciful towards those who fear him for he knows of what we are made he remembers that we are but dust our days are but as grass we flourish as a flower of the field for as soon as the wind goes over it it is gone and its place shall know it no more but the merciful goodness of the lord is from of old and endures forever on those who fear him and his righteousness on children's children on those who keep his covenant and remember his commandments to do them the lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom has dominion over all bless the lord you angels of his you mighty ones who do his bidding and hearken to the voice of his word bless the lord all you his hosts you ministers of his who do his will bless the lord all you works of his in all places of his dominion bless the lord o my soul so on this sunday morning we turn to the 45th chapter of the prophet isaiah and we're beginning at verse 9. going to use verses 9 to 12 and then verses 18 to 22. woe to the one who strives with their creator who form them a pot among earthen pots does the clay say to the potter who forms it what are you making or your work has no handles woe to the one who says to a father what are you begetting or to a mother with what are you in labor thus says the lord the holy one of israel ask of me of things to come for thus says the lord who created the heavens he is god who formed the earth and made it he established it he did not create it empty he formed it to be inhabited thus says the lord i am the lord and there is no other i did not speak in secret in a land of darkness i did not say to the offspring of jacob seek me in vain i the lord speak the truth i declare what is right assemble yourselves and come draw near together you survivors of the nations they have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols and keep on praying to a god that cannot save declare and present your case let them take counsel together who told this long ago who declared it of old was it not i the lord and there is no other god besides me a righteous god and a savior there is none besides me turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth for i am god and there is no other a wonderful passage from the book of isaiah and we always remember that it was that scroll that jesus took to read to his own community in nazareth that story given to us in luke's gospel where he goes home and they ask him to read and speak to them and he chooses the scroll of the prophet isaiah well this morning here is an enormous compass and it's an amusing story it's imagining a potter creating at his wheel or her wheel and the clay suddenly saying what are you making why have i no handles and the prophet imagines that the clay is all of humankind and the creator of all things not just humankind the creator the creator of all creation who made the earth to be inhabited by created life and also gave humanity its particular charge and responsibility in the care of each other and the care of this good earth so we we think of all that this morning and we remember how the prophet imagines and reflects on creation and we remember also our own humble role in all of that and the responsibility for looking after all things on this earth a morning like this teaches us more than ever the fruitfulness and goodness of creation but at the same time the fragility not only of creation but of ourselves i said we would look at two specific acts of creation this morning let's start with the glass sculpture dale chihuly i first came across his work in 2001 when there was an exhibition in the victorian albert museum in london of his creativity in glass and i remember being utterly astonished there in that great museum by the chandeliers and works of art in blown glass that he had created so fragile so wonderful so able to reflect the light but as they say i had seen nothing yet for chihuly went on to create wonderful pieces of glass sculpture for outside spaces and perhaps the two that we remember most through visiting them and wandering at them are in the new york botanical gardens and in our own queue gardens for by his work in blown glass chihuly has complemented god's creation and in forms of natural life and light he has accentuated all of that just as the designers of salisbury cathedral which was consecrated on this day all those years ago pointed to the heavens by their elegant and wonderful spire but at the same time we remember in this september weekend that in 1783 the brothers montgolfier joseph and etienne from annone in the ardesh came to paris to demonstrate how a hot air balloon could lift from off the ground relying on no physical seeming support from below king louis xvi and queen marie antoinette had heard of this and asked that they come to paris to demonstrate at versailles and the crowds gathered the king suggested that joseph and etienne's wonderful balloon should carry two convicted convicts as an experiment in a very dangerous exercise but the mongolia brothers suggested that three creatures might go first and those creatures were a sheep whose name was montocielle climbed to the heavens and a duck like our duck here beside me uh and a rooster now uh russell our rooster doesn't live in this particular part of the garden but the rooster was chosen because the rooster was a bird who was not used to high flights the duck was used to show that the creature had survived not only the flight but the conditions within that and the sheep because it seemed to them to be the nearest they could come to humankind up they went on that day and travelled a few kilometer metres and and then went down uh in quite safely a bit farther off enormous acclaim the next to go but in his own workshop was etienne himself human being which the king allowed because he had seen that the flight for animals was safe enough these mongolian brothers were not in any way experts in aeronautics they were paper makers and they had seen that paper could contain hot air which gave levity so out of taffeta and paper they made their balloon and filled it with hot air and sent the duck and the sheep and the rooster up into the air in an unimaginable way for those below the king was so delighted he gave to the family an enobling title so they became de montgolfier and that became really important too what we might remember though is this was 1783 and at that point there was only six years to run before the french revolution we might also remember that the mongolia brothers family through various uh vicissitudes of uh of wars and revolutions and destruction are still producing paper in anony in the ardesh that was their role but they realized the material they were using was something that could be used to do something entirely other because of its lightness and they went on to invent even transparent paper but the flying was almost a side issue which has become for us the most important kind of exercise because humankind had always wanted to lift off the ground and in so many creative ways of course we do go back to dale chihuly dale chihuly was a glass blower who in a car accident in england uh lost the sight of one eye and a few years later lost the power to use his shoulder and then had to stop glassblowing himself to create a team and he said in an interview in 2001 or thereabouts when the the great structures in gardens were appearing and in the v a once i stepped back i learned to appreciate the view well that's what we're doing morning by morning as we step back from what we're doing and learn to appreciate the view and perspective of all god's creation body mind and spirit and our own role within it which is particular to us we shaped by our creator becomes partner become partners in his creation and as we do so we discover our own role developing on a lovely sentence in this lockdown from dale chihuly once i step back i learn to appreciate the view let's say our prayers on this sunday morning and we are praying this morning in the anglican communion for the province of the episcopal church of south sudan for the most reverend justin badi arama bishop of juba and archbishop of the province of the episcopal church of the south sudan we pray for all his people in that wonderful place and we remember justin our archbishop and rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth and today we're praying for all diocesan readers as we think of their work and are grateful for it in this diocese of canterbury and readers the world over so sunday a new week a new prayer this 15th sunday after trinity and so we bring our own concerns whatever they are across the world to our prayers god to in generous mercy sent the holy spirit upon your church in the burning fire of your love grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that always abiding in you they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service through jesus christ our lord amen so in whatever language and in whichever way you like to say it we use the prayer our savior gave 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 for ever and ever are men a moment of silence now for our own prayers not all birds can fly but they can all explore the loveliness of an apple 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 amen okay