good morning and welcome to the orchards at the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this monday morning of february the 22nd wherever you are in the world feel welcome it's the most beautiful morning it feels almost as though spring has come after all the cold and snow of uh last week or the week before the flowers are now blooming in the orchard here there are daffodil dills in flower and many many more in barden ready to come but there are primroses also little spring flowers and crocuses just by me here violets in other parts of the garden yesterday we mentioned the flowering of the moon flower in the glass house of cambridge university botanics garden grown by alex summers the the keeper of the glass houses there and how many thousands of people have watched that flower open for the first time in england it's a wonderful thing that the climatic conditions have been created on i say the flower has blossomed on the side of a water chestnut tree there some of you have written in because i mentioned that that flower is a bit like the cactus as far as the epiphylums which fletcher has grown here in the glass houses here in the deanery garden and we're showing you some photographs of those they're very similar and they flower they're in those conditions but only inside of course and they open for a short time with the scent and the beauty of the epiphyllum and and then they've gone and in spain in the spanish house he tends to grow them on the trees in the garden there and they make a wonderful surprise when one flowers you wait and then the surprise come with the epiphylum flowering so this morning i'm sorry we can't package up this morning and send it to you wherever you are in the world because it has a freshness and also the birds song with our little robin uh flying about preparing for the spring to come and the sky has only the thinnest veiling of cloud and the sun will come up over the treetops and shine right through it let's begin our prayers on this lenten morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise hear our voice o lord according to your faithful love according to your judgment give us life blessed are you god of compassion and mercy do you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of our sin your light breaks forth like the dawn and your healing springs up for deliverance as we rejoice in the gift of your saving help sustain us with your bountiful spirit and open our lips to sing your 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 our morning psalm on this 22nd morning of the month is psalm 107. it's a wonderful psalm but it's very long and so we're going to read some of the verses of that now i'm starting at the beginning and then we'll go through to the um unending verses oh give thanks to the lord for he is gracious for his steadfast love endures forever let the redeemed of the lord say this those he redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west from the north and from the south some went astray in desert wastes and found no path to a city to dwell in hungry and thirsty their soul was fainting within them so they cried to the lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress he set their feet on the right way till they came to a city to dwell in let them give thanks to the lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children for he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good those who go down to the sea in ships and ply their trade in great waters these have seen the works of the lord and his wonders in the deep for at his word the stormy wind arose and lifted up the waves of the sea they were carried up to the heavens and down again to the deep their soul melted away in their pedal they reeled and staggered like a drunkard and were at their wit's end and then they cried to the lord in their trouble and he brought them out of their distress he made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were calmed then were they glad because they were at rest and he brought them to the haven they desired let them give thanks to the lord for his goodness and the wonders he does for his children let them exalt him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the counsel of the elders the lord turns rivers into wilderness and water springs into thirsty ground a fruitful land he makes a salty waste because of the wickedness of those who dwell there he makes the wilderness a pool of water and water springs out of a thirsty land there he settles the hungry and they build a city to dwell in they sow fields and plant vineyards and bring in a fruitful harvest he blesses them so that they multiply greatly he does not let their herds of cattle decrease he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes they are diminished and brought low through stress of misfortune and sorrow but he raises the poor from their misery and multiplies their families like flocks of sheep the upright will see this and rejoice but all wickedness will shut its mouth whoever is wise will ponder these things and consider the loving kindness of the lord it's a psalm so full of imagery we could spend the morning reflecting on its sentences jesus would have known that psalm well and it has lessons for all of us but it speaks of the human ability to create communities and the lord blessing them so long as they follow his laws and respect and have affection for the earth which is their home the lord turns rivers into wilderness and water springs into thirsty ground a fruitful land he makes a salty waste because of the wickedness of those who dwell there greed and overuse of the land have turned great lakes into dry places and rivers and even winter borns have ceased to flow that sound gives lessons for us all but also speaks of times when the waters are stilled by our lord for his disciples as he gets into the boat all those things we remember from the ancient scriptures as we take the verses of that wonderful psalm on this 22nd morning of the month but now we turn to the gospel of saint john and we're in chapter five we've come to the third of the seven signs which are in saint john's gospel we've not yet reached the first of the seven i am sentences but this gospel this fourth gospel is formally set out of fresh source material with all kinds of historic and even geographical insights and but at the same time with reflections and explanations also from the evangelists and also from the teaching of the jesus of jesus himself collected but here is the third of the signs after this there was a feast of the jews and jesus went up to jerusalem now there is in jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in aramaic called bethesda which has five roofed colonnades in these lay a multitude of invalids blind lame and paralyzed waiting for the moving of the water for an angel of the lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred the water whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease they had one man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years when jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time he said to him do you want to be healed and then sick man answered him sir i have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and while i'm going another steps down before me jesus said to him get up take up your bed and walk and at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked now that day was the sabbath so the jews said to the man who had been healed it is the sabbath and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed but he answered them for the man who healed me that man said to me take up your bed and walk they asked him who is the man who said to you take up your bed and walk now the man who had been healed did not know who it was for jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place but afterwards the man found jesus in the temple and said to him and jesus said to him see you are well sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you the man went away and told the jews it was jesus who had healed him and this was why the jews were persecuting jesus because he was doing things these things on the sabbath but jesus answered them my father is working and i am working this was why the jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the sabbath but he was even calling god his own father making himself equal with god an enormous amount to think about in that story and that the time as the writers of the hebrew said time would fail me to to go on a full reflection through it you can do that in just pondering it through the day or from now on because there are things there which we need to think about let's put one big mistake out of our minds straight away when the jews are mentioned the second time in that passage we're talking about the jewish authorities and those who are heeding them with regard to what they think of jesus we have to remember that everyone there or almost everyone because it was a feast so there may have been one or two gentiles but everyone there was a jew they were jesus's people in galilee all those who followed him those who hung on his word were jews so we have to put out of our mind the sense of the jews as a nation and think as mark gives us that there are those who have authority who are almost suspicious and afraid of what jesus is giving in terms of this gift of the spirit and the kingdom of the healing and the wholeness of body mind and spirit but then let's look at the man himself do you want to be healed says jesus and the man says well it's not my fault i've got nobody to put me in the water jesus restores him to walking and says pick up your bed and walk there's no mention of the man's face there's no mention of gratitude there's no mention of anything the man doesn't even know who's done this and as the story unfolds there is a certain curmudgeonly quality to the gift that has been given we come to the man's parents later and all of that that happens in this story sometimes the gift is a gift that people seem not to know what to do with but nevertheless it's a sign of god's will for us to be the person he created us to be and to exercise all the faculties that he has given us and this story will continue tomorrow and i think the day after it's a long story this third sign but at the same time there is violence right through it they want to not silence jesus kill jesus remember we're in jerusalem john's gospel takes us backwards and forwards sometimes we're in galilee sometimes we're in samaria sometimes we're in jerusalem but it's not the straightforward one journey from galilee through to jerusalem which saint mark's gospel gives us the source material is scattered around and organized in those seven signs and we shall see how that develops but always as i was saying at the eucharist yesterday in the cathedral for those of you who might have been online for that we have to read the gospels in the present tense for jesus's words are always spoken to us and the outcome of what happens in our relationship unfolding day by day and the gifts that are released within us and the power of the spirit within us sometimes take surprising courses and so jesus's words are spoken to individuals then and always to us now to ponder and the old scriptures are weaving their way in his mind and vocation at all times those were the words he knew and as i have to say again the psalms were his hymn book and because of their poetry and the ability of people at that time to remember he had the psalms in his mind and in his heart well let's look at some of the things which have happened today on this february the 22nd there are historical dates which are of creativity in 1857 robert baden poe was born who founded the scout movement and this is their founders day and we give thanks for the life of the scout movement throughout the world but by chance in 1889 his wife to be was born also on february the 22nd they had the same birthday by coincidence founder of the guiding movement and for the guides this is world thinking day well as we've advocated for ourselves as we're planting our garden day by day of thoughts intentions happenings and realizations so we pick a sprig from the words or what we're seeing and feeling today thought is very much one of them body mind spirit and today for the guides this is thinking day pondering day and the pondering is of first what does god's gift mean to me secondly what is the special gift that he's given to me that can be used body mind and spirit and shared like flowers opening on these days other things have happened in the past there's an amusing thing which always amuses me when i'm in fishgard in in south wales if i'm at st david's because uh a thousand french troops landed in 1797 in the war between britain and france at that time and they thought they were taking britain by surprise but over the hill and their eyesight was good enough to see the colors but not the not what the the figures looked like appeared a a large group of french of sorry of welsh ladies dressed in welsh traditional costumes with the high black hats and and in red and and in in white aprons and to the french they looked like british redcoats and the french fled and it was easy then for the friend the welsh women to raise the alarm and bring troops there but it always amuses me to think of the french troops coming in that surprise assault and being defeated by this this group of of welsh women coming over the hill and then uh in let me just think 1908 john mills was born the sir john mills the actor usually in the many films he appears in he plays a sort of british hero at coditz or in ice code in alex i remember him also there was the father in the the swiss family robinson and also as the mentally handicapped person who was just seen as a village idiot in ryan's daughter he got an oscar for that very very moving role and then in 1969 we we thought yesterday of that the beatles appearing first at the cavern club but in 1969 the beatles met together all four of them for the last occasion for a recording session so we give thanks for their creativity and also in 1980 for the figure skating of robin cousins who won the gold medal at the winter olympics at lake placid and for his figures figure skating body mind and spirit in creativity in 1819 interesting fact spain sold florida to the united states for five million dollars i don't know what it's worth now but in those days that passed from one country to another we remember in 2011 the deadly earthquake at christchurch new zealand which killed 185 people and destroyed so much and we still pray for that city today in new zealand and in 1592 nicolas ferrer was born the leader of the little gidding community we've dealt with him recently and that community of rhythmic life which t.s eliot immortalized in his poem little gidding a pla a place where people kneel where prayer has been valid and uh in a little trio of comedians now 1926 kenneth williams was born so well known to us for giving us humor in the long-running carry-on films 1928 bruce forsyth was born and lived a long and active life and very much sort of strictly come dancing the host good to see you to see you nice the things that people have is that their touchline phrases and in 1933 sheila hancock born and another comedian acting parts that we can recognize and think uh be amused by but at the same time be challenged by because we know ourselves to be sometimes like that if they're making fun of a particular thing that a person is doing we wish um happy birthday to the duchess of kent this morning who was born in 1933 on this day and the duke of kent is our patron here of the appeal of the restoration of the cathedral we give thanks for his constant interest in this place the episcopal church also keeps a day for eric liddle whom we thought of recently the runner who uh is in chariots of fire the scottish runner but at the same time the one who would not run on the sabbath that was a few days ago in our prayers but today we remember his death in the internment camp in china he would died yesterday but it's kept as the day in the episcopal church calendar that we remember and give thanks for the faith of eric little 1512 i'm dotting about the italian explorer amerigo vespucci arrived on the coast of brazil and touched the west indies and he unlike columbus he realized that this was not the east coast of asia but was a new world and that new world north and south bears his name amerigo vespucci he was called and we talk of north and south america 1599 the artist van dijk was born and his portraits really give us the sense of the um the royal court in england and its characters just before the civil war and in 1635 cardinal richlier urged louis xiii to establish the academy francaise which is responsible for the regulation of french grammar orthography and literature so once again we're in the area of the mind thinking and communication by words all these gifts and then the great memory that i want to have today is for the death in 1832 of johan van gerter who was is thought by many to be the greatest of the german poets what i think of of guerta that goethe spent most of his life in the duchy and later the grand duchy of weimar under the care of the duke and later the grand duke after 1815 of weimar carl august who was an intellectual and liberal man and who had an a highly intelligent court around him and at the age of 18 when he took power the duke he invited gerta to come and be in weimar and be his advisor and his friend and gerta remained that adviser to the end of the grand duke's life which was only just before his own i think four years before his own i give thanks to garter not not only for his his uh faust and all the things that that we uh recognize from inverter but for his poetry because so many musicians have been inspired to set his poems to music of schubert for example said so many of goethe's poems but i think especially of the earl king um which is a wonderfully dramatic magic thing to play on the piano and actually falls within my voice range and so when nobody's listening i can play that it's dramatic and and the piano is making all this scene uh arrive for it and then also that lovely song hedge roses haydn rothstein of the youth coming and despite the rose's thorns plucking the hedgerows and there's a sort of beauty to it and a sadness such a simple song and a lovely song to sing but mendelssohn who in his youth spent some time living with goethe and they encouraged one another the older gerta and the young mendelson and mendelssohn writes to his father and we get a picture of life with garter in weimar at that time mendelssohn uses one of goethe's poems the cut for his overture the calm sea and the prosperous voyage actually two get his poems made into one sentence and then elgar quotes from that of course in his enigma variations and um then we have tchaikovsky who wrote none but the lonely heart one of goethe's poems translated through and then most favorite of all dukkha set goethe's poem the sorcerer's apprentice to music and walt disney and fantasia of course carries that for forward as the broom is chopped up by mickey mouse and the the the music goes on see how one person's creativity goes from place to place to place and is taken up by another interpreted and given to us and we remember also massanese opera that uh with this beautiful music well it's a a day for giving thanks for gerta as a flower of german culture in the old holy roman empire and later after the congress of vienna in the the new uh duchy the grand duchy of of weimar and so we think thank god for all these creative gifts but above all for the creative gifts given to us in the fourth gospel for that challenges us directly with the words of jesus to discover the gifts within ourselves and not just discover them and walk away but use them and claim the gift of faith with thanksgiving today we're praying in the anglican communion for the diocese of argentina in the anglican church of south america and as we pray for archbishop justin and for rose bishop of dover and for tim bishop at lambeth we're praying for the area around dover the area deanery of dover with the villages we've already mentioned and those that we will mention throughout this week as we continue to pray for them but today we're praying for those with chaplains who work in that deanery malcolm sawyer david slater toby marchand and jonathan russell give thanks for their ministry and uh as we come to say our own prayers we'll have people that we want to remember this community will want to remember mac mcneal who for many years was a legendary landlord and restaurateur and run the most wonderful restaurant at the duke william at the village of ikem he has died and we pray then for his wife carol and the family on this occasion and give thanks for the memory of his and her time at the duke william so bring your own prayers and intentions as we say this collect for this week of lent almighty god whose son jesus christ fasted 40 days in the wilderness and was tempted as we are yet without sin give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your spirit and as you know our weakness so may we know your power to save through jesus christ our lord men say the prayer our savior taught us in our own language 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 now of silence as we say our own prayers [Music] christ give you grace to grow in holiness to deny yourself take up your cross daily and follow him 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 [Music] [Music] you