free good morning and welcome on this 14th of april to the deanery garden uh wednesday morning at canterbury cathedral wherever you are in the world please feel welcome this is a week here of national mourning following the death of his royal highness prince philip and so we're concentrating on a different color of flower flesh has had some trouble with finding a different flower of morning colours each day you remember that in holy week we were doing pink and white flowers all through easter week golden flowers each day and this week blue and this morning a dark purple of this lovely hyacinth it's called woodstock and has the most amazing fragrance quite different from a normal hyacinth with almost a woody but also slightly jasminey scent when when you are able to spell it i'm sorry that virtual uh communication doesn't yet include any kind of fragrance being able to be passed across the world but there is a a wonderful sense of fragrance in the garden this morning and a bird song and around me things are beginning to not only blossom but even trees are being brave enough to put out the beginning of their leafage uh i've got near me here uh a davidia tree which is coming into barda handkerchief tree some of you will call it or which goes with our morning but some will know it as a dove tree and we use it sometimes to say goodbye to friends here below the tree roots here a few years ago we we buried leo's father otto who was the most wonderful black and white cat a huge cat and he would just let you pick him up and almost put him around your shoulders who but we were very sad there but the davidia tree remembers him in that way uh and then um we've got behind me also a clad asterisk a kentucky and yellow wood not native here and reminding us hugely of our friends at the national cathedral in washington dc because when you come out of the deanery there randy and melissa's deanery there then you are faced with an enormous one of these clevastris and uh so it's a a thought from over the other side of the atlantic and that travel is forbidden to us at the moment and behind it on the wall uh clematis armandii which again is full of most beautiful fragrance fletcher's mother gave us that jackie in spain gave us that as a gift together with two others which you've seen on the house they're pink and white this one you'll see here and again if we can send the fragrance i wish i could box it up and send it to you or send it to her as well as separated as she and dany and and arabella are from us and then uh we've also got the stellata here the the magnolias gelato which we planted the magnolias gradually coming to the end of their flowering season but the frost this morning was a very light frost and the sun has cleared it almost at once so it's not done much damage to the flowers yesterday fletcher planted two trees a downey birch to join the trio of birch trees which is just on my right here this morning and we'll come into leaf and uh also we planted a fairly mature eucalyptus in the walled garden which was lovely and will be a tremendous tremendous thing the birds are singing all around us as well at this time of year they they the thrush is there and because of the amount of water that we managed to bring in through the planting and trees uh the the diversity of birds is grown and grown so yesterday we saw a lesser spotted woodpecker flying around and looking for a home we've never had one of those in the garden before we've seen woodpeckers green woodpeckers fly through but gradually with the advent of water and the companion planting and all the things that we're intending to talk about this morning as well and we began to talk about with forest gardening yesterday the diversity of creatures and birds is is increasing all the time but let's say our prayers on this beautiful morning wherever you are bring your concerns oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection o christ let heaven and earth rejoice hallelujah blessed are you lord god of our salvation to you be praise and glory forever as once you ransomed your people from egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your risen son may we the first fruits of your new creation rejoice in this new day you have made and praise you for your mighty acts 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 so god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this morning of the month the 14th morning is psalm 71 it's a long sun so i shall read a good portion of it now in you o lord do i seek refuge let me never be put to shame in your righteousness deliver me and set me free incline your ear to me and save me be for me a stronghold to which i may ever resort send out to save me for you are my rock and my fortress deliver me my god from the hand of the wicked from the grasp of the evil doer and the oppressor for you are my hope o lord god my confidence even from my youth upon you have i leaned from my birth when you drew me from my mother's womb excuse me my praise shall be always of you i have become important to many but you are my refuge and my strength let my mouth be full of your praise and your glory all the day long do not cast me away in the time of old age forsake me not when my strength fails as for me i will hope continually and will praise you more and more my mouth shall tell of your righteousness and salvation all the day long for i know no end of the telling i will begin with the mighty works of the lord god i will recall your righteousness yours alone o god you have taught me since i was young and to this day i tell of your wonderful works forsake me not o god when i am old and grey-headed till i make known your deeds to the next generation and your power to all that are to come your righteousness oh god reaches to the heavens in the great things you have done who is like you o god what troubles and adversities you have shown me and yet you will turn and refresh me and bring me from the deep of the earth again increase my honor turn again and comfort me therefore when i praise you upon the heart for your faithfulness oh my god i will sing to you with the liar o holy one of israel my lips will sing out as i play to you and so will my soul which you have redeemed my tongue also will tell of your righteousness all the day long for they shall be shamed and disgraced who sought to do me evil a wonderful psalm of god's presence lifelong and our response to that presence now this week we're thinking about the way in which the disciples remembered back after the resurrection we're taking our cue from that early verse in st john's gospel which tells us that when he had risen from the dead they remembered and that remembering is centering itself for us around the i am statements of jesus there are traditionally seven of them and i'm doing them in no particular order but you will remember that yesterday as i sat at the beginning of the path into the orchard leading beyond then we thought of the way in which jesus responded to thomas who said lord we don't know the way how can we know the way and jesus said i am the way and the truth and the life well today i'm taking these in no particular order what has prompted me for today's i am statement and the remembering of it is thomas thomas the doubter whom we have thought about in the resurrection narratives but thomas the one who questioned jesus lord we don't know where you're going how can we know the way i am the way the truth and the life and today once again it's thomas who prompted me to take us back to chapter 11 of st john's gospel it takes us to bethany but it begins with the disciples and jesus who have gone away from jerusalem which has proved so violent to jesus that there is a danger for his life and jesus says but this isn't yet the time so he is at a place of safety with his disciples with the twelve but something calls him back you will remember and i'm reading the first section of chapter 11. now a certain man was ill lazarus of bethany the village of mary and her sister martha it was mary who anointed the lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother lazarus was ill so the sisters sent to him saying lord he whom you love is ill but when jesus heard it he said this illness does not lead to death it is for the glory of god so that the son of god may be glorified through it now jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus so when he heard that lazarus was ill he stayed two days longer in the place where he was then after this he said to the disciples let us go to judea again the disciples said to him rabbi the jews were just now seeking to stone you and are you going there again jesus answered are there not 12 hours in the day if anyone walks in the day they do not stumble because they see the light of this world but if anyone walks in the night they stumble because the light is not in them and after saying these things he said to them our friend lazarus has fallen asleep but i go to awaken him the disciples said to him lord if he has fallen asleep he will recover now jesus had spoken of lazarus's death but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep so jesus told them plainly lazarus is dead and for your sake i am glad that i was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him so thomas called the twin said to his fellow disciples let us also go that we may die with him now when jesus came he found that lazarus had already been in the tomb four days bethany was near jerusalem about two miles off and many of the jews had come to martha and mary to console them concerning their brother so when martha heard that jesus was coming she went and met jesus but mary remained in the house martha said to jesus lord if you had been here my brother would not have died but even now i know that whatever you ask from god god will give you jesus said to her your brother will rise again martha said to him i know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day jesus said to her i am the resurrection and the life whoever believes in me though they die yet shall they live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die do you believe this martha said to him yes lord i believe that you are the christ the son of god who is coming into the world the second of these i am statements ego amy in the greek i am and today i am the resurrection and the life there's an overlap with yesterday i am the way and the truth and the life and the way is still very much part of what we're doing today for jesus is saying these words to martha on the way on the lane that leads to the village of bethlehem they haven't arrived of bethany they haven't arrived yet martha has come out to meet jesus on the way if we've learned anything you and i all of you and i on this uh journey that we've been making together as a garden congregation is that very often in the open air on the little paths which mark themselves through the grass sometimes very difficult to see sometimes i have i'm as i'm walking in the the grass here in the garden fletcher shouts at me and says watch it you're walking on something that is just growing there and i much less noticing than he have to look down and see that my foot is about to hit something that is just to the side of the path but the past that we saw yesterday the way going up into the orchard is very similar to the way that these other words are being stated on and the overlap is the word life i am the resurrection and the life i am the way the truth and the life the way whether it be the journey that the apostles were making around the supper table when yesterday's statement was made in again answered to thomas lord we don't know where you're going how can we know the way i am the way focus on me and all the glory of the father all that you need to know and the gift of the spirit when you focus on me that will be shown to you just as and when it's necessary if you are careful and looking to see what is sprouting and blossoming along the way with noticing and seeing eyes and mind and spirit and here we are today with this sentence jesus has been called by his love of lazarus to this particular sign which is told us in john's gospel in the little community of bethany which will become so important in the preparation for holy week and the way in which that household as uh archbishop justin talked about it in his holy week talks that household is used as a place of home and hospitality for the the disciples coming back of family life extended family in that way and the love that is felt there we've talked about the the kinds of of words that are used in the old testament for love the two different ones we did that in fullness last week with jesus's words to saint peter and both words are involved in this story and almost john uses them in that way for the family that the the two sisters and the brother sometimes the one sometimes the other for there is a depth of understanding both in mind body and spirit from those three in the bethany household with a particular vocation and we could spend much time on that and perhaps in the future there'll be time to do that but for the moment we're concentrating on this sense of jesus saying focus on me and in the present tense nothing is more present tense than the verb to be and nothing more intimate than the verb to be in the first person singular in english i am in the greek ego amy takes us all the way back to moses with the fire of the burning bush and saying to god rather like thomas who shall i say sent me and those words i am becoming the ancient scriptures and the early church which read those scriptures more often than not in greek in the greek translation would have been using the same words ego amy i am it takes us not only to the center of ourselves when we say it nor even to the center of the human jesus but to the center of all created things and beyond it's that that we have the capacity to reach out for in our humanity and to know that that life has no end hence the overlap i am the way and the truth which you then perceive and truth is something you can perceive physically or mentally by understanding or spiritually by a divine intuition and all these things are happening to the apostles as they remember back and the words of jesus suddenly flower and leaf and fruit like all these trees now remember yesterday we talked about the plan for a forest garden and the first meeting that we attended i with much less knowledge than fetcher here but the plan is now in place that a great field in kent will become a forest garden that people can come and experience where the various trees and plants in their order and the natural life which will spring up in the midst of them will become something that groups of children of ordinary families of older people with time to come and walk along and and see the seasons come will experience and realize how the various species of creation are assisting each other in their growth sheltering protecting and even fertilizing one another and providing fruitfulness not only for our own benefit but for the benefit of the creatures around well we don't need to go very far to see that we've been watching it all year long in this garden which in the last 20 years has been planted with that same vision and how the trees the tallest trees here will be nothing like the tallest trees in other areas of the world but the principles are the same canopy which protects and in which some life is found so that the thrush first of all is is uh uh at the end of the day and at the beginning of the day always found on the topest branches of the trees proclaiming his song and later on the canopy looks down on the lower trees uh fruiting and these we shall contemplate and then down onto shrubs which jesus speaks about where birds make their nests and then down onto herbaceous plants and ground cover and and and roots which feed us tuberous rooted plants which which feed us and the life underground there all of that and the the the the life which like the vine grows upwards and and plants which grow up through all of those we can explore the most important thing is the synergy which is going on between all those plants and what kind of fruitfulness and wonder it creates when you work in tune with god's creation not too fast waiting for the seasons and at the same time sensing what is good as an atmosphere allowing in the sunlight allowing in the rain watering when it's it's uh the rain is not there but doing it sensitively and being patient and gentle in all ways with creatures and birds and insects of the fields the psalms are full of these sentences and as our son today spoke it's a lifelong journey but it's a journey which invites beyond it's on the way that jesus says to master i am the resurrection and the life present tense it's why we come back to the gospels and the scriptures over and over again fresh each day and as we receive them new lessons spring into our lives individually for we are there in the present tense and the divine creator in the humanity of jesus and all that he points to in the love of the one who sent him and the unity of father son and spirit being offered to us in spirit at this time of year and also in the quality of life that we have on this planet whatever the situation for us c.s lewis used to say that the most important prayer to begin all prayers you don't need to say it is may it be the true eye that prays not some confession that we've made up an ideal image of ourselves but i as i am on this morning and may it be the true you thou in the old was the singular tense the second person singular god in all his faithfulness and true being that we pray to and not some confession that we've invented ourselves to be our god that way leads to what the old testament scriptures call again and again idolatry we actually have no fear if we come as an i am to the one who said to moses and to us in the figure of his son i am and on this morning i am the resurrection and the life words spoken at the beginning of every funeral when we say goodbye to friends but spoken first on the way to that little village of bethany so let's think of some of the things that have also happened on this day which are important and i'm going to start with the date 1865 for on this day the president of the united states abraham lincoln was assassinated in ford's theater when the civil war had ended and we remember that moment as a real marking time in history it's enough simply to say this is the anniversary of that death for instantly images come into our mind with the name abraham lincoln and everything about him then in 1904 i wanted to mark the birth of sir john gielgud because he for his long life was an amazing english actor with a voice that everyone knew as in earlier years declaiming and acting out shakespearean roles it was said he was the best hamlet of his generation but at the same time um humorous roles uh and uh one of his friends said he was equally good and it showed the two sides of his nature as the romantic and soulful hamlet and the witty and superficial john worthing in the importance of being earnest and i remember him also as and perhaps you will in that wonderful series of brideshead revisiters is charles ryder's father edward ryder who uh was a a cynical uh and fairly crusty old man gilgood got it got that part absolutely to the t and it gave us a chance to see both him and sir lawrence olivier acting because uh um in in the in the same series that he lord march maine was played by lawrence olivier and those actors of that generation generally thought as a as a trio sir richardson and siddon gilgood and lawrence olivier the great great trio of actors of that time so we give thanks for gilgood on this day and all those who act for us and and interpret our humanity by acting these various roles 1931 the ministry of transport issued the first highway code which is interesting because now of course the highway code is a great part of learning to drive and needing to know that code but it only came into being in 1931 as transport began to increase on the roads i want to say that in 1950 the eagle comic which was a quality comic appeared for the first time and certainly for many of us eagle or girl or robin the same little trio of really quality comics appeared and right on the front page was dan dare pilot of the future and it was the first attempt at some kind of science fiction but inside that comic eagle which was um thought of by by two men frank hamson and marcus morris marcus morris was an anglican priest and together they formed this paper for information and also entertainment and that the information gave stories beautifully illustrated of people that they felt were encouraging in their lives so we give thanks for that and also the way in which now much more sophisticated methods of of giving knowledge and and and entertainment have been invented but this was a beginning and i had so many images in my head of of eagle as it came out it was published between 1950 and 1969 1951 we remember the birth of julian lloyd webber the cellist the second son of william lloyd webber the first one being of course andrew lloyd webber the writer of so many of the musical shows that we enjoy 1983 the first cordless telephone was produced and launched on this day and you could use it up to 600 feet from the base and how how prehistoric that now feels when we carry these things around in our pocket but the way in which our ability to connect with each other has increased is so much in these years and both the advantages and the dangers become apparent so we think of all those things on this particular day and we give thanks for them and we take warning from them as well and have sorrow in them when we think of abraham lincoln on this day so let's say our prayers together and it's the 14th of april so we're praying for the diocese of bihar ramulo in the anglican church of tanzania pray for justin our archbishop and pray in this diocese for rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth and the parishes of sandwich and worth this morning pray for our friend mark roberts the director there one of the cannons of this cathedral and his wife jasmine and the assistant curate robin bendel this morning and think of sandwich such a beautiful place and very very near just down the road all those villages we know very well and looking out sandwich a little bit back from the sea these days but nevertheless it's on the road to the sea in kent and a lovely place to visit so let us then say the collect for easter we're surrounded by and probably an ambulance or a police car going past at the moment here's our colic for today almighty father you have given your only son to die for our sins and to rise again for our justification grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth through the merits of your son jesus christ our lord our men each in our own language we join together in the prayer our savior 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 are men a moment of silence now in the midst of all this bad song as we say our own prayers on this day the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus christ that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight 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] hello [Music] um [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] yes [Music] me is so [Music] oh