good morning and welcome on this tuesday the 22nd of december to the dinner garden to the orchard of the dinery garden on a very different day from yesterday at the moment we've no idea what the clouds over to the uh west are going to do but at the moment the sun is coming up onto the dinery garden and gradually will rise behind me at the east end of the garden but we've come here to sit just beside the fish pond here and already there are tiny signs in the garden that things are beginning to be awake again i can even from here see a little snow drop and i think it's an optimistic snowdrop and yesterday we saw a bright yellow aconite in the leaves done by the deanery so there is uh a sign of what will be and there are green leaves in the trees which are not deciduous but at the moment other trees particularly the orchard ones are having their winter sleep but around us there are plants growing green and so we give thanks for that and also we think of some fairly cheerful things which happened today on this date december the 22nd in years gone by and we give thanks for the creative work of people as well on this day in 1858 puccini was born and how many wonderful operas and and songs which people know the melody of even if they don't know the words uh how many of these he gave us we'll think a little bit about creativity and the way that brings light to people's lives in our reflection this morning in 1882 thomas edison created the first string of christmas tree lights and how glad we are of those to light up green trees at a time of year when there is no flowering as there is in spring in 1894 debussy's first orchestral masterpiece fellow de la creme de dunphone was premiered in paris and of course afterwards nejinsky danced that and so you had the connection of dance and setting and orchestra and beautiful creativity from debussy in 1965 the film by david lean dr zhivago was premiered on this day december the 22nd 1965. i remember seeing it just before christmas in london the year afterwards in 1966 with omar sharif and julie christie and those huge landscapes of the snow in that very powerful story and then we remember that in 1989 berlin's brandenburg gate opened on this day for the first time for 30 years effectively reuniting east and west germany a wonderful moment at that time of liberation between the two sections of the same nation and in 1989 nine on this day also in uh romania president chanchesku after 23 years of fierce dictatorship was toppled and again i want to reflect on that scene in the reflection after our reading later on um two people died on this day for whom we give thanks beatrix potter in 1943 with all the lovely scenes of peter rabbit and all her other characters we give thanks for that and her belief in the national trust and her buying up so many farmlands and areas around her and then leaving that to what she had believed in the national trust so that it could grow and develop for the good of all and the enjoyment of all and in 1965 on this day the broadcaster richard dimbleby died i'll come back to him also he was such a voice of the bbc throughout the late 40s into the 50s and halfway through the 1960s and his family have carried on that tradition of course and then in 2016 on this day a vaccine for ebola was found to be 70 to 100 percent effective and we remember that a few years ago our archbishop justin who is very fond of and knows the areas of west africa but also wanted to give encouragement to that part of the anglican communion flew out there just before christmas to say prayers with the people there encourage those on frontline work in that dreadful ebola outbreak and was back here with us for christmas we give thanks for his courage and also his love and leadership of us in this diocese as he shares christmas with us throughout these few days up to the end of the year so let's say our prayers on this morning and bring your own concerns from wherever in the world you are and uh we will enjoy this time together of reflection and prayer and intention as our memories call out loved ones wherever they are oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise reveal among us the light of your presence that we may behold your power and glory blessed are you sovereign god of all to you be praise and glory forever in your tender compassion the dawn from on high is breaking upon us to dispel the lingering shadows of night as we look for your coming among us this day 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 in the advent antiphon for this 22nd of december o king of the nations and their desire the cornerstone making both one come and save the human race which you fashioned from clay the night is past 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 on this 22nd morning of the month is the long and very beautiful psalm 107. i'm just going to start it off and then read a section of the verses towards the end of the psalm to its conclusion 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 he makes the wilderness a pool of water and water springs out of a thirsty land and 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 so he blesses them that they may multiply greatly he does not let their herds of cattle decrease he pours contempt upon princes and makes them wander in trackless waste they are diminished and brought low through a stress of misfortune and sorrow that 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 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 our reading on these early days of this week leading step by step to christmas day is taken from the second letter of saint peter and i'm beginning in chapter 1 verse 16 for we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our lord jesus christ but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for when he received honor and glory from god the father and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory this is my beloved son with whom i am well pleased we ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven for we were with him on the holy mountain and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lump shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts knowing this first of all that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men and women they spoke from god as they were carried along by the holy spirit but false prophets also arose among the people just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the master who bought them bringing upon themselves swift destruction and many will follow their sensuality and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed and in their greed they will exploit you with false words their condemnation from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep there's probably been no section of the christian year where we have relied on prophecy more than on the coming of the christ at christmas but also on the vocation of his messiahship if you turn again once again again to handles messiah so much of that music is set to the words of prophecy there's very little of the gospel in it little cameos like and there were shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night and loathe the angel of the lord came upon them the glory of the lord shone around them and they were so afraid and that is set to music there but mostly it's old testament prophecy from the book of isaiah and others and the psalms themselves as we sing of the coming of the lord and his vocation the anointed one by all those titles we think of in the advent antiphons and here in this we're told to respect the prophecies reflect on them individually and as a community of christ church which we do morning by morning and as we read the old testament at matins and even song regularly we sift and search those prophecies which jesus knew well and often refers to as do the four evangelists but meanwhile we're given encouragement by the witness and testimony of saint peter and that witness in testify test testimony is drawn and relies very heavily on peter's own testimony set out in the gospels in the gospel of saint mark who was seen to be peter's companion by the early church as he wrote down his own mark's gospel and that testimony sets down things which peter was ashamed of afterwards like his denial but at the same time it sets down their wonder and awe on the mountain of transfiguration when the glory of the lord was revealed in the figure of christ with moses and elijah on each side of of jesus on the mountaintop and that wonder is accompanied by the voice which peter's testimony gives this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased well whoever wrote this second letter of peter is basing the writing on the testimony of peter himself of that is no doubt and he likens that testimony to a lamp the lord our lord who will come at christmas time and show in his human life and in his death and resurrection a light in our darkness the prophecy is answered the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light until the coming in glory we are called by this passage to the lamps in a dark world and we can do that with imagination until the sun rises and every other lamp seems feeble compared with the glorious light of the lord himself but within each one of us it's possible for that lamp to burn as prophecies talk about it and as prophets in the new testament too and since then for prophecy is a gift of the church to have prophesied how that light can shine there are occasions when the light shines bright and this morning there's a news bulletin of a a man called chris morrow a wonderful man in northern ireland who is using his capacity to broadcast and transmit in order to give care and hope to people in care homes he has placed almost a mobile disco on the top of our high building in county tyrone and as he has done that he is asking people to send in if they have relatives in care homes their favorite carol and the details of them and then when that happens he phones the care home and online transmits a lovely rendering of that carol while at the same time the care home staff can focus on that relative and have a little party there within the care home and one saw pictures of that this morning and the way in which chris morrow said i'm not charging for any of this it's one of my gifts and skills but every smile i see is worth a million pounds and so i'm a rich man for i see people smiling and also joining in the carols in their care homes some in intense frailty and some where the carol is buried deep inside them and suddenly their lips start to move and silent night is beginning to be sung by someone there those lovely acts of creativity and imaginative ways of keeping in touch with each other and knowing the favorite things that are elderly relatives maybe we're not able to see grandparents we shall know what carols they like and singing them online to them and getting in touch online and giving favorite messages and calling remembrances of christmas gone past all of that is being a lamp of encouragement in the darkness i said this morning that beatrix potter was the kind of creative person who gave us great cheer there's little cameos of the english countryside where characters are imagined and beatrix potter of course gave us not only peter rabbit but jemima puddle duck and mrs tiggy winkle and laundress and benjamin bunny and piggling bland and jeremy fisher oh we could go on and on i've seen those danced by ballet dancers in a wonderful ballet of the tales of beatrix potter giving enjoyment to whole families at christmas time that's hidden from us in live form this year but certainly not online we can find them we can suggest them we can by our instructions help people who can't seem to work out how to get them receive them and enjoy them and at the same time we give thanks for the beautiful music of puccini songs in his operas like nesendorma none shall sleep un vedramo from madama butterfly one fine day we'll see omio babino caro oh my beloved father from janishiki and maybe tunes from la boheme which stay in our mind at this time that creativity and imagination to give all those things but at the same time richard dimbleby who died in 1965 on this day december the 22nd was a war correspondent and an imaginative one for he was creative with words and knew how to form them went first with the british soldiers into belson to liberate it and he said i passed through a barrier and found myself in the world of a nightmare he could deal in words with descriptions of horror at that time and the cold fury of the soldiers and those who went in afterwards to care for those who barely survived and had to be treated with such care and given food and drink and medicines in very small quantities to coax them back to life but at the same time he carried that memory with him into a long career as a broadcaster first of all in news bulletins but then into that long-running panorama program which was his territory on monday nights all through the 1950s and beyond and most memorable of all his voice with dignity and imagination and encouragement and cheer for the whole world commentating the whole of the coronation of queen elizabeth ii our present queen whom we pray for daily and we give thanks for being able still to access that online that day when the nation it seemed to cheer up for the first time since not only the dark days of the second world war but the intensely difficult days of rationing through the 1940s and into the 50s all of that we remember and we remember too the way in which he could commentate on things like the funeral of winston churchill the funeral of j.f kennedy and in the end the way he could interview people with respect but also with searching questions it's a great gift and we thank him for the example he gave at the very almost infancy of television and broadcasting in those years following the second world war the same time i wanted to remember just a moment which has always stayed in my mind on this day 22nd of december i know the brandenburg gate opened but on a balcony in romania president ceausescu was addressing the crowds of people thinking they were his supporters you will remember this and television lights were on him and his guards were all around him and his minders and suddenly the mood of the crowd turned they sensed the liberation that was going on when the brandenburg gate was opened and the new feeling that was coming in europe at that time and the crowd turned and the president's face shows his fear as his guards hustle him away and fly him out of that dangerous city crowds can turn and when they decide then it's difficult to say which personality started it this is part of our human race they can turn in one way as we see in holy week or they can turn in another and exact their own strengths for good and communities can do that and individuals can do that and i hope we shall do that in this christmas holiday which is about to come in a very different way and yet it will come and we shall take joy from each other in the imaginative ways in which we encourage and receive with gratitude the way in which people encourage us every smile is worth a million pounds said chris morrow as he broadcasts to the care homes in northern ireland and that makes me a very rich man let's say our prayers this morning and we are praying in the anglican communion on this 22nd of december for two nigerian dioceses aceh and atsako for the bishop of eche precious nuala and his people and the bishop of etsaka jacob bader and his people we're also praying for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and with the diocese for mental health and well-being for all and pray for those who are attempting to bring that at this particular time so bring your own concerns and your prayers as a helicopter going overhead on some urgent mission probably it could be anything from air ambulance to any kind of of health being given but you will hear that sound as i sit in the garden here here's the prayer for the fourth sunday of advent it's a prayer giving thanks for the vocation of the blessed virgin mary god our redeemer who prepared the blessed virgin mary to be the mother of your son grant that as she looked for his coming as our savior so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen so the advent collect almighty god give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and to put on the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life in which your son jesus christ came to visit us in great humility that in the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead we may rise to the life immortal with him who lives and reigns with you in the holy spirit now and forever amen so we say each in our own language 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 amen moment of silence now for your own prayers on this day christ the son of righteousness shine upon you scatter the darkness from before your path and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and upon those whom you love today and always amen well now leo you've been wandering and you're sitting like a statue on the trunk there i think it's not really a day for you is it still a bit damp never mind we'll have a nice warm breakfast and i'll come and find you now and take you inside you've been watching the robin now haven't you come on let's go inside okay come on off we go good come on