We all have them: for some it's Mothering Sunday (too much happy families - sometimes it sucks to be single), for others Remembrance (dangerously close to glorifying war). For me this time of year has the deadly combination of Francis of Assisi preaching to birdies and Harvest Thanksgiving.
The first is to my mind an avoidance of the true message of Francis. He identified with the poor, he was an evangelist, he had a radical spirituality. He reached out to the Muslim world. The birdies were a very small and frankly insignificant part of his work, but we go for it because it's "nice". Likewise Harvest: we enjoy singing "We plough the fields and scatter" et al when most of us don't even dig an allotment and our harvest is less the fruit of our toil than it is our carbon footprint writ large. That said, I fully endorse the wisdom of an annual reflection on the creation and God's goodness: I just wish it wasn't tied up with the Percy Dearmer-esque trimmings. The Edwardian Victorian knitted chasuble movement that was Christian Socialist with the Wareham Guild and English folk dance leaves me unmoved. The revival of harvest that exuded from that seems less than relevant to me today than ever it has. So I was happy to have a reflection on Jesus's teaching on divorce. From a curate just back from his honeymoon! Oh, the irony!
The first is to my mind an avoidance of the true message of Francis. He identified with the poor, he was an evangelist, he had a radical spirituality. He reached out to the Muslim world. The birdies were a very small and frankly insignificant part of his work, but we go for it because it's "nice". Likewise Harvest: we enjoy singing "We plough the fields and scatter" et al when most of us don't even dig an allotment and our harvest is less the fruit of our toil than it is our carbon footprint writ large. That said, I fully endorse the wisdom of an annual reflection on the creation and God's goodness: I just wish it wasn't tied up with the Percy Dearmer-esque trimmings. The Edwardian Victorian knitted chasuble movement that was Christian Socialist with the Wareham Guild and English folk dance leaves me unmoved. The revival of harvest that exuded from that seems less than relevant to me today than ever it has. So I was happy to have a reflection on Jesus's teaching on divorce. From a curate just back from his honeymoon! Oh, the irony!
How strange. Now that we don't have an incumbent to harry us, we seem to be ignoring Harvest Festival. Maybe the rain has stopped our particular harvest. Or maybe it's really clergy who keep up the traditions after all...
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's clergy who remeber that it's meant to happen as it is not a strictly "liturgical" feast listed in the Calendar.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there are clergy who remember it is not supposed to happen as it is not in the liturgical calendar.
ReplyDelete"What's the difference between a liturgist and a terroist? You can negotiate with a terrorist"
ReplyDelete