Dear friends
As the earth tilts on its axis and our part of the world turns away from the sun, we greet the season of Autumn again. The leaves fall and the natural world dies back, activity goes underground.
Scientists continue to learn about the teeming life that exists underground, microscopic organisms invisible to the human eye including bacteria, amoebas and fungi as well as things we can see such as earthworms. Organisms that die in the winter sometimes leave spores and reproductive material in the soil ready for when the environment becomes hospitable for growth when they will bud and regenerate.
Perhaps it was processes like these that inspired the poet to write,
‘Deep in the dark earth, the year is young.’
Now the church calendar has moved into a season of remembrance, with All Souls and All Saints followed by Remembrance Sunday itself. Looking back in this way calls us to reflect on the past and how the people and events of our own lives, and the life of our nation and world, influence life now. I hope that as we look back we can be thankful to God for the people whom we have loved and been loved by, the saints who have inspired us to faith and those who sacrificed so much, including their own lives that we might enjoy peace and freedom.
This is a season for reflection and for connection with the deeper things of life and what is most worthwhile. The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams writes about memory and hope very beautifully in his short book, ‘Being Disciples’. He suggests that our hope comes from confidence that the past, present and future are all held in relationship by God’s faithful love, that we are more than we realise because we are known and loved by God who is the faithful witness to the whole of our lives and its seasons.
Perhaps then, deep inside each one of us, like the soil, we have all sorts of potential just waiting for the right circumstances to bud and grow.
Meister Eckhart, a mystic of the 14th century wrote: ‘Above all else, know this: be prepared at all times for the gifts of God and especially for the new ones…’
In this season of remembrance and reflection I hope that along with the pleasures of returning to tried and tested Autumn traditions and all that is familiar, we’ll also be open to the new things that the season holds. For each of us comes to it anew. We have never before been, as we are now. So, each day can contain new gifts and insights.
A few days ago a group gathered in the graveyard at the east end of the cathedral in the place known as Paradise. In the low but bright Autumn sunshine and amidst the fallen, golden leaves, we interred the earthly remains of our dear Canon Gary Philbrick, our former Cathedral Chaplain who was father, grandfather, brother, priest and dear friend. Along with the deep sadness of his loss, was the joy of his memory and the confidence that the next season of his life has begun. The God who created him, holds his past, present and future and loves him through eternity.
I will close with a prayer, written anonymously, in gratitude for saints:
We thank you, O God, for the saints of all ages;
for those who in times of darkness, kept the lamp of faith burning;
for the great souls who saw visions of larger truth and dared to declare it;
for the multitude of quiet and gracious souls whose presence has purified and
sanctified the world,
and for those we knew and loved, who have passed from this earthly fellowship
into the full light of life with you.
Amen
With blessings and best wishes,
The Very Revd Catherine Ogle
Dean of Winchester