• Something Joyful

    Watch this video if you’ve not seen it already to see the power of song.

    Actually, if you’ve watched it already, watch it again.

    A big joyful shout out to New Zealand and all the New Zealanders that I know.

    Rejoice. New life comes. And it comes singing.

    As I listen to this, and I’ve heard it over a few times today, I find myself hearing the Great Music behind the singing. It is the sound of Love singing harmonies with Justice – something that is not merely promised in scripture but is also part of what inspires scripture in the first place.

    Arise, my love, my fair one,
    and come away;
    for now the winter is past,
    the rain is over and gone.
    The flowers appear on the earth;
    the time of singing has come,
    and the voice of the turtle-dove
    is heard in our land.
    The fig tree puts forth its figs,
    and the vines are in blossom;
    they give forth fragrance.
    Arise, my love, my fair one,
    and come away.

    (From Song of Songs 2)

    As I listen to that singing from New Zealand, I realise afresh that I don’t just want to change the law on marriage. I want to change the world so that that singing is heard day after day after day.

2 responses to “Cedric’s Sermon – 22 January”

  1. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    Laughed a lot – thought it was bang on.

    I will say it again, though – in my experience no church ever grows unless it is offering a really good quality of worship and has an involved and welcoming congregation.

    Similarly, any church which cannot offer these is a disaster waiting to happen.

    But every shrinking church is not a church without these things, though too many are.

    Learning to look out, to ask ‘How can we serve others by offering what they truly need?’ is a good place to start. Asking: ‘What if God wanting here?’ is indispensable.

  2. Rosie Bates Avatar
    Rosie Bates

    Thank you so much Canon Cedric. Must admit to a touch of the spiritual glums last Sunday re the history of my personal stance in the Diocese of Oxford. Now you have me laughing all the way to the ‘bank of grace’ and the hope that lies within us.

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