Happy Frikkiday

On Sunday we had the happy coincidence of Dedication Sunday and Frikki Sunday – it was the Director of Music’s 50th birthday. This meant much joyful music throughout the day and a megasong service at night when some of those who have sung with him before or who sing with him elsewhere came along to enjoy the fun and wish him well. The choir numbered about 60 voices and thoroughly enjoyed belting its way through Kelly in C and And When the Builders by Richard Shepherd.

Here’s a picture of me, caught by Stewart Macfarlane, giving the notices at the end whilst similtaneously getting the congregation to get ready for singing a surprise final accapela anthem.

FWBirth

And here’s the Forum I did with Frikki earlier this year when we talked a bit about what inspires him and some of the elements that go into making the worshp here so exciting. Worth a second look if you’ve seen it before and worth looking at for the first time if you havn’t.

BBC Prayer for the Day – Hobbits and Creativity

Good morning.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of JRR Tolkein the great master myth-maker and storyteller. It is a day for remembering the wisdom of wizards and the bravery of hobbits and for celebrating a writer of extraordinary tales and fables.

Fantasy writing and myth-making, like all good storytelling only achieve greatness when they manage to convey great truths. Sometimes they speak of pilgrimage and describe journeys from one place or state of mind to another. Sometimes they delight in the complexities and unexpected realities of love and relationship. Sometimes they simply tell that age-old story of the victory of goodness over evil for just one more glorious time.

It is good to celebrate the creativity of a great writer. The pictures and images that Tolkein used remind us that the great truths of the world can be conveyed by words that were never meant to be treated merely literally. The magic of mind-changing myth-making depends on being able to accept an imaginative landscape – a place in our minds designed for drama.

The imagination is a spiritual place in which we can play out our own parables, legends and sagas. In the theatre of the mind we can rearrange the world to better suit our hopes and our dreams.

Let us ask a blessing on all who use their creativity to cultivate and create worlds of wonder, wisdom and insight. Let us pray for the grace to accept the truth wherever we find it and nurture what is good wherever we are.

God of love, help us to imagine better worlds and to pursue kindness, bravery and wisdom through all our days. Amen

UPDATE – listen to this here