Paul David Deakin

Ash Wednesday

paul deakin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:59:54 +0000

All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. Ecclesiastes 3:20

It was a quiet day in Mirfield yesterday. Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, and a time for us to reflect on our journey with Christ, and our own sinfulness, the need for repentance (to turn around) and our mortality. We were privileged to have The Right Reverend Robert Atwell, Bishop of Stockport as our speaker, and he gave two addresses that I am sure will generate thoughts and reflection for a long time yet. I resisted the temptation to switch the laptop on yesterday, and read a book, ‘Finding Happiness’ by Abbot Christopher Jamison. The thread of this book came out in the second address yesterday. It would be impossible to condense into a few words what we received but here is a snippet from my notes.

Lent can be a seasonal diet between the seasonal frenzy of Christmas and the season of the summer holidays. Giving up puddings or alcohol isn’t about trimming our waistlines for the beaches, but if we do decide to fast, it increases our awareness and dependence on God and places us in solidarity with those who are poor and hungry. We can choose to be hungry. And in going through Lent, we have to make sure that the external signs of the church, the vestments, stripping of altars etc etc, are under-girded by spiritual reality. Ordinands in the church are called to be Spiritual Trainers. God wants us to be alive, not miserable with his life. Lent is a spiritual not physical workout.

Is this not the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin. If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom like the noonday. Isaiah 58: 8,10

Compline

paul deakin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:46:10 +0000

The Ancient Office of Compline (pronounced ‘Complin’) derives its name from a Latin word ‘Completorium’ meaning Completion. It is a service for quietness and reflection at the end of a day. And of all the worship that I am engaged in here at Mirfield Compline is probably my favourite service. No pomp, no ceremony, everyone on their knees before God. I must admit before coming here I was concerned how I would adapt to liturgy, day in, day out. In Compline we confess our sin, sing or recite the same three Psalms every night, sing the Nunc Dimittis and repeat the same Intercessory prayers, time and time again. But the liturgy becomes a part of you, under the skin almost, and a different line of the Psalm will speak to me each time, particularly Psalm 91. At a stressful time last year, Angela texted me ‘Psalm 91′, he hasn’t said a verse, he must want you to have all of it, and so here it is.

Psalm 91 – Assurance of God’s protection

You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.’ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge;his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling-place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honour them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.

Conversion of St.Paul

paul deakin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:40:11 +0000

As many Anglican readers will know last Wednesday was the Feast Day to celebrate the Conversion of St.Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles. The Mirfield Community always celebrate Feast Days with a midday Solemn Mass and in term time are joined by the college students. January 25th was the first opportunity for the College and Community to break bread together in the re-ordered church which has itself undergone a form of conversion. The college provide a reader/server, two acolytes, a thurifer and crucifer on such occasions, and there was last Wednesday a deep sense of occasion. I had been asked to be crucifer, a nice touch I thought. The Sacristan said, ‘We do like to get these things right you know’. He wasn’t joking, we spent an hour rehearsing all the moves that morning to make sure when the time came the worship flowed from start to finish. The effort was well worth it and the sound of singing in the church as I led the procession was spine-tingling.

Earlier in the day, after breakfast, three students read a poem by John Betjeman about the Conversion of St.Paul. An extract is written below. Our ‘conversions’ may not be as dramatic, but we are called to be ‘converted’ into the likeness of Christ every day.

What is conversion? turning round
From chaos to a love profound.
And chaos too is an abyss
In which the only life is this.

Time to say goodbye

paul deakin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:31:31 +0000

Well done to Rachael Elizabeth this morning for preaching an excellent sermon at St.Michael’s Bramhall on the Wedding at Cana that we can read about in John’s Gospel. There was so much packed into that concise address that one could take away. I liked her perception of Jesus being reluctant to accept that his time had come, when actually it had come, he knew it and his mother knew it too. It is so true that in all our vocations, where risk is perceived to be involved we sometimes need a helping hand from those we love, to show us the way. I certainly did. All vocational ministries carry a cost, but none are anywhere near what Christ was prepared to give. I am sure he knew at the outset what the outcome of his earthly ministry would be but what must the faith of Jesus have been to bring about that miraculous event in Cana? What must his closeness to God have been that death that was unable to close it doors on him and relegate him to the past? (Rowan Williams)

I won’t be seeing Rachael, Fr. Simon et al for a while now as I am returning to Mirfield today to start my second term. We don’t enjoy the disruption to family life but accept it is a very small price to pay in the short term, but I do love the worship and spiritual discipline (as my mother called it last Thursday when my parents kindly took my kit over for me and stayed for Evensong). So just for now, Bramhall St.Michael’s, it is time to say goodbye.

Longsleddale

paul deakin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:04:50 +0000

Wednesday. Day two of our peak-bagging break. After a wet start in Keswick we set off by car to the lonely valley of Longsleddale, north of Kendal. Our aim was to climb Grey Crag and then traverse to Tarn Crag before descending towards Branstree and picking up the Gatesgarth pass. If yesterday was a peaceful experience, meeting only four people, this was even quieter. The only time we saw a hillwalker was when we sat down to eat on the descent from Tarn Crag and I saw a solitary figure on the summit of Selside Pike. Every hill walk has at least one memory attached to it, and it was on the initial climb from Sadgill that some sheep decided they would follow me. It is more common for sheep to run away but on this occasion the novelty of a rare visitor to their home seemed to draw great interest from them.

Having climbed the two summits of Grey Crag and Tarn Crag leaves me with 9 Wainwright tops to bag this year (out of 214). Tarn Crag was also Arran’s 99th. On the way home we discussed the possibilities of having a retreat type house in Longsleddale but the truth of the matter is it is probably too quiet. Although there was a church in the valley (St. Mary’s) there was no village shop from where to purchase milk or papers.

Stybarrow Dodd

paul deakin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:15:03 +0000

Tuesday. A bright, cold, windless start in the valleys heading up from Glenridding on the Sticks Pass with the only hazard being ice covered paths on the way. On reaching the Sticks Pass summit, now exposed to the Westerly wind it became biting cold. On rushing clouds envelope the surrounding hills and then disappear again. I love this kind of changeability. On the way up to Stybarrow Dodd Arran and I met two walkers, the first of only four people we met that day. After a brief conversation we headed off for Hart Side, and then dropped down onto Sheffield Pike and Glenridding Dodd for stunning views of Ullswater in the failing sunshine of the winter day. Below is a picture taken from the final ascent of Stybarrow Dodd from where we could see Raise and Helvellyn wreathed in swirling clouds beneath a piercing winter sun. A scene reminiscent of the Tranfiguration don’t you think?

The Sky at Night

paul deakin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:44:42 +0000

It is wonderful on cold crispy nights to gaze up to the heavens and look at the stars and planets, but it is unfortunate that street lighting in Bramhall does ‘kill’ the lesser lights of the night sky. As I looked up at that familiar winter constellation of Orion and what I assume was the planet Jupiter I was reminded of the news bulletin today announcing that the tracking satellite ‘Phobos-Grunt’ has disintegrated, landing in the Pacific Ocean. It was the end of a failed mission to collect soil from a Martian moon. How many times do we hear of these things dropping out of space back to Earth? I was shocked when watching the news last night by the amount of ‘junk’ flying around space. Space exploration has yielded so much knowledge and technological progress, but I do question the validity of the level of how much the major world economies invest in this type of venture. Should we not be trying to sort out our own planetary issues first, caring for our own environment and feeding the hungry? From the metaphorical creation story humankind is given dominion over the earth. In other words, take care of it!

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’

Genesis 1: 27-28

The Valley

paul deakin — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:19:04 +0000

It seems we have quite a spell of murky, grey days in recent weeks, which has perhaps been a good job for me. No distractions whilst I have been sat in studying and writing. Cold sunny winter weather would have been a temptation for me to get out, because I love being outdoors. This morning I was up and about quite early to walk Jess before the regular dog walking fraternity arrived on the scene. Peaceful, cold, the sunrise shining through the trees in the Ladybrook Valley. I don’t seem to travel the same distances to go walking now I am out of Scouting, but I am well blessed living only a minutes walk from the entrance to ‘The Valley’. And being down there regularly over the last four and a half years with Jess has really given the chance to observe the seasons in the plants and trees, and also the rhythm of life down there. Herons, Woodpeckers, Kingfishers, Brown Trout plus the horses on the farm at the top. I consider myself fortunate to have this beautiful green lung of countryside on my doorstep.

Released from ‘The Den’

paul deakin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:25:22 +0000

At last, the remaining essay for Term 1 is submitted. A three-thousand word assignment on the question ‘How could the death of Jesus influence the future of people today?’ A friend, who I am sorry to say is rather conservative said recently, ‘That’s easy to answer, it’s heaven or hell isn’t it?’ And of course if we take a totally literal interpretation of the Bible it is understandable how that view can be reached. A few weeks ago I shared with a friend about my difficulties with the Old Testament, and all the language of violence that surrounds it, and as we prayed she saw a pair of glasses; my interpretation was I had to read the Bible through lenses. We have to read the Bible in this way to help us to understand what the writers were saying then in the context of the time and culture. Of the twenty-one books I have used for my Bibliography one particular favourite has been ‘Saved from Sacrifice – a theology of the cross’ by S.Mark Heim. The book has confirmed and enhanced my interpretation on atonement, that God didn’t need a sacrificial killing on the cross to bring about forgiveness, the forgiveness that had always been there at the heart of God, but entered the human world of sacrifice to redeem and liberate it from within, in the knowledge that the love shown by Jesus would be rejected by the violence of humanity. The resurrection was God’s vindication of Jesus the Son in bringing about the Kingdom of God. Heim’s book has been illuminating and is not ‘too deep’, or perhaps I am getting used to big theological words!

Leviticus 18:21 – Jeremiah 32:31

I have really enjoyed writing this assignment, but I am glad to be done for a couple of weeks. I had to empty the college flat over Christmas and seem to have come back with about thirty more books than when I arrived in September. Thanks to my parents-in-law I have been taken over their study for a while, affectionately called ‘The Den’, and have received a plentiful supply of refreshment to keep my brain cells active. Thanks Frank and Marina.

Eye Test

paul deakin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:04:31 +0000

I have just been for my two-yearly eye test in Stockport today. Stronger lenses needed for my reading glasses. An occupational hazard I guess now. But as I sat looking through the various high technology devices at the opticians, and saw the photographic results of my retina I was awe struck. The whole of creation is amazing, but the complexity of the human eye alone is something to behold. I had a quick look at the on-line bible to discover 50 references to the eye in the gospels; Jesus often healed the blind by touching the eyes. But I found lots in the Psalms too. Here is an extract from Psalm 94.

⁸ Understand, O dullest of the people;
fools, when will you be wise?
⁹ He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
¹⁰ He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
does he not chastise?
¹¹ The Lord knows our thoughts,
that they are but an empty breath.