Dear Friends,
I am writing this from my annual retreat with the Sisters of the Love of God. They are a contemplative community drawing inspiration from the Carmelite tradition. It is quite a contrast to be here away from the noise of the ‘city that never sleeps’ and to join the Sisters in the daily rhythm of their prayer and silence. The Convent is dedicated to the Incarnation and the Sisters strive to unite themselves with Jesus and become more Christ-like individually and as a community. The enclosure used to be very strict – when I first discovered the community in 1983, visitors were not allowed into the main part of the chapel. The altar was at one end of the chapel, and there were two further chapels either side – one where the Blessed Sacrament was reserved, and the other for visitors to gather. There was a large wrought iron screen that prevented visitors from entering the main chapel, so that the sisters could sing the office or attend mass without being seen. Sr. Helen, the guest sister, told me how in the old days, if you accidentally bumped into the mailman as he dropped off the mail, you had to kneel down before the community meeting and confess to having broken the enclosure! They are not quite so strict today, and the priest no longer pokes the host through the screen to visitors!
The chapel has been re-ordered and made much simpler as there are not as many professed sisters these days (there were 65 of them when I was first at seminary). Sadly, the 1990’s and early 2000s saw people disinterested in silence and solitude, and living in community. Instead, a culture centered on personal gratification and personal achievement seemed to pervade so many parts of the world, and a culture of “me-me-me” thrived.
Interestingly, it seems that some people have had enough of all of that. As I was traveling, I saw a news article on local people in many cities campaigning to stop the closure of public libraries. “Don’t take away our culture, and our warm spaces” was written on the banners. The recent violent right-wing demonstrations against asylum seekers in Britain, fueled by social media posts, has been met not with counter-violence or even counter-arguments, but by groups of local people getting together to clean up the mess, plant gardens, and feed the homeless! They have been building community.
I was also intrigued to discover that people are choosing to turn away from smart phones and smart devices. Nokia has re-launched its original mobile phones that do not have cameras, big screens, or even internet access (remember those?). This is not just in response to parents wanting to safeguard their children – adults are also getting fed up of not being able to switch off. I remember when I first was given an email address in the early 1990s – I was so excited and sat looking at my (rather bulky) computer hoping someone would email me.
Well, in June this year I received 1269 emails, and that is a light month for emails. If I only spent two minutes on each email that amounts to 42 hours at my desk! And, of course, many emails need a lot more time that that! Add to that instant messaging and other forms of communication and I begin to yearn for the days when I was first ordained when we did not have such ways to communicate. In 1985, none of the clergy I worked with had mobile phones or computers; we did not even have voicemail. I remember the senior curate buying his first answerphone and my vicar and I looking at it with wonder; “It’s state of the art” said Fr. Ivor – it has two tape cassettes! Tape cassettes – oh my, I got one as well and the fun we had when the tapes all got mangled by the machine!
Once, after I had moved to exit the Cathedral, and the children were approaching their teens, I came back to the house after evensong and one of them was on her iPad, another was on her laptop, and the third was on a computer game on the TV. “Hello everyone!” I said cheerily. No response. “Helloooo?” Still no response. “Do you know?” I said loudly, banging the table, “that when I was your age, there were no home computers or iPads; mobile phones hadn’t been invented; we didn’t have voicemail or Facebook; we shared a phone line with our next door neighbor and the only phone was in the living room so if I wanted a private conversation I had to put my coat opn and go to a phone box in the street and push money into it; there were no emails; there was no internet; we did not have credit cards; there wasn’t even morning TV!” After my tirade, the three of them looked up, collectively sighed, and Katie (as their spokesperson) said kindly, “Dad. You are so old.” And they all went back to their screens.
I was reading the rule of the Sisters of the Love of God and this particular rule on demeanor really struck me:
The demeanor of the Sisters shall reflect true simplicity and joy in God.
As part of the repairing of people’s lack of respect for human nature and of their cruelty to one another, the Sisters shall remember the presence of God and his indwelling in any to whom they may be speaking. Therefore quietness, reverence and love shall rule both words and actions.
Dear friends, this is why Saint Thomas is a gift to so many people; a place where we can cherish silence and solitude as much as our corporate life. A place where we can discover that we are not on our own, and that creating community can be liberating. A place where we can discover God and allow him to touch our lives. I commend this simple rule of the Sisters to all of us. Does our demeanor reflect true simplicity and joy in God? Do we remember that God may very well be dwelling in those to whom we may be speaking? I love the emphasis on quietness, reverence, and love. In a noisy world where people often do not listen to one another, speak over each other, and can sometimes be so cruel to one another, Saint Thomas can be a community of quiet, reverent love. We can set an example by building such a community that is so attractive to others.
I look forward to welcoming the Boy Choristers back on Sunday – they will sing with the Gentlemen of the Choir at 11am and 4pm. At 4pm, we will commission new Head and Deputy Head Choristers and install two new Choristers who have completed their probationary period. The Noble Singers have their annual Choir Camp this weekend and we look forward to hearing them singing again at the 9am mass on Sunday, September 15.
Every blessing,
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
