Æthelthryth – what a great name!!
Posted on June 23rd, 2012
Long time no blog…again! Sorry for the absence – I’ve been busily marking exam papers for GCSE students around the country and have been focused on that for a few weeks.
So I thought I’d launch back into the blogging with a bit about Æthelthryth. What a great name! My internet research has taught me that she was one of the widest and most venerated of the Anglo-Saxon saints, which is very intriguing…this blog is an excellent introduction to the miraculous life that she is reputed to have led and I really recommend you give it a quick read.
I am interested in the role of women in the church and the argument that surrounds them. I know the reasons why for each side – it’s one thing I teach every year! – but always find it interesting. I suppose it’s one of those things that I’ll never quite understand because I wasn’t brought up going to church…I came to Christianity aged 17, and my relationship with God is based on my experience of God perhaps even more than on learning about the Bible or church traditions. I know about the contradictions in St. Paul and the way that the church has changed and developed over the last 2,000 which has affected the role of women.
But here is an example of a woman who is still known today, a woman who lived 1300/1400 years ago. Her story includes other women, and she is remembered alongside kings in several sources.
I wonder what she would have to say about the role of women in the church…
Leave a commentChanting, chanting, chanting…
Posted on March 31st, 2012
Christian chant goes back to the very earliest Christian communities and even further, to the Psalms themselves which traditionally were sung rather than read. Today I’ve written a few chants which I am hoping to use at some point in the future. Having spent time with interfaith groups, I know that there are great chanting traditions in the Eastern traditions (Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism) but other than Taizé, Christianity often seems to get left out here. I found a beautiful Jewish chant while I was doing a bit of research which you might enjoy as it is based on words of Moses – Ana El Na Refa Na La
Taizé is my inspiration for singing songs to celebrate the Lord and I am really hoping that writing my own chants will help me express the peace and presence of God that I feel when I sing Taizé music. When I release a CD of chants, you’ll have to let me know what you think!
There’s something about chanting which reminds me of something I read recently about ‘slow prayer’. Here’s the extract – “St. Teresa of Ávila recommended this technique to another nun: Pray the Lord’s Prayer, but take an hour to pray it. Spend a few minutes entering into each individual phrase, until it becomes truly the prayer of your heart, and you become the prayer.” I’ve got a lot of time for the contemplative saints and this quote really rings true for me. By chanting you can grow in the words you are singing. They can mean something different to you each time round. They can reach a crescendo and they can be soft. It’s a beautiful experience to sing chants, and that’s why I love Taizé. The simplicity of the words lets you really open yourself up to their meaning.
So when I was writing some of these chants earlier I was using the words from various Anglican rosaries, which I discovered just this morning! I hadn’t realised that rosaries had made it into the Anglican tradition but have really enjoyed reading about them today. They’ve been around since the mid-1980s according to this website – http://www.kingofpeace.org/prayerbeads.htm. I have toyed with the idea of setting a whole rosary to music and recording it the right number of times so that it is like singing a rosary. I’d love your thoughts on that one!
Chanting is a way to sustain personal prayer. As St. Augustine said, ‘Singing is praying. He who sings prays twice.’ Beautiful! Today I have really felt the unity of these different things – that chanting is a way to pray slowly and thoughtfully, to delve into a relationship with God by using beautiful music to open up the heart and receive the love which God is desperate to share with us all. Here is a chant I’d love to use at some point (I’m working on my Hebrew!) The words are from Hosea 2:18. Video below.
VECHARAT I LAHEM BRIT BAYOM HA-HU
IM CHAYAT HASADE VE IM OF
HASHAMAYIM VE REMES HA-ADAMA
VEKESHET BE-CHEREV U-MILCHAMA ESHBOR
MIN HA-ARETZ VEHISHKATI LAVETACH (BIS)
In this day I make a covenant
with the beasts and the birds
with all creatures that walk on this earth
and bow, and sword, and battle disappear from the land
so that all may safely rest
‘Leave me alone with God as much as may be…’
Posted on March 22nd, 2012
This prayer by Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne is one which often plays on my mind. He is a saint renowned for ‘cultivating peace and love, purity and humility’, and that opening line is definite food for thought.
I have lived on my own for 3 years and have grown to really love the solitude and freedom that it gives me. However, I often waste time as I’m sure everyone does. I give myself excuses for why I can’t do certain things or why I will do them later than I should…probably a common confession. But I wonder if there’s a link between the opening line of his prayer, ‘leave me alone with God as much as may be…’ and his qualities.
When you’re on your own it’s easy to think that you can do what you want because no one’s watching. I am sure that if the Jesus of biblical times came to stay with me, I would use my time in a very different way! I would keep my house as clean as possible, I would spend as much time with him as I could and I would consider his teachings much more often than I currently do. I would also try to be peaceful, act lovingly towards both other people and animals, and I would try to live with purity and humility as Aidan is believed to have done.
Why would I do this with Jesus and not with others? If Jesus feels the least thing that we do for or another, then isn’t that the same thing? But it’s an awful lot harder to remain peaceful around people who you find challenging, or to act out of love towards someone who pushes all your buttons! Maybe by being left alone with God we are given the chance to develop these qualities which we can then put into practice with others.
Who knows? But it’s a good prompt for me to start trying to use my time more efficiently at home!
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