From Father Gavin Berriman

Dear Friends,           

                 One month I am writing about looking forward to my Summer break and in the next publication it has come and gone! Not that I am complaining because I have had a wonderful month away and I am now delighted to be back and looking forward to the coming year. I say the coming year because returning from my Summer break always feels like the beginning of a new year for me. And we have quite a year ahead of us. In the immediate future we begin to look towards the Autumn festivals such as Harvest Festival and All Saints/All Souls which begin and close the month of October. After that we are just a stone throw away from Advent! Also at some stage this Autumn Richard will lead a study course for us, of which more details will follow later.

                    In the not so immediate future, next year we shall be celebrating the 125^th anniversary of St Augustine’s and will be looking to plan a series of events to mark the occasion. We will begin the planning of it now and the P.C.C will begin to consider various ideas and suggestions so we can begin to work towards it. If you have ideas do let me, or a member of the P.C.C know.

                    Another course being planned is one exploring the role of the Psalms in our spiritual lives. We have already had a Quiet day on this subject in June and over the last couple of magazines I have written articles on the Psalms. It will probably be our Lent course for the coming year, but in the mean time I shall continue to keep the subject at the forefront of our minds by offering a reflection each month in the magazine on some of my favourite Psalms.  

                    Just to finish with a couple of dates for your diary that will not appear on the Calendar for this month, and that is Harvest Festival which will be on Sunday the 3^rd October and our Harvest Supper which will be on the previous evening, Saturday 2^nd October.    

                                                                                       Best wishes

                                                                                                         Gavin                

My favourite Psalms            Psalm 1

In the last editions of the website I have written about the Psalms. I hope to explore them more deeply during the Lent course next year, but in the mean time I shall share some reflections on some of my favourite Psalms. This month I shall begin with Psalm 1.

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the council of the ungodly,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on this law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree, planted by streams of water,

that yields its fruit in due season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all he does he prospers.

Those who have spent a lifetime studying and praying the Psalms tell us that it is no accident that this Psalm is at the beginning of the collection because it sets the scene for all the Psalms that follow. The ongoing theme of the Psalms is about being centred in, and obedient to, the law of the Lord. Obviously for those who wrote, and first prayed, the Psalms this would be the Jewish Torah, the law set down for them to follow. For Christians who pray the Psalms the law of the Lord is the teaching of Christ, and the call to live in the Presence of Christ. The teaching and presence of Christ is love; Divine Love which is at the heart of all life.

So our delight is in living life in the Presence of Christ, and in obedience to the way of Christ; in obedience to Divine Love. The Psalms are very clear about how we live in this presence and remain obedient to this law of love. It is through being faithful to prayer and worship; through service to others, and treating others with respect and love. By walking the path of Christ we will be like a tree, planted by streams of water, that will yield its fruit in due season.

There are two particular things that stand out in this Psalm for me. First of all it tells us that we have personal responsibility for our lives. If we want to benefit from the Presence of the Lord that is all around us, we have to do the things that help us to be open to that presence. I will always remember a conversation I had with someone in a previous parish I worked in. She had a difficult life for all sorts of reasons and she confided in me one day that she always found it easier to cope, always felt strengthened, when she came to church. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

She said that being at church always made a big difference and made life seem less of a struggle. And yet, believing all of that, she still would only come to church about once every 6 weeks! There was nothing to stop her coming more regularly, she just did not get around to it. When I pointed out that if coming to church made such a difference maybe she should do it more often, she just said that she could never quite get here act together on a Sunday morning. God longs to water us with love, like a tree planted beside streams of water, but we have to play our part in placing ourselves in the positions to receive it. The final part of the Psalm reminds us what life is like when we do not play our part:

We are like chaff that wind drives away.

I take this to mean that we are not rooted, but are at the mercy of the winds of life that blow us this way and that without having nothing to centre us and hold us firm. In the teaching of Jesus this Psalm is reflected in the parable of the wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house upon sand.

If we want to live in the presence and love of Christ we have to take responsibility for putting ourselves in the place where that can happen; upon building our lives on the right foundations. God’s Presence and Love is grounded within everyone one of us, it does not have to be earned but it does have to be received for us to get the full benefit of it. The Psalms are very practical prayers; they do not allow us to abdicate responsibility for our spiritual lives.

The second thing that stands out for me in this Psalm are the words:

That yields its fruit in due season

The Psalm does not promise us that having delight in the law of the Lord, and meditating upon it, will suddenly make our lives instantly better. It does not promise us that living in the Presence of Christ will guarantee a pain free, hassle free, life. You only have to read some of the other Psalms to realise the Psalmist’s life was anything but trouble free. What the Psalmist tells us is that the benefit of prayer, worship, service, and living life in obedience to love, will bear its fruit in due season. It is often in reflecting back on our lives that we realise the difference it has made. The Psalms do not promise that there will be no pain in life for those who are planted by the streams of love, only that we will never be alone in that pain and abandoned in it. Pain is not taken away from us, it is a part of life both for those whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and those whose is not. What we are given are the resources of God’s grace to cope with whatever life sends our way, in due season. And that is the true rock on which we are called to build.

                                                                                                       Gavin