There’s a lovely prayer in the Book of Common Prayer which I’ve just found. I use the Book of Common Prayer for my daily devotions as I love its language, especially the Psalter in the King James Version:
FROM all evil and mischief; from sin; from the crafts and assaults of the devil; from thy wrath, and from everlasting damnation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all blindness of heart; from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost,
Good Lord, deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all blindness of heart; from pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all inordinate and sinful affections; and from all the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From lightning and tempest; from earthquake, fire, and flood; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death,
Good Lord, deliver us.
From all sedition, privy conspiracy, and rebellion; from all false doctrine, heresy, and schism; from hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word and Commandment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By the mystery of thy holy Incarnation; by thy holy Nativity and Circumcision; by thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation,
Good Lord, deliver us.
By thine Agony and Bloody Sweat; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Ghost,
Good Lord, deliver us.
In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our prosperity; in the hour of death, and in the day of judgment,
Good Lord, deliver us.
We are living in uncertain times as this coronavirus spreads across the world. We need delivering from pestilence! But also from selfishness. The picture above is from a large Morrison’s supermarket yesterday. There wasn’t a toilet roll in site nor any hand sanitiser or wipes or pasta and wine is being bought in vast amounts of bottles. I said in my sermon on Sunday we are living in an I society where I know my rights. I have a right to 100 toilet rolls and loads of sanitiser and if I’m over 70 and forced to stay in soon I’ll just get pissed and wake up when it’s over. There was that story in Australia of a man who took out a knife on the woman in the supermarket who dared to take the last toilet roll! And then in America there are queues for guns...
It’s so bad we may need to bring back Izal. My Granny Smith had Izal. It took your bum weeks to recover after being wiped with that stuff. Or, we will soon be using newspaper. Why are people stockpiling loo roll? Just pure panic and greed...
It is being suggested this coronavirus crisis is the worst to hit this country since World War Two. It also feels like, as it hasn’t affected us yet really, as we watch the news, that we are watching a horror film. It’s like 2001 when 24 hour news was a new thing and we watched the twin towers come down in New York after an indescribable terrorist attacks. When we knew it was real, we understood the world would now be different. We are now being told this virus even when it is over, will effect this country, economically, politically health wise and relationally, for many years to come.
Over the last 24 hours we’ve seen new advice from the government. The Prime Minister looks shellshocked. He needs to comb his hair before addressing us! How on earth have we got to the state we are in with Boris leading us? Dear God! 70 year olds and over are being told they will soon need to stay indoors even if they are fit and well. We worked out in our Circuit yesterday that will leave only a handful of people and preachers to keep services goIng, but it is looking highly unlikely we will be meeting for worship until further notice.
Over the last few days we’ve had things cancelled; a couple’s diamond wedding party on Saturday is now off; even one to one meetings are not sensible. The whole of life is disrupted. I’m trying to come to terms with the fact that now I’m meant to be building myself up by doIng more, I may well have taken my last service in the Fens Circuit yesterday, that my informal farewell on May 3 will probably be off; and that maybe even my first service in a new Circuit in September might be off. Will we even move at all? We have to ring a hospital in a bit to see if an outpatients appointment is cancelled. The whole of life is disrupted. But there is little choice but to accept that disruption. I’ll come back to that later.
The toilet roll selfishness is one picture of what is going on at the moment, but there is another one. We are seeing people being kind. An example of this is this notice I read yesterday:
“Coronavirus notice: We are expecting many households in our parish to be self-isolating in the coming weeks, either as a result of illness or as a precautionary measure following official government advice.
In preparation for this we will be coordinating a volunteer group of residents who can offer support to persons/households potentially requiring it during this period. 'Support' here could mean delivering shopping, lending a book or simply having someone to talk to over the phone.”
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have put out a very helpful statement on line which includes this paragraph:
“We can find hope and courage in the goodly and wholesome spirit that is in so many ways common to all human beings, whether they are people of Faith or None. We must distinguish between a healthy fear – the beginning of wisdom, which prompts us to follow advice, and to care for those at risk - and unhealthy fear which is driven by pride, leading us to act, selfishly, doing harm to ourselves and others.” We need to be aware of those we shut ourselves away from like this cat in a pub desperate to get in...
Dame Esther Rantzen was on a radio programme yesterday talking about elderly lonelIness should social distancing have to last a long time. She said the neighbourliness we are seeing now needs be the norm, even when we haven’t got a crisis. It is sad Britain does a blitz spirit in a crisis
but when life returns to normal we go back to our me first ways. It’s like when the church I lay worked in in Markyate in Hertfordshire had their sanctuary decorated. We had to worship for several weeks in the hall and we all sat together. It was great! But when we went back into church we again sat as far apart from each other as we could!
We all have to face this crisis isn’t going to be over any time soon. For now, I’m limiting social contact to necessary meetings, trips for food shopping and fresh air. We await a decision from the Church about worship on Sunday. As I write the news channel says the C of E has suspended all public worship I now doubt any services will happen in my own denomination.
I feel today especially for pubs, restaurants, theatres and other places who haven’t been told to close but from whom people will now stay away. I feel today for teachers in schools for now keeping going.
How do we “be Church” when we can’t go to church? Well, we need to look out for one another. Use the phone and social media. Keep in touch. Provide services for Sunday. I’ve had several really kind messages about my blog over the last week that my ministry in this way really helps people. If so, I’ll keep writing through this period however long it lasts if my writing encourages you. For our own spirituality, read those books you’ve not had time to read, have quiet times, for me, get that book written. Use the Psalms every day. Practice Lectio Divina, read a bible passage slowly, what is it saying to you the moment you read it?
For ourselves, let’s take a day at a time. Let’s keep well, enjoy the people we are with, do things we’ve not usually time to do. Let’s be because we cannot do... even watching those box sets collecting dust on the shelves! I’ve threatened my wife with the complete One Foot In The Grave this morning! What would Victor Meldrew make of coronavirus?
MIND has put out a really useful article which I gladly share:
But while we care for ourselves, let’s remember others... the President of the Methodist Conference released this prayer on Sunday. Maybe Barbara sums up how we get through the next few months, whatever Boris tells us...
We are not people of fear
We are people of courage
We are not people who protect our own safety
We are people who protect our neighbours’ safety
We are not people of greed
We are people of generosity.
We are your people God
Giving and loving
Wherever we are
Whatever it costs
For as long as it takes
Wherever you call us.
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