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A Love Song to the World - A Reflection for Christmas 2012

Dear friends in Christ, “It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old, from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold.” On a night over two thousand years ago, angels bent near the earth and shepherds heard their song.   It was a song whose words were so desperately needed, and whose melody soothed the souls of the deeply troubled.   It was a time, much like any other time:   there was conflict; there were wars and rumours of wars; the poor went unfed and the rich sat in lofty places; there were broken hearts and broken spirits.   But a song broke through it all and announced that into the lives of a people who had suffered long, with woe and strife, with sin and sadness, was coming a Saviour who would bring peace.   That message was desperately needed then, and it is no less desperately needed today.   The words of that beloved hymn, It Came Upon the Midnight Clear , penned by Unitarian minister Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810-1876) remind us that

Reading the Gospel of Luke - Introduction

We have just begun a new liturgical year.  As Anglicans, it has always been our tradition to draw our Sunday readings from a lectionary (i.e., a prescribed calendar of readings).  In modern times, many mainline denominations have adopted the Revised Common Lectionary , and ecumenical lectionary, and as such, if you attend an Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, United or Presbyterian church, we will all be using the same readings (with minor variations) on any given Sunday.  Our shared lectionary consists of a three year cycle in which we try to read most of Scripture.  During each of the three years we focus on one of three synoptic gospels (synopsis = "viewed together" i.e, the three gospels that share signficant verbal agreement, Matthew, Mark & Luke).  In year A, we read through Matthew; in year B, Mark (with bits of John scattered around); and in year C, Luke.  We are currently in Year C, and in our parish we will be meeting twelve times over the next twelve months to

People Look East! - A Reflection for Advent, 2012

“People look east, the time is near!” The season of Advent (from the Latin, adventus, literally, “coming”), is one of preparation.   However, in recent years we have become obsessed with the concept of “waiting” during Advent.   While “waiting” does form a part of the Advent narrative, we should not lose sight of the richness of the Advent season as a season of preparing for the Lord’s coming.   During Advent we concentrate on the Lord’s coming in two different ways: his coming as a child in Bethlehem many years ago (ritually re-enacted in our Christmas liturgies); and his end-times coming when God’s kingdom shall finally “come on earth, as it is in heaven.”   Thus, our Advent Scripture readings look forward both to Jesus’ birth and to his return – the inauguration of the new order and its completion.   It is not a time to sit quietly and wait, but it is a time to prepare.     Perhaps I am not so concerned as others about the frenzy of activity and preparation that comes at t

My Grandfather's Portrait: A Reflection for Remembrance Day

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The Portrait of my Grandfather, Frank Rason Sketeched during the Second World War at the Astoria Club in Amasterdam by W. Sealtiel, 44 Paramaribost On my wall hangs a portrait, sketched in charcoal and coloured pencil.   It is a portrait of my maternal grandfather, Francis James Rason (1923-1997).   During the war he was stationed in Belgium, the Netherlands and in England (the latter being where he met my grandmother).   In the 1940s, while in Amsterdam, he had his portrait done, twice in fact.   I first learned of this portrait when I was a teenager and began to ask my grandmother about our family history. She began to show me old photographs, particularly photographs of her family back in England, photographs of her parents and grandparents, some of which have now come into my possession.   Then she told me she wanted to show me something special that she thought I’d find interesting.   She reached into her closet and pulled out a cardboard paper towel roll.   Out of the roll

On Christmas Carols in November

On Christmas Carols in November   The Rev. Daniel F. Graves Why are people so angry about Christmas carols in November?   Word has gone around the internet that Shoppers’ Drug Mart has decided, in response to customer feedback, to nix playing Christmas carols this month.   How sad.   To my way of thinking, there’s nothing quite like Christmas carols in November. As I write this, Athena is practicing carols on her flute.   On Monday, we begin choir practice for our December 16 th “Festival of Lessons and Carols,” and oh how I love to hear them played and sung.   There is nothing quite so soul-stirring as the strains of music extolling the birth of our Saviour.     It seems as if we in the liturgical tradition have become hostages to the liturgical year.   Even as I am writing these words there are doubtless many liturgical fundamentalists out there bemoaning the fact that Christmas carols are now being played and sung in malls, stores, and perhaps even over the radio.   T

Living in Hope - A Reflection for Harvest Thanksgiving 2012

Thankfulness and gratitude can, at times, be hard things to aspire to.   We may wish to be thankful in all things, we may long to show gratitude for the blessings we have received, but thankfulness and gratitude may be beyond our reach or slip from our grasp. Sometimes we think that if only we change our mindset and think more positively we will be able to stir ourselves out of disappointment and pain and into thankfulness and gratitude. There is no shortage of positive-thought peddlers who would tell us that positive thinking will change the way we feel and think, and that it will even our health.   Perhaps there is kernel of truth in what they sell, but why is it that in spite of our best efforts we cannot be thankful? Why is it that in spite of all our positive thinking we find the rug pulled out beneath us and realize that we are less than thankful for the trials into which we tumble? Trials are inevitable.   There is not a single one amongst us who will not know or experience

Thanksgiving for our Ecumenical Ministerial

One of the things I treasure greatly about ministry here in Bradford is our ecumenical ministerial.   For those who are unacquainted with lingo, an ecumenical ministerial is typically a gathering or association of clergy from the various denominations in a given community.   We typically gather once a month for lunch, discussion, planning and prayer.   We uphold each other in the challenges we each face in our respective ministries and encourage each other in the various initiatives we undertake.   We work together as much as possible in the community on projects in which we can find common ground.   Over the years, I have heard horror stories concerning various ministerial associations.   In many cases, one group of similarly-minded clergy (the evangelicals, the catholics, or the liberals) try to take over the group, and others are left feeling marginalized.   Sometimes it seems that the tragic history of a fragmented world-wide Church is lived out on the local scale.   I am happy

Canadian Churchman's Round-up: A Compendium of Thoughtful Anglican Blogs, Issue #2

Every once in a while, the Canadian Churchman like to offer a “round up” of some of the interesting Anglican blogs and posts that out there in the blogosphere. I am not really interested in blogs that simply post snippets of news items or in blogs that are vehemently idealistically driven (from either the conservative or liberal perspectives).   What the Churchman enjoys reading are blogs that put some effort into theological reflection and seek to edify their readers.   It seems like these thoughtful Anglican blogs are often neglected, or buried under the weight of the sheer multitude of polemical religious bloggers.   Recent months have seen some very thoughtful posts indeed.   Here are a few of the Churchman’s recent favourites: Faithful readers of this blog will know that the Churchman’s good friend, the Vicar of Wakefield , always writes in a thoughtful, reasoned and irenic way, which would make their shared hero Richard Hooker proud.   When the news hit this week that an an

Restoring a Reed Organ - Part 6 - Removing the Action from the Case

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Having had a first look at what the upper and lower action look like in the case, we decided to remove it entirely: The action rests on these two brackets, one of which (the treble side) has been shimmed at some point. We carefully lifted it out and placed it on the floor: We were now able to get a first look at the exhauster bellows, valves and straps. Three of the four original leather exhauster valves are missing, and the fourth has been replaced by that denim/canvas material that covers the main reservoir.  It is now clear why we couldn't get any sound out of the organ!  I depressed the reservoir while it was on the floor and tried to play the keyboard (a real trick) and was finally able to get some sound, although the reservoir only stayed depressed for mere seconds. Now, here is a look at the inside of the case with the action removed.  That's Dad looking in...  There are two signatures chalked on:  "Fred" &a

Restoring a Reed Organ - Part V: Beginning the Disassmebly

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It's time to take the back of the case off and get a better look inside: As we began to look inside, we were very pleased to see no immediate evidence of mice.  Certainly there were some webs and a bit of evidence of a few other insects.  Much of the felt in many places has given way to the moths, but things look very good... just dirty. Removing the lower part of the back of the case we can see the back of the reservoir and note that the hinges are on the outside of the resevoir (some reed organs have hinges inside).  The safety/spill valve has been permanently covered over with a block of plywood, attached with screws (and as we later learned, glue).  Perhaps someone thought sealing this up might have been the solution to a leaky bellows. Taking a look at the back board of the reservoir, we can see that the bellows have have been re-covered. The top covering looks like the original rubberized cloth (with some heat damage, probably from the pre

Restoring a Reed Organ - Part 4: An Overview of the Instrument

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As mentioned in a previous post, when the organ was at Jan and Bill's place, I only had my old Blackberry with me and the picture quality was not great.  Now that we have the organ in Dad's workshop, we decided to take some photos with his Nikon camera.  Now, one thing you should know is that photography is not amongst the Churchman's greatest gifts. At any rate, the should give you an idea of what the organ looks like and some of its interesting, and quite lovely features. Here is a view of the keyboard with the keyboard cover opened.  It is quite a nice presentation. Here are a few close up shots.  You will note that the instrument is a C-C instrument with 61 keys. Many keyboards are F-F.  The front of a few of the keys are missing and all the white keys are quite yelloed and dirty. The black keys are in quite good shape, though.  No splits or breaks on them.  A few are a bit scratched, but generally look quite good. Here are the stop faces on the bass s