{"id":372,"date":"2020-04-12T12:09:09","date_gmt":"2020-04-12T16:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=372"},"modified":"2020-04-12T12:20:03","modified_gmt":"2020-04-12T16:20:03","slug":"good-friday-2010-riding-westward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=372","title":{"rendered":"Good Friday, 2010. Riding Westward"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,
\nThe intelligence that moves, devotion is,
\nAnd as the other Spheares, by being growne
\nSubject to forraigne motion, lose their owne,
\nAnd being by others hurried every day,
\nScarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:
\nPleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit
\nFor their first mover, and are whirld by it.
\nHence is’t, that I am carryed towards the West
\nThis day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.<\/em> <\/p>\n

\"SW<\/a><\/p>\n

Ten years ago to the day we were in Cheshire housed for Holy Week in an idyllic, converted outbuilding misleadingly called \u2018The Stable\u2019. (If this was a stable, these had been very pampered cows indeed.) Perched on the cusp of the UK\u2019s Peak District, an hour\u2019s drive east of Chester Cathedral. Daily, we\u2019d head to the still partially Roman-walled city that houses this beautiful sandstone edifice. And join the several hundreds, drawn to the ritual and, in Chester\u2019s case, the artistry of the week\u2019s services. <\/p>\n

The decision to \u2018immerse\u2019 in the progression of days, commencing Palm Sunday, had not been difficult. Early days spent as an \u2018indifferent Presbyterian\u2019, the concept of a compelling build to Easter Sunday had failed to take root in my spiritual side. Easter holidays had meant annual trips to find warmth, usually south of the Mason-Dixon. Later, Good Friday was a day off work. Easter Sunday, after the mandatory church service (generally, the only service!), was as much about ham, scalloped potatoes, new \u2018bonnets\u2019. chocolate rabbits, and egg hunts. A \u2018brush\u2019 with Anglican liturgy had piqued my interest a few years earlier. And so, here we were. <\/p>\n

We\u2019d come expecting a full plate of Evensong, supplementing all the traditional service elements of the \u2018season\u2019. We were not disappointed. The \u2018bonus\u2019, however, followed Good Friday morning\u2019s service: a three-hour devotional, somewhat enigmatically entitled Let There Be Dark. Canon Trevor Dennis, a teacher, writer, and performer, in addition to his role as clergy, had assembled a selection of readings from his several collections of poems and stories, interspersed with periods of contemplative silence, organ music, and hymns.<\/p>\n

\"Cloister<\/a>The readings were delivered, depending on the particular \u2018spin\u2019, from the pulpit (the \u2018right\u2019 side, corresponding with the \u2018upbeat\u2019, positive stories) or the lectern (the left side for the sinister<\/em> ones). One narrative thread included a plea for understanding from a Jew of Christ\u2019s day, recounting the potential for chaos visited on him and his brethren by Jesus\u2019 radical ideas, asking for a bit of patience and time to adjust. Another, a diatribe against chocolate and \u2018spring colours\u2019, appropriately ending with \u2018let there be dark\u2019. Others: Job\u2019s wife given a voice, Eve, admitting to feeling that it was \u2018safe to go back in the water\u2019 \u2014 only to find her long-awaited celebration shrouded in black.<\/p>\n

It came as no surprise that, following each reading, the nave was absolutely silent. This was not a man advocating dark thoughts. Only that each side, each polarity serves to define the other. To inform, clarify and give meaning to the other. Both deserve, require exploration and, ultimately acknowledgement and acceptance.<\/p>\n

This Easter Sunday morning echoes much of the paradox, the contrasts that Donne may have felt as he penned his Good Friday poem, four hundred years ago. Taken as a pivotal point in the poet\u2019s life, as he transitioned from the secular to the spiritual, his journey\u2019s account describes his pull in opposing directions, a view of \u2018two worlds\u2019, two solitudes<\/em> (all the more resonant today) as he struggles to reconcile each with the other.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d made the \u2018ride\u2019, over similar ground, ten years ago, to be present for the concluding services of this same week, Holy Week, in a building attended by hundreds. This morning I\u2019m reminded of Canon Dennis\u2019 message of that time: how do you appreciate one \u2014 without its polar opposite. <\/p>\n

This morning, the buildings are empty. The world is a very different place. And we have \u2018the opposite\u2019. The challenge, the task it seems is holding the space between, finding ways of \u2018joining\u2019, adapting, and continuing to celebrate. A few days ago, we\u2019d watched Bach\u2019s Passion of John, a very \u2018different\u2019 vehicle and, for many, bordering on heresy at the time \u2014 now a standard. This morning we viewed some of the many, herculean efforts of musicians, clergy, choristers, and parishioners prepared, at personal risk and cost over the past week (again, Holy Week) to provide the elements that transcend \u2018bricks and mortar\u2019. Working alone, or in the small numbers that the times allow; singing, speaking to vacant, unpopulated space. Different, to be sure. Lesser, diminished \u2014 absolutely not!<\/p>\n

Happy Easter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this, The intelligence that moves, devotion is, And as the other Spheares, by being growne Subject to forraigne motion, lose their owne, And being by others hurried every day, Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey: Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit For their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}