"True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare. It is the discipline of Epiphany."
I love Epiphany! It is such a hopeful time of year. Our priest has started a new thing in our Benefice. He looks after 11 churches and is unpaid (though he has his house rent free) and only works part time as a priest and the rest of the time looks after his family farm with his parents. So, instead of having the midweek Holy Communion service always at the church next to his house, each of the eleven churches will take turns, month and month about, to have the services at their church. December is so full of carol services etc that that month isn't included. My church of Rumburgh was chosen to start this new order off and we had a 9.00am service on the 6th of January. It was freezing, -8 degrees C and not much warmer in the church. Lots of ice and snow on the roads so I drove extremely slowly and then it was too cold for the gas candle lighter to work so we found a box of slightly damp matches and got them lit at last. Only five of us turned up, including Leon the priest but one of the ladies had brought an Epiphany cake that she had made from a French recipe; a galette des rois. She and her husband had lived in southern France for a while, or had a holiday home there, I don't know if they still have it but they go skiing there in the winter. She thought the cake would be a good thing and it proved very popular. Another lady had brought flasks of hot coffee and tea so we chatted and were refreshed at the end of the service until our feet became so cold they went dead and we had to go home. Our medieval churches are not warm.
Clare, excuse me for the delay in responding to this. Eleven churches! The poor fellow. And yes, the romantic view we foreigners have of your old churches has little to do with the reality. But, just like the long and difficult journey of the magi, your difficulties what with the cold and damp were noted by the One who matters, and you had the cake, too. :) xo
Exactly. I’m not sure I get it. I mean I understand the first three sentences, but not the last one. To which end, I’ve been searching online for whatever he had to say about the Christmas season, and I’ve ordered a book.
That's an incredible quote. No surprise it's from GK Chesterton!!!
ReplyDeleteI love Epiphany! It is such a hopeful time of year. Our priest has started a new thing in our Benefice. He looks after 11 churches and is unpaid (though he has his house rent free) and only works part time as a priest and the rest of the time looks after his family farm with his parents. So, instead of having the midweek Holy Communion service always at the church next to his house, each of the eleven churches will take turns, month and month about, to have the services at their church. December is so full of carol services etc that that month isn't included. My church of Rumburgh was chosen to start this new order off and we had a 9.00am service on the 6th of January. It was freezing, -8 degrees C and not much warmer in the church. Lots of ice and snow on the roads so I drove extremely slowly and then it was too cold for the gas candle lighter to work so we found a box of slightly damp matches and got them lit at last. Only five of us turned up, including Leon the priest but one of the ladies had brought an Epiphany cake that she had made from a French recipe; a galette des rois. She and her husband had lived in southern France for a while, or had a holiday home there, I don't know if they still have it but they go skiing there in the winter. She thought the cake would be a good thing and it proved very popular. Another lady had brought flasks of hot coffee and tea so we chatted and were refreshed at the end of the service until our feet became so cold they went dead and we had to go home. Our medieval churches are not warm.
ReplyDeleteClare, excuse me for the delay in responding to this. Eleven churches! The poor fellow. And yes, the romantic view we foreigners have of your old churches has little to do with the reality. But, just like the long and difficult journey of the magi, your difficulties what with the cold and damp were noted by the One who matters, and you had the cake, too. :) xo
DeleteI have read this quote many times, but I never saw the sentence about Epiphany. I'll have to think about what he is getting at here!
ReplyDeleteExactly. I’m not sure I get it. I mean I understand the first three sentences, but not the last one. To which end, I’ve been searching online for whatever he had to say about the Christmas season, and I’ve ordered a book.
Delete