Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

11/04/2015

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Revd Andrew Martlew.

2 minutes

Last on

Sat 11 Apr 2015 05:43

Script

Good morning.  Many years ago, when I was a young student, I went to a World Council of Churches Summer School in Switzerland.  Brilliant time.  Learned a lot.  And met fellow trainee Priests and Ministers from all over the world – including some who had never heard of the Church of England.Which was a shock to my English-centred view of the world.  How could anyone know nothing about the C of E?  The Anglican Communion is worldwide, and the Church of England is at its centre – how could anyone studying theology know nothing about it?I can still recall the effects of this Copernican revolution.  A genuine paradigm shift that took me and my tradition away from the centre of the Christian Universe.  Which was actually more painful than it sounds.Not least because of the realisation of my own insularity, the world-view I’d shared with my fellow Christians as I grew up.  Not only does the Christian world not revolve around the Archbishop of Canterbury, there are great swathes of the Church that I still know precious little about.I’ve seen the rock-cut churches of northern Ethiopia.  I’ve drunk slivovic with a Serbian Orthodox Priest at 9 o’clock in the morning.  And I’ve prayed with the Armenians before dawn in Jerusalem.  And with each encounter, as my horizon has been lifted, I’ve realised how much there is still to learn from my fellow Christians.So I’d like to offer a prayer this morning in the knowledge that for the members of the Orthodox Churches across the world,  today is Holy Saturday – the day before Easter Day.  As we come to the end of Easter week, they are just moving into the great celebration of our shared faith.Lord God of all humanity,your church is a mosaic of different traditions and insights,languages and cultures.Help us to value our differences, learn from our neighbours,and still rejoice in the faith we ourselves have inherited. Amen.

Broadcast

  • Sat 11 Apr 2015 05:43

"Time is passing strangely these days..."

"Time is passing strangely these days..."

Uplifting thoughts and hopes for the coronavirus era from Salma El-Wardany.