Page 7 - Parish Magazine June 2018

There are times when the BBC is rightly challenged about its coverage. At the moment it’s the intrusive way in which they covered the investigation into Sir Cliff Richard. Yet in certain areas of broadcasting, the BBC is superb and unrivalled around the globe. One such area is its coverage of science and nature. I am fascinated by the way in which presenters like Sir David Attenborough and Professor Brian Cox use language to describe the world that is almost religious, even though neither of them is a practising Christian.
St. Francis of Assisi had the same vision as Brian Cox. In his Canticle of the Sun, written in 1224, he sings of Brother Sun and Sister Moon, of Brother Fire and Sister Water (We sing a modern version of it in the hymn All creatures of our God and King). Mystic and physicist, saint and scientist, approach the same truth from different directions. How silly we are to set up science against faith, when the same sense of breathless wonder holds them both in rapture as they contemplate the glory of the universe.
St. Paul wrote in glowing language to the church at Colossiae: Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers - all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Col. 1.15-17). In writing about thrones and dominions, Paul is referring to orders of angels (the invisible spiritual world) as well as to earthly rulers. All things hold together in a fundamental unity through the reconciling love of Christ.
So when you are enjoying the beautiful countryside around us, or lifting your eyes to the hills, or calling a beautiful view ‘glorious’, think about what you are saying. The words we use on such occasions are deeply spiritual. They bring us to the realisation that we must love and care for the world, because God has, from the beginning, loved and cared for us.
Andrew Sinclair
thenewseec@gmail.com EDINGTON, ERLESTOKE & COULSTON 5
CHURCH VIEWS
In Wonders of the Universe, Brian Cox showed that each of us is made of the same material as the oldest rocks on our planet and as the furthest stars of our universe.
P h y s i c a l m a t t e r i s c o n s t r u c t e d fr o m a t i n y c o l l e c t i o n o f b a s i c i n g r e d i e n t s , a s s e m b l e d i n a staggering variety of permutations. From this glorious mélange come earth, stone, wood, water, blood, hair, skin, teeth, bone, you, me. ‘Ultimately’, he said, ‘we are part of the universe.’ This is a delightful thought. I can say to my fingers and toes, those uncomplaining, lifelong, friends of mine, ‘Look at the stars, you little people, look at the hills; they are your brothers, they are your sisters!’