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Canon Fr. Christopher Morgan-Jones was for over twenty years the Vicar of All Saints Maidstone. He is now in retirement but helps regularly with our services both in the mornings and evenings.
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Remembering in November
November is the great month for remembering. The 1st is All Saints Day when we remember all the saints of God, in all their diversity, in all their holiness, in all their limitations. The 2nd is All Souls Day when we remember all who have died, especially those we have been close to, those persons who have influenced our lives.
The 5th is the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot where it was intended that King James 1st of England and all the leading men of the day were to have been blown up in the Houses of Parliament. It was also the day that William of Orange and his army landed on the South Coast and this lead to what has been called the Glorious Revolution whereby William III and Mary II became King and Queen after agreeing to restrictions to the powers of the Government and an increase in the powers of Parliament and an independent Judiciary.
Then comes Armistice Day on the 11th followed by Remembrance Sunday, this year on the 14th, when we remember all those killed in the 1st and 2nd World Wars and in the too many conflicts since then.
At present, there is a tendency to portray persons and events from the past in rather back and white terms. The reality, as I see it, is that most of us are much more mixed in our combinations of virtue and destructiveness. There is also a tendency to judge people by our values today rather than those of the past.
Thus, Edward Colston who died in 1721 made much money through the slave trade for which he is justly condemned, he made vastly more money as a merchant trader and was a philanthropist on a huge scale. In his home city of Bristol, he endowed alms houses, three schools and community facilities and in other places endowed alms houses and made generous donations to churches.
It is, I believe, so important to remember both the good and the bad. There is much we have inherited from people, from institutions such as our schools and churches or voluntary organisations that has been good and by remembering, we may be inspired to do good, to pass things on to future generations that are of value. At the same time, remembering some of the bad things that happened in the past can contribute in some degree to the healing of the harm, it also reminds us that just as our forbears tended to do bad things along with the good, we are likely to be in the same position. It can remind us to be humble in a good way, seeking to reduce the bad we do and increase the good.
So, as we remember all these things in November, we thank God for the good, we pray for healing from the bad and we always turn to our ever - loving Father for his grace and guidance.
Fr Chris
The 5th is the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot where it was intended that King James 1st of England and all the leading men of the day were to have been blown up in the Houses of Parliament. It was also the day that William of Orange and his army landed on the South Coast and this lead to what has been called the Glorious Revolution whereby William III and Mary II became King and Queen after agreeing to restrictions to the powers of the Government and an increase in the powers of Parliament and an independent Judiciary.
Then comes Armistice Day on the 11th followed by Remembrance Sunday, this year on the 14th, when we remember all those killed in the 1st and 2nd World Wars and in the too many conflicts since then.
At present, there is a tendency to portray persons and events from the past in rather back and white terms. The reality, as I see it, is that most of us are much more mixed in our combinations of virtue and destructiveness. There is also a tendency to judge people by our values today rather than those of the past.
Thus, Edward Colston who died in 1721 made much money through the slave trade for which he is justly condemned, he made vastly more money as a merchant trader and was a philanthropist on a huge scale. In his home city of Bristol, he endowed alms houses, three schools and community facilities and in other places endowed alms houses and made generous donations to churches.
It is, I believe, so important to remember both the good and the bad. There is much we have inherited from people, from institutions such as our schools and churches or voluntary organisations that has been good and by remembering, we may be inspired to do good, to pass things on to future generations that are of value. At the same time, remembering some of the bad things that happened in the past can contribute in some degree to the healing of the harm, it also reminds us that just as our forbears tended to do bad things along with the good, we are likely to be in the same position. It can remind us to be humble in a good way, seeking to reduce the bad we do and increase the good.
So, as we remember all these things in November, we thank God for the good, we pray for healing from the bad and we always turn to our ever - loving Father for his grace and guidance.
Fr Chris
29th October 2021
