Aluredian
30
Bishop Bill Ind
confirmed 26 King's
pupils in the Lent termT
he weekly Eucharist is now
fully integrated into the school
routine, perpetuating 130
years of unbroken worship
together as a Woodard School
community. Thomas Merton
once said, "Prayer is finding the place in you
where you, here and now, are being created by
God." To me that is the essence of our worship
in the Chapel week by week; finding the place
where each one of us individually and all of us
corporately are being loved and created by God
right now.
Christian metaphysics teaches us that we are
all ontological siblings - we are all linked to
each other, whether we like it or not! The
symbolic story in Genesis where God gives
Adam and Eve permission to eat of all the fruit
trees in the garden (except one) is, we believe,
God's permission for us to enjoy science, art,
music, relationships, and everything that is
wonderful about creation. Adam, in the story,
catalogues all the animals and gives them
names. He is doing the work of a scientist! In
my sermons from time to time, I have tried to
say how tragic it is when science and religion
clash rather than co-operate. Our wonderful
diversity is what we celebrate when we gather
as a community in the Chapel.
We also believe that we are connected beyond
space and time with those who have gone
before us, and so, each year, at the All Souls
Day Eucharist, we remember our loved ones
who have died, then, on Remembrance
Sunday, those who lost their lives in war. This
year the wreath was laid by Captain Andrew
Morris (RM) O C 6 Troop 40 Commando, who
was in King Alfred house and left King's in
2000. The Commemoration of Benefactors
Service, remembering those who have given
this school of their time, talents and money,
was held in the Summer term.
A further reminder of our links beyond space
and time is the new angel, just installed in the
Chapel in October 2010. It is a winged form in
limed oak by Derek Nice. Ancient peoples drew
and expressed their dreams, experiences, fears
and aspirations on the walls of dark caves, on
desert rocks and in wooden structures. The
angel is an intentionally simplified form which
takes account of the vitality and expression