Living stones

THE Philip Larkin poem “Church Going”, written in 1954 (The Less Deceived, Marvell Press, 1955/Faber & Faber, 2011), speaks to our parish churches in Norfolk. We are very well off for churches, but so many are neglected or in disrepair. The site that I follow, friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk, is poignant. Larkin wonders:
 

When churches fall completely out of use
What shall we turn them into, if we shall keep
A few cathedrals chronically on show,
Their parchment, plate, and pyx in locked cases,
And let the rest rent free to rain and sheep.
 

My niece, Gus, and I are faced with this, as we anxiously inspect the church opposite her family home in the village of Stoke Ferry. Her late father, my brother, bought the pretty and “friendless” church from the diocese; he composed there, on a grand piano in the nave, and held some arts and music festivals. He rang the bell on Remembrance Sunday. He also plotted out a pilgrim map taking in a cluster of still-consecrated but friendless churches across Norfolk. His idea was that, if lavatories could be installed in them, they could host a pilgrim trade, which is on the rise.

Retail trail

GUS and I are adapting his idea. We are working on a merchant-and-pilgrim trail from King’s Lynn to Ely, celebrating the Hanseatic traders who were the glory of Lynn. How did they spend their fortunes? Building churches. On the trade side, we are reviving the making and sale of pilgrim badges, as modern pewter jewellery. Any profit will go towards the repair of All Saints’, in Stoke Ferry.

I am delighted that the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, the Lady Dannatt, has agreed to open a stretch of the route in May. Her husband, Lord Dannatt, is also president of the Norfolk Churches Trust.

Larkin ends his poem about Anglican ruin with appreciation for “A serious house on serious earth”. The parish churches cannot become obsolete while we hunger for what they represent — either for prayer, or for community.

Glimpses of glory

A THEOLOGIAN once told me that he thought that a distinction between us was that I was spiritual and not religious, and he was religious and not spiritual. Better that way round, since he was a priest, but it did make me reflect on how much my faith was influenced by nature or music.

I recently crossed Drake Passage, in a comfortable boat rather than Shackleton- style, and we were followed by albatrosses gliding over the swell, companions and yet utterly mysterious — the more so because of the lore that they are the souls of mariners. The strange and beautiful landscape as the first icebergs rose in front of us, and these accompanying sea birds, drew tears of awe and wonder (doubtless helped by the cold).

Sir Ernest Shackleton saw this landscape, knowing that it was unlikely that he would survive it, and yet he said of it: “We had seen God in his splendours, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man.”

Soul survivor

THOUGHT for the Day (TFTD) is an anomaly in Radio 4’s Today programme, which has nevertheless survived, despite all attempts to cull it. Presenters are increasingly encouraged to take an interest in trailers for other programmes — “Ooh, I won’t miss that,” etc. — but the ruling for TFTD is no engagement, in order to preserve the division between Church and State. When faith leaders touch on great tragedy, this can make the transition to the next item a bit brusque: “And now let’s talk about whether Ozempic has made the January diet redundant. . .”

When I was editing the programme, I would try to soften this with a chat in the green room. Lucy Winkett (Rector of St James’s, Piccadilly), Liz Adekunle (former Archdeacon of Hackney), and Giles Fraser (Vicar of St Anne’s, Kew) were particular favourites. Occasionally, there would be an attempt to lure on a faith leader with news value: “While you are here, Justin Welby. . .”

The fire at Notre-Dame was a rare instance of faith being addressed on the news agenda in divine terms rather than as a branch of social services. Lord Sentamu said that the nation was praying, as the flames threatened the spire. The presenter John Humphrys, an atheist with a yearning for meaning, asked him: “But what are we praying for?” Good question.

Moral maze

TALKING of Ozempic, are there ethical if not religious implications to taking it? Does it count as fasting if your appetite is suppressed by a drug rather than your will?

What if there were a drug created that made you more moral? Would that interfere with divine intention and free will? Perhaps one for Thought for the Day.
 

Sarah Sands is a journalist and author.