ASSEMBLY - Q MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

On Tuesday this week, students were treated to a performance of Feeling Good, beautifully sung in the style of Nina Simone by Melania D-M (11H) who recently won the Upper School Singing and Overall Singing prizes at the Q Musician of the Year competition.

VICTORY IN EUROPE – 80TH CELEBRATIONS

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, we sang the hymn ‘I vow to thee my country’, following which Arabella L (12W), Tintin A A (8H) and Alexia E (8S) read from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 12, verses 9-21.

Reverend Kate said that this week we celebrate 80 years since the end of the second world war in which millions sacrificed their lives so that we may be free. At 9.30 pm on Thursday 8th May, as part of the celebrations, over 750 choirs across the United Kingdom will sing in chorus, the hymn we sang in Chapel: I vow to thee my country. Reverend Kate said that the lyrics of this hymn are a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice, a diplomat and former Ambassador to the United States, which speak of ‘a patriotic Britain that stands united in devotion, and a heaven that seeks peace above all else’.

Reverend Kate said that the motto for the VE80 celebrations echoes this quest for peace:

Together, we honour the past and celebrate a future built on unity, hope, love and peace.

…..which sentiments, Reverend Kate said, are expressed in our Bible reading this morning as Saint Paul calls Christians to:

‘Mourn with those who mourn’ (v15).
To ‘live in harmony’ (v16);
To ‘be joyful in hope’ (v12), ‘sincere in love’ (v9) and ‘….at peace with everyone’ (v18).

Reverend Kate said that while we celebrate VE80, we cannot fail to be aware that we live today in a divided world and so on her mind this week have been:

Russian’s invasion of Ukraine.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine in Gaza.
Growing tensions between India and Pakistan.

How sad it is, Reverend Kate said, that the people of these regions, whose forebears may well have played a role in the Allied war effort which led to victory in Europe and our freedom, are today experiencing division. Surely, it cannot be true that ‘unity, hope, love and peace’ are only for some people of the world, for some of the time and not for all people of the world, for all time?

Reverend Kate said that Saint Paul wrote his letter to the Christians of Rome because they were a divided people and he wanted to teach them and us that it is not enough to just profess faith in Christ; instead, we are to be identified by our faith in Christ. As such, a future of ‘unity, hope, love and peace’, in the words of John Lennon, ‘is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are and something you give away’; in other words, how peaceful the world is, is determined by how peaceful we are.

Reverend Kate said that Saint Paul instructs us that to live in ‘unity, hope, love and peace’ we must ‘overcome evil with good’ and she wonders if we can do this by following a simple model of Love, Live and Learn. This model recognises three things:

To overcome evil with good, love is always the answer, no matter the question; good will overcome evil if we love God, love ourselves and love each other.
To overcome evil with good, we must challenge ourselves to take risks and be the best we can be in our relationships; good will overcome evil if we live our best life together with others.
To overcome evil with good, we will make mistakes but through these mistakes we can learn for next time; good will overcome evil if we make our future better than our past.

Love, Live, Learn - repeat - is the way to ‘overcome evil with good’ so that the ‘unity, hope, love and peace’ of God may be, not just for some people of the world for some of the time, but for all people of the world, for all time.

Reverend Kate prayed:
God of love, life and learning,
We give thanks for those who gave their lives in sacrifice for our freedom and we honour them and their friends and families from whom they were taken.

As we celebrate the future we ask you to empower us to ‘overcome evil with good’ by loving, living and learning so that your ‘unity, hope, love and peace’ may be for all people of the world, for all time.
Amen.