Saint Jane
A strange experience while saying Morning Prayer today.
I was reflecting (with half my mind) on how much I had enjoyed Pride and Prejudice, when I found myself without thinking about it wanting to pray for Jane Austen. For the repose of her soul (I don't do this kind of thing!) because she was so brilliant and has given such pleasure to her readers over 200 years. Or maybe, to St Jane, to intercede for me that I might have the same gift of acute and compassionate observation of human nature, the same wit, the same satirical humorous skill at pin-pricking the absurd social pretensions, greed and class-riddenness of society in our day.
Then I realised that we were part of the same communion of saints, and it was helped by the fact that I was praying the very same words, from the Book of Common Prayer, that she will have heard and used in church week by week. We were united by the language of prayer.
I don't suppose anyone will be using Common Worship in 200 years time, so there will be no similar sense of communion with St Lynne Truss (even assuming she uses Common Worship? which I have no evidence of). So maybe only those who are still using BCP 200 years from now will feel this truth, that we and the saints are contemporaries.
I was reflecting (with half my mind) on how much I had enjoyed Pride and Prejudice, when I found myself without thinking about it wanting to pray for Jane Austen. For the repose of her soul (I don't do this kind of thing!) because she was so brilliant and has given such pleasure to her readers over 200 years. Or maybe, to St Jane, to intercede for me that I might have the same gift of acute and compassionate observation of human nature, the same wit, the same satirical humorous skill at pin-pricking the absurd social pretensions, greed and class-riddenness of society in our day.
Then I realised that we were part of the same communion of saints, and it was helped by the fact that I was praying the very same words, from the Book of Common Prayer, that she will have heard and used in church week by week. We were united by the language of prayer.
I don't suppose anyone will be using Common Worship in 200 years time, so there will be no similar sense of communion with St Lynne Truss (even assuming she uses Common Worship? which I have no evidence of). So maybe only those who are still using BCP 200 years from now will feel this truth, that we and the saints are contemporaries.
posted by Tony at 9/03/2004 08:01:00 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home