We continue today in this Season of Creation to celebrate living water, as we also hear the story of the leper who returned to give thanks. These two ideas came together for me in the image you see on the slide. This is a photograph of a sculpture in the cloister gardens of Chester cathedral in the UK, recorded by Sally Horne, a member of this parish community, when she visited some years ago on pilgrimage. The sculpture is by public artist Stephen Broadbent, and I think you will agree with me that it is very striking – some would even say, in the best sense of this word, very queer...
This is a picture of tender intimacy and of mutuality. It is by no means obvious who is giving and who is receiving in this artwork. There is a dynamic flow of energy between the two figures, that in itself enables the flow of life-giving water. They form a circle of reciprocity. This echoes the artist’s own reflection that in his work, “‘the idea is made flesh’. It is the other person who makes the artwork, one to make it and one to receive it.” This mirrors our gospel story, in which Jesus draws attention to the life-giving flow of energy involved in his own action of healing - one to give and one to receive. The other nine lepers miss out on the flow of living water that would have been generated by their giving of thanks. It is not that Jesus is annoyed by the nine who did not come back and say ‘thank you’ – that’s more likely to be our more egocentric reaction when someone forgets to thank us for a perceived favour. Rather it is that Jesus recognises the life-giving dynamic, the flow of living water, that is generated by the attitude of gratitude. Those who failed to express that gratitude interrupted the flow that could have been theirs to enjoy. They failed to join the great song of the cosmos, that is the song of thanks.
This has been well understood and practiced by Br. David Steindl-Rast, and many of you will be familiar with his work on grateful living. As he reminds us:
There is really only one song, and it’s the Great Song, it’s the cosmic song.It’s the song that all things and all animals and all plants and all humans sing in their deepest heart. And every song that a human sings with his or her voice is only an expression of that one Great Song, that is there from the beginning and will be there after the end. The Great Song, the Great Sound comes out of silence- or it isn’t the Great Song.If you listen deeply to the silence within then you find That Song.
Each of us here today is here because we are singing and responding to that Great Song; we are all part of the song; of the river of sound, of the living water – the metaphors vary, but the underlying truth is the same. When we are grateful; when we give and receive with mutuality, the rivers of water flow; the song is sung; the impossible becomes the possible.
Father. Christian, nearly a year ago in the invitation of the pride eucharist, offered to a queer family who will be baptised in our church community tomorrow two great gifts: the gift of celebratory acceptance into our church family, and specifically the opportunity of baptism when the time was right. They received the first of those gifts with thanks and living water began to flow as they found their home among us. Tomorrow they will say ‘yes’ to the second gift as they receive the gift of baptism that Christian so longed to give them – and for them and all of us living water flows deeply as we acknowledge the loving care that brings them to that point. For the water with which they will be baptised is indeed the water of the very everlasting life that Christian now enjoys. The light they will receive is part of the great light; the music of gratitude, the singing of the great song.
Each of the family will receive a candle, lit from the great Paschal or Easter candle. It is the greatest reminder in our tradition of the resurrection; of the triumph of life over death. Kindled every year on Easter day, it is lit at every baptism and every funeral, symbolising the continuity of the communion of saints, that great succession of every Christian that has ever lived and will ever live – from the very beginning right through to this moment and beyond to eternity - an ever-flowing river of light; of ever living water. And it seems extraordinarily fitting that the very candle that was last lit in this community yesterday on the occasion of Father Christian’s funeral, will be lit and will be used to pass to this precious young family, whom Christian nurtured, the gift of knowing their own place in that great river of light.
And so indeed as a community of faith, we are grateful – grateful for the gifts given and received and yet to be given and received. For as maker of this sculpture also said: 'our surroundings create the conditions for us to flourish’ Father Christian - along with so many of you - created conditions in which this family could flourish. This family are creating and will continue to create conditions in which we as a faith community can flourish further. For we nourish and sustain one another through the myriads of small acts of giving and receiving that sustain our life in community, in and through which the love of Christ, the living water flows. Through this family the living water of Christ flows afresh, and who knows what each of them will contribute to the life of the world in years to come. But be very sure that they will each play their part in the river of living water; in the singing of the great song, just as Christian has done, and just as each of us continues to do. For as Mark Nepo has recently written:
We must never underestimate the power of
one heart, one mind, one soul to shift the course of history.
Not with a grand gesture, but with a steady contribution of life-force
to the waking tide of the Universe.
May each of us continue to contribute our voice to the great song, our drops of living water to the great river. In the name of the living Christ. Amen.
by Penny Jones, for Gosford Anglicans, for Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 September 2026
This has been well understood and practiced by Br. David Steindl-Rast, and many of you will be familiar with his work on grateful living. As he reminds us:
There is really only one song, and it’s the Great Song, it’s the cosmic song.It’s the song that all things and all animals and all plants and all humans sing in their deepest heart. And every song that a human sings with his or her voice is only an expression of that one Great Song, that is there from the beginning and will be there after the end. The Great Song, the Great Sound comes out of silence- or it isn’t the Great Song.If you listen deeply to the silence within then you find That Song.
Each of us here today is here because we are singing and responding to that Great Song; we are all part of the song; of the river of sound, of the living water – the metaphors vary, but the underlying truth is the same. When we are grateful; when we give and receive with mutuality, the rivers of water flow; the song is sung; the impossible becomes the possible.
Father. Christian, nearly a year ago in the invitation of the pride eucharist, offered to a queer family who will be baptised in our church community tomorrow two great gifts: the gift of celebratory acceptance into our church family, and specifically the opportunity of baptism when the time was right. They received the first of those gifts with thanks and living water began to flow as they found their home among us. Tomorrow they will say ‘yes’ to the second gift as they receive the gift of baptism that Christian so longed to give them – and for them and all of us living water flows deeply as we acknowledge the loving care that brings them to that point. For the water with which they will be baptised is indeed the water of the very everlasting life that Christian now enjoys. The light they will receive is part of the great light; the music of gratitude, the singing of the great song.
Each of the family will receive a candle, lit from the great Paschal or Easter candle. It is the greatest reminder in our tradition of the resurrection; of the triumph of life over death. Kindled every year on Easter day, it is lit at every baptism and every funeral, symbolising the continuity of the communion of saints, that great succession of every Christian that has ever lived and will ever live – from the very beginning right through to this moment and beyond to eternity - an ever-flowing river of light; of ever living water. And it seems extraordinarily fitting that the very candle that was last lit in this community yesterday on the occasion of Father Christian’s funeral, will be lit and will be used to pass to this precious young family, whom Christian nurtured, the gift of knowing their own place in that great river of light.
And so indeed as a community of faith, we are grateful – grateful for the gifts given and received and yet to be given and received. For as maker of this sculpture also said: 'our surroundings create the conditions for us to flourish’ Father Christian - along with so many of you - created conditions in which this family could flourish. This family are creating and will continue to create conditions in which we as a faith community can flourish further. For we nourish and sustain one another through the myriads of small acts of giving and receiving that sustain our life in community, in and through which the love of Christ, the living water flows. Through this family the living water of Christ flows afresh, and who knows what each of them will contribute to the life of the world in years to come. But be very sure that they will each play their part in the river of living water; in the singing of the great song, just as Christian has done, and just as each of us continues to do. For as Mark Nepo has recently written:
We must never underestimate the power of
one heart, one mind, one soul to shift the course of history.
Not with a grand gesture, but with a steady contribution of life-force
to the waking tide of the Universe.
May each of us continue to contribute our voice to the great song, our drops of living water to the great river. In the name of the living Christ. Amen.
by Penny Jones, for Gosford Anglicans, for Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 September 2026
RSS Feed