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On Grace
Happy New Academic Year! Often, in later life, we remember certain academic years not by what we studied, how well we did, or even who we were romantically involved with, but by a particular song we listened to. For many of us at school or university throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Graceland by Paul Simon was one such, due to its distinctive sound and resonant words. Graceland is a simple poem which is also incredibly rich; holding together a deep political awareness with themes of personal loss, pilgrimage and redemption. The poet describes the loss of love - being “blown apart”, a deliberately violent image - and this personal grief is located explicitly in America’s cultural and political life. The journey is placed in “the cradle of the Civil War”; the word “cradle” showing us shows us how so much of America’s national life was born in that conflict, a conflict with racial segregation at its heart.
Graceland, the mansion of Elvis Presley, a white musician whose music was inspired by black American culture, is the site of pilgrimage, but it isn’t a place to be reached or achieved. It is instead a place where “we all will be received.” Graceland is also to be found at the place of personal loss - “sometimes when I’m falling, flying/ or tumbling in turmoil….. she means we’re bouncing into Graceland”. The place of turmoil is the place where we are welcomed. However, the distinctive bass rhythm of the song, holding these tensions, is not American but the music of the South African townships and of another country suffering racial segregation. In recording in Johannesburg with South African musicians in 1985, Paul Simon broke the cultural boycott against South Africa at a time when apartheid was still entrenched, a powerful act of hope and affirmation. Graceland is the place of political redemption and reconciliation as well as personal. Poetry and music are powerful ways of expressing hope and Graceland inspires us not to separate our personal lives from the political and cultural landscape in which we live. At the time of writing, British political life is in turmoil, but Graceland is the place of welcome in the immediate present even when redemption looks distant.
“And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there’s no obligations now
Maybe I’ve a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland.”
Alice Willington
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The Week Ahead
This Sunday
Sunday 6 October The Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity 10.30 Choral Eucharist - Nave 12.00 Parish Lunch - Old Library 15.30 German Lutheran Service - Chancel
Monday
9.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Tuesday
9.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Wednesday Denys, Martyr
9.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel 19.30 Lecture: Shared Humanity - Old Library
Thursday Paulinus
8.00 Latin Communion - Chancel 9.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Friday Ethelburga
9.00 Morning Prayer - Chancel
12.15 Eucharist - Chancel
Saturday Wilfrid
Sunday 13 October The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
10.30 Choral Eucharist
Preacher: Dr Sarah Mortimer
15.30 Organ Vespers
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Shared Humanity: Beyond our differing Cultures and Beliefs
On Wednesday 9 October at 7.30pm, Letlapa Mphahlele, who commanded the Azanian People’s Liberation Army under apartheid in South Africa, will be speaking on the theme of shared humanity and to raise awareness of the rise of xenophobia in South Africa and around the world. Once wholly committed to violence, he now sees the whole of humanity as ‘my people’. Tickets from Eventbrite, £5 or £3 concessions, available from: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shared-humanity-with-letlapa-mphahlele-tickets-72363528261 |
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Term Card
Copies of the new term card for Michaelmas 2019 are available to take away this morning. Please note that throughout term there is a weekly meeting of the Book Club and Bible Study. There is a Moot on Artificial Intelligence with the Bishop of Oxford on 21 October. There is also a series of lectures planned on the Other Inklings: The Search for God and the Future of Christianity.
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Oxford Winter Night Shelter
The Winter Night Shelter, run by churches in Oxford, will be operating again this winter from 1 January until 31 March 2020. We are currently recruiting volunteers. Existing and new volunteers will need to register and attend a short training session. Training sessions will be held on 12 and 23 October and 12 and 16 November. The link below will take you to the signup page:
www.ownsoxford.org.uk/register
Paul Thompson
Trustee
Oxford Winter Night Shelter
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Newman Celebration
John Henry Newman, who was Vicar of St Mary’s from 1828-1843, will be canonised in Rome on Sunday 13th October. Although we are not organising a pilgrimage to Rome for this occasion, tickets are available at www.newmancanonisation.com. Alongside a number of events in Oxford, there will be an ecumenical celebration of Choral Evensong in St Mary’s on Thursday 17th October at 5.30pm. The Most Revd Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, will be preaching. Everyone is welcome. |
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| Virgin Sport Half Marathon
Please note that this annual event will take place on Sunday 13 October. Some roads will be closed but access points are provided and it is good to check out your route beforehand. Everyone should be able to get here. It is possible to get all race details, together with a route map from the website - https://uk.virginsport.com/event/oxford-half-2019/oxford-half
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Safeguarding
The Parochial Church Council is committed to the protection, safeguarding, care and nurture of all children and vulnerable adults who visit the University Church. If you would like to discuss safeguarding at the University Church or need to report any concerns, you can contact our Safeguarding Advisor, Louise Jarvis: lkjarvis@hotmail.co.uk
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