The destruction layer.

Dear friends,

I must confess, it’s been a difficult week. My planned trip to the Isle of Man to visit a dying friend was cancelled, as he passed away before I could reach him – the travel has now morphed into a visit for his funeral at St German’s Cathedral next week. Let us do good while we may, preferably today, today, today. As I write this I hear the chatter of children and their parents making the way down the school path, the other side of the fence outside my window. Their days are just beginning. May they learn how precious life is, and that time, and not money, is their most valuable gift. How much time are they already wasting, stuck to their phones, glued to their screens? No eight year old needs a smart phone. God give parents the moral courage to resist the pressure. There is a whole world to explore – and it needs all our efforts.

We live in complicated times, do we not? War erupts, new hurts and scars are made on top of the old ones. There are some places where, it seems, armies are bound to march, and sorrow is layered through time. A memorable part of our visit to Israel in 1991 was a trip to the site of the ancient city of Lachish, (La-keesh) in the lowlands between Jerusalem and the sea. All that can be seen today is the “tel” – the ruin mound, where a few archaeological digs and their displays are seen. It is a bit off the usual tourist trail, but richly rewarding, for history buffs at least. Lachish is mentioned several times in the Bible  – see for example Jer 34:4-7.  In ancient times, Lachish was the second city in Judea, after Jerusalem. It fell to the Assyrians in 701BC; you can see the “media reports” of the siege and destruction from the actual period in the British museum, in the astonishing Lachish reliefs made shortly after the event, and excavated from Sennacherib’s palace in ancient Ninevah (modern day Mosul). Lachish itself has, astonishingly, yielded a glimmer of the terror that the Babylonian armies of King Nebuchadnezzar from the north engendered a hundred or so years later in 586BC , in the form of the Lachish ostraca (pot fragments used to write messages on) found in the excavated gatehouse. One such,  probably sent from an outpost, chillingly writes “we cannot see (the signal fire from the city of) Azekah anymore”. In other words, we must presume our neighbouring city has fallen, and the enemy is marching this way. Once again the city of Lachish was completely destroyed, and its occupants either slaughtered or taken captive into Babylon. Given this double destruction, it is unsurprisng that the occupation of Lachish was patchy thereafter, and that the site was lost to history until the twentieth century. If you are interested to learn more, there are links to a number of very watchable videos at this site.

One of the key things about tels is that they are “layer cakes” of archaeological time. Every metre of debris and dirt represents centuries, or more. Historical markers are not just the floor levels (like Roman mosaics) or the rubbish (artefacts, bits of broken pot, dateable by design, or type of material) but the more sinister, thin black lines marking a “destruction layer”, when a city fell, and was burned to ash. I wonder more and more if we are living through one such period, and what history will make of this generation a thousand years hence.

Worship Services for Sunday 22nd June

9.30am Holy Communion at St John’s Stoke Row with Revd Kevin Davies

11am Holy Communion at St Peter and Paul, Checkendon with Revd Kevin Davies. NB Allow extra time for your journey and parking due to the village boot sale this morning!

Midweek zoom service: Wednesday Evensong at 5.00pm  410 935 129

Sunday 29th June: The Feast of St Peter and St Paul

10.30am Team Service at St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon, with Revds Kevin Davies and Romey Poston.

Future Times

Do support our Team service at Checkendon at the end of the month. It is our last such service before Revd Romey’s time with us concludes, so we are going to use it to pray for her and to say thank you for her sojourn in the Langtree Team.

There won’t be one of these from me next week, as above, I will be in the Isle of Man. Please give thanks for the life of Andy Hillas, whose work for the criminal justice system (especially in Youth Justice) in south London over the last thirty years has made a difference to thousands of young lives, most of whom society would rather we forgot. Please also remember Andy’s wife, Tricia, and sister Clare.  Andy was a humble, gentle, and funny man, and my oldest friend.

Thank you all for your support and care for your churches. I’m delighted to tell you that wheelchair users will now find Checkendon Church easier to access, as there is now a portable ramp which can be deployed. (Some assistance will still be required.) Sidespersons and welcomers please note that the ramp is stored in the vestry.

“No-one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.”  (I John 4:12) Please also pray for Katie Adams and Sacha Alam, to be married at Checkendon on Saturday.

May the Lord bless you, and those you care for.

Revd Kevin Davies.