The final day in our calendar series is "Guy Fawkes Day". It is memorialised in the English year on November 5th.
On that date in 1605 Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators tried to blow up the houses of parliament.
Guy Fawkes was the original religious terrorist. He should have been named 'Guy BIN Fawkes'.
He was caught as he was about to light the fuse to vaults packed with barrels of gunpowder.
Tried and found guilty he was hanged and, consistent with the justice of his day, drawn and quartered.
Why would Guy and his men try to blow up parliament?
Because they were enraged Roman Catholics conspiring to smash protestant rule in England and bring back her erring sheep to the papal fold.
Ever since that time on November 5th, bonfires blaze on English streets and firworks light up the night sky.
The bishop of Westminster in April told William and Kate to "go forth and set the world on fire" not "go forth and blow it up!"
To know Christ is to know the difference between the two.
Ian
I attended the College of the Venerable Bede, Durham City, in the early sixties.
It was an all male bastion of learning with 600 students.
We celebrated Bede Day with a carnival held on the spacious lawns of our college. It was a chance to show off our magnificent ancient building to the curious public. I have few recollections of Bede Day 1962. I was hit on the forehead while manning the coconut shy. The wooden ball sent me into a haze for several days after.
However, I have not forgotten the reason for celebrating May 25th.
The Venerable Bede was the most eminent historian and scholar that England produced prior to 1066 AD. Among his notable endeavours was the translation of the Bible into the English language. This single accomplishment did more to civilize England than any invention or feat of arms.
Incidentally, ten minutes after he dictated the last verse of Revelation, he breathed his final breath.
When you read your Bible, among others, you have Bede to thank.
Bede Day. May 25th. A worthy inclusion on our calendar.
Ian
I went to see my mechanic yesterday. His name is Alex and he is from Serbia. He is also a passionate Eastern Orthodox christian, ready to drop the spanner and take up the sword at a moment's notice.
He was lamenting the absence of passion in most Christian's faith and asked the question "Whatever happened to St George of England? He was ready to go to war for the faith wasn't he?"
I spontaneously obliged him with a rendition of "Land of Hope and Glory" which astonished his customers and mechanics. Alex responded with a shout "That's it! It was God who put the 'Great' in Great Britain and if the nation doesn't go back to St George it will disappear into the third world."
Well, Alex, I agree. And what is true for Britain is true for every other nation that forsakes it's faith in Christ.
A verse in the hymn "Non Nobis Domine" reads "For in His judgement lies to crown or bring to nought. Non Nobis Domine not unto us the praise."
LET'S GET BACK TO THE FAITH OF ST.GEORGE.
Ian
Yesterday we spoke about 'whitsuntide' as a day recorded on the English calendar.
In my own country of Canada a new calendar is taking shape.
Family Day, Ground Hog Day, St Valentines Day and Canada Day; a calendar from which all references to Christianity are being air-brushed out.
What a land-mark event to record in a nations history: 'Ground Hog Day'!
Maybe next year it will be 'Lady Ga-Ga Day'. 'Wayne Gretsky Day' or ' Harry Potter Day'.
Look at a calendar and you will find the milestones and memorials that have shaped the identity and formed the national consciousness of that country.
This year, if somebody says "Happy Turkey Day" instead of "Happy Thanksgiving" let them know that you are still old fashioned enough to give appreciation to God for all the blessings that He has bestowed upon you.
To forget that would make YOU the turkey.
Ian
Today is Whit Sunday (incase you didn't know). The name comes from 'Whitsun' which means "White Sunday" a day when people were baptized in white garments.
Because the day falls 50 days after Easter it is also known as the day of 'Pentecost'.
In a secular society where historical and religious significance is of little importance it is worth noting that there would have been no church through the ages were it not for what happened on the first day of Pentecost.
We read in the second chapter of Acts: "They were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Tongues of fire appeared on their heads and they all spoke in different tongues."
Fire, power, Holy Spirit, miracles. They received what the black preacher called "A dose of the Ghost!"
To the sceptical mind it all seems a bit spooky. However, to those who have experienced their own personal Pentecost it is the very heartbeat and centre of their Christian faith.
Why not read the Book of Acts and find out more about 'The dose of the Ghost?'
It is something you can't get in a bottle or buy from Wal-Mart.
Ian
