It was in a BBC article, Your pictures of Scotland: 10 – 17 April, that the thought was provoked in Coco’s head. The article contains several quite delightful photographs including one of a short-eared owl in flight near Caithness, but it was not this that inflamed Coco’s thoughts.

But rather one of some large mammals in a field. The caption catches the attention:

Surely we must be careful of our diet. It important for our bodies – too much arsenic may promote an early and unwelcome disorganisation of the machines, processes and factories that maintaining their proper economy enable the organs of the body to function in their vital states but the ingestion of the odd apple or two may, despite the arsenic risk, actually help to keep the doctor away if part of a daily routine.

It is important also for our souls. Peter tells us that as new born babes we are to desire the pure spiritual milk of the Word¹. If we do not understand the world in which we live correctly then we shall make mistakes with both inanimate things and animate beings. We shall not treat people as we ought. We shall not live as we ought.

But we are not to remain as those who only drink milk. As new born babes, the apostle said, but babes grow up and need stronger food². The Apostle writing to one group of believers expresses his disappointment that his readers are still living as babes. Why do they not grow up, he has asked them, that they may be given solid food. He then goes on to tell them what those elementary matters³ are. Some of you if you read the list may wonder why it is that the Apostle calls these things elementary having not understood them. If you do, then you fall into that same group who are still only drinking milk. We are to move on from that.

Paul, elsewhere, writes to the Corinthian church⁴ telling them also that they had not grown up. Why do they only take milk?

The answer lies in that we have not developed our appetites. The Englishman, though Coco may suppose there may not be many of them now, who has only tasted the bland food of his fathers, will find it hard to swallow the exotic medley of the subcontinent. They have not listened to the words of the Psalmist⁵. When we consider the works of the Lord both in nature and in the redemption of men by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, giving himself to pay the penalty for our sins and to prepare the way to lift the curse that lies upon this world⁶ because of Adam’s⁷ sin. If we ingest the wrong food, we shall either grow stuntedly, not quite like horses becoming sheep, and in ignorance of the true God.

Let us then feed not only our bodies but our souls, hearts and minds that we may grow in the knowledge of God our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and not remain in ignorance of all that he has done for us by reading his Word, meditating upon it, digesting it, and putting it in practice in our daily living.

1. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:2-3 ↩︎
2. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 5:12-14 ↩︎
3. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. Hebrews 6:1-3 ↩︎
4. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 ↩︎
5. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
   The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
   The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
   The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
   The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
   The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
   More to be desired are they than gold,
   Yea, than much fine gold;
   Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
   Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
   And in keeping them there is great reward. Psalm 19 ↩︎
6. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now. Romans 8:20-22 ↩︎
7. Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return. Genesis 3:17-19 ↩︎

You may know the riddle of the two men at the fork in the road. You are walking along the road and you know that there is a fork, one way of which will lead you to Althringham the other to Seudhampton. You wish to reach Althringham. There is only one signpost but both pointers say Althringham, how do you know which way to go?

Well you wait and hope that someone shall pass who will be able to help you. In due course a man comes along the road. You do not know where he comes from or where is he is going, but you do know that a man from Seudhampton will never the tell the truth, and a man from Althringham will always tell the truth.

What question do you ask the man who comes along the road? If he is from neither of the towns you may not be any the wiser, but if he is, you may then know which way to go¹.

There is a similar riddle which involves a pair of speaking doors. There is an alternative ending to this to which Coco shall not allude but which you may wish to look up elsewhere. There are no labels on the doors but you know that the one door leads to heaven and the other door leads to hell. The door to heaven always speaks the truth. The door to hell always lies. You are only permitted to ask one question of one of the doors, What question do you ask²?

Both of these riddles point us to a much bigger question. Would you want to spend your days in the place of lies and liars, or in the place where truth is known and valued? Do you want your destination to be in heaven or in hell?

This is one of the most important, perhaps the most important, question for which you must have an answer. How can a man escape the pains of hell, and gain the bliss of heaven?

In this life we walk a road which inevitably leads to a fork in the road. We may reach that fork before we die, but certainly when we die we shall be on one side of the fork or the other. How can we be sure that we are on the road to Althringham, to heaven and not on the road to Seudhampton, to hell?

On our way down the road we meet two men. We shall call them J and M. If you ask the question What is the way to heaven? both of them will say Follow me. How can we know which one tells the truth?

Do we think of the riddle of the two villages or do we think of the riddle of the two doors?

Both of them will help us to understand. M and J both teach that we should live a good, righteous and holy life. There are commands to keep. If we keep them then we shall live. But how shall we keep them? Both recognise that we fall short of the measure.

How then do we know that we have done enough. an old Welsh hymn takes up the the question:

Y gŵr wrth ffynnon Jacob – A man by Jacob’s well. The hymn pictures the man with a pair of scales in his hand – A’r glorian yn ei law, and asks the question what will turn the scales?

We are at the fork and ask the question, what will turn the scales? If both J and M hold the scales what answer do they give when we ask Will my good works and obedience turn the scales?

When we ask the doors: Does the other door lead to the same place as you? We go through the door that replies No. If it replies Yes it lies.

We ask M, and he replies: Yes, your good works, if there are sufficient, will turn the scales

We ask J, and he replies: No, your good works will not turn the scales but mine do.

The Welsh hymn puts it: O! f’enaid, cais dduwioldeb a dry y glorian hon. My soul! plead [the blood], this will turn the scales. When King David wrote the fortieth psalm he spoke of the work of the one who would come: a body you have prepared for me. I have come to do your will, O God.³ The Lord Jesus Christ came to do his will. It is his perfect obedience to the law and to the Father’s will that earns a righteousness that he can give to us, and in the figurative sense turns the scales for us. His good works count for us.

It is in fact the obedience he showed in his death on the Roman cross where he paid the price for our disobedience and sin that removes the condemnation from us; but we do not need just our sin to be removed we need also to be given a righteousness that cannot fade in order to stand before a holy God.

And of the first riddle, what can we say? We may ask both J and M the question: Where do you live? Jesus replies: I have come down from heaven⁴ in which are many rooms, I go [now] to prepare a place for you and shall return to take you there.⁵

What answer can M give? No matter how closely we follow the commands he has given, he understands our hearts: Their foot shall slip in due time⁶

Do not walk with those who cannot take you to heaven. Walk with him who is the way, the truth and the light⁷. He shall take you home⁸.

1. _{^{Which road leads to your town?}} ↩︎
2. ^{_{Does the other door lead to the same place as you do?}} ↩︎
3. ^{_{Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come – in the volume of the book it is written of me – to do your will, O God.’ Hebrews 10:5 after Psalm 40:6-8}} ↩︎
4. _{^{For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:38-40}} ↩︎
5. ^{_{In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” John 14:2-4}} ↩︎
6. _{^{Vengeance is mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them Deuteronomy 32:35}} ↩︎
7. ^{_{Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6}} ↩︎
8. _{^{And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43}} ↩︎

No, not king David this time, but Ashforth of whom it has been said:

“Consider the ministry. You will have lots of time for reading, and will be able to run your own show by thirty.” Such was the claim made by the Rev. David Ashforth, coordinator of the West London Chaplaincy, an ecumenical student ministry at various colleges in West London (UK), including my own Royal College of Music, in the late 1970s. His hope was that at least a few of us students might consider post-graduate study in theology and possibly ordination. Most would continue in sciences, mining, engineering or as with myself in the arts. David made his appeal at a time when many churches in Western Europe and North American still had buildings and could financially support the staff to run their programmes. There was an inkling however, even then, that things were about to change.

Ken Gray, a recently retired Anglican priest and Cathedral Dean living in Kamloops, BC Canada

Coco had wondered from time to time what had happened to David. What was his proper name. It never quite came out of the forgettory that we call a brain.

It was whilst listening to Gavin Ashenden that Coco at the last remembered his name, David Ashforth, and it crossed his mind, or what is left of it, that perhaps this man knows him. Gavin is speaking in this presentation about the failure of one particular man, and one who ought to know better, to cry: Christ is risen. Coco would have thought however that this particular man is one who should be among the respondents to the cry with the response: Christ is risen indeed rather than one who initiated the cry. The fault therefore lies more with the leaders of the Anglican communion who failed to cry with a unified voice: Christ is risen to which he could have properly responded.

Turning to Google, Coco asked the question, but Google found no links between Gavin and David, it did though find Ken Gray’s article, It’s all about leadership — Life in my little town – The church blog, which seems to suggest that the David Ashforth he knew is the one Coco also knew though a few years later than Coco. It is an interesting article. Many of Coco’s peers and friends from Imperial went into the ministry, most as Anglicans and in recent reflections have said similar things to Ken as in “Another group .. continues to leave parish ministry … [to serve] in universities, in health care settings, in prisons and in schools. …they did not find “a good fit” for their skills, … [they] have followed the allure of academia, [etc]” They found a lack of energy (euphemism, Coco considers, for willingness) to commit to the slog. This is not just the case within the Anglican communion, but amongst the non-conformists also. It is undeniable that there are always exceptions.

David ran, perhaps supervised is a better description, AngSoc at Imperial. Memories fade, but he and Coco must have met along with others once a week during the years they were both there. They did not always agree: Your doctrine is most harsh, still rings in Coco’s ears. Had David never read Samuel Rutherford’s letters? See what love the Father has poured out – lavished – upon us¹. See how Rutherford uses the Song of Songs to promote the love of God, and provokes the responses of love and adoration in his children. See how the King is overcome, is entranced, enthralled, when his bride comes into his presence even when she turns up sweaty, unkempt and badly in need of a wash²! But as iron sharpens iron³, so his teaching helped to shape and sharpen this writer.

So the question now is – though we are reminded not to ask for whom the bell toll. Coco must also depart⁴ – is David still with us, or has he completed his race and now waiting in the presence of the Lord for the glorious resurrection when he shall make all things new?

A recently officially retired friend said to Coco: Anglican ministers never retire, they just move on to something new but without pay. So, may the Lord be with Ken Gray, to strengthen his hand in his ministry as he continues to study to shew himself approved as a faithful teacher of his Word⁵.

1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1 ↩︎
2. O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners!
   Turn your eyes away from me, for they have overcome me.
   Song 6:4-5 ↩︎
3. As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
   Proverbs 17 ↩︎
4. Auf Wiedersehen ↩︎
5. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 ↩︎