There has been a lot of magic in the air just recently. It has been the Christmas holiday, which is a traditional time for these things, but if you look into that special apparatus with all seeing vision, you cannot help but escape it.

I guess many of us will have seen Lord Of The Rings, and Harry Potter, but there is also the Star Wars series, as well as Buffy, Angel, Charmed, and Enterprise. There was a time when to be in SK costume was like a charm in itself, and the entire world were Muggles. That does not seem so now though, we have our organisation and procedures, and structures. It all appears very dull at times though it is necessary if we are to continue as an organisation.

The question is, should we be thinking about magic? In the seventeenth century, it was very dangerous to consider the prospect. Today it is thought a bit loony to take it too seriously, as we think with the benefit of scientific understanding, as small psychology would unseem it. I think it is Ted Hughes who wrote, "Once was every woman the witch to ride the ragwort trail" Yet some writers like Dennis Wheatley warn of very real dangers. Where then does someone fit as a twentieth century person looking at the seventeenth?

Tolkien is perhaps a good point of reference. He was apparently disparaged as a "Papist" by colleagues, yet perhaps part of the attraction of his writings is that they contain layer upon layer of both Celtic and Norse folk lore that we half remember from things we have absorbed through our culture. The seventeenth century was a time when cultures that had gone a parallel course began to be shaped by technology, and the trend towards mechanistic reasoning. It was a watershed in thinking, but people then appear to have had both a strong sense of faith, and a good appreciation of things that helped them survive such as a working knowledge of medicinal herbs. Some of this was construed as witchcraft.

We all like the magic of new gadgets though. Sometimes it is natural to consider them the invention of the Devil, and there has been a tendency amongst some serious authors of the last century to preach against technology. We see it from the unleashed potential of Prometheus in stories of Ancient Greece to the Balrog of the Rings trilogy, and the dark side of the force. There seem to be checks and balances on our use of knowledge.

Is it right then to "Use the force"? Christian people will of course understand this. Prayer is the daily magic by which things change for the better, but it does not seem to happen quite as the movies show. It isn’t just a matter of pressing a button, and the scene changes, but things can and do change through the steady application of a little faith.

Rivers does seem to be changing. There was a very enthusiastic turnout and response to our annual memorial service. Much effort was put into the drill, and everyone seemed committed to the forthcoming years events. Just in case you have forgotten them, they are listed as follows:

Regimental AGM 24 March (agenda items to Lurch by 17 March)

Opening of Basing House 28 March - 2 April

As many of you will know I am not an ordained priest of the Church of England, though I do have official approval from the Archbishop Of Canterbury for what I do. That does not mean that services are meant to be trivial or insincere, and I am trying to be historically accurate and educational, by using a seventeenth century version of the Book Of Common Prayer and High Church traditions. Some of these can be a bit pedantic though, as I am sure no one likes too great an emphasis on the repetition of the Miserable Offenders aspects upon which the text dwells. Yet I also want to be innovative and imaginative by introducing elements that are meaningful to individual members of the regiment. As you all know though it is quite easy to switch from priest to ranting preacher as the occasion demands, but we want to keep things consistent.

Communication service.

At this years Annual service I introduced "communication" wine and I hope a tradition that everyone will enjoy in years to come. Several people have suggested improvements. It would be helpful to have more assistance in the ceremonial such as having servers to pass out the wine, nominations beforehand for remembered friends and colleagues on a roll of honour, to be read out as perhaps with psalms by a volunteer member of the rank and file. This needs a bit of coordination though. Is that ever possible in the Knot?

If you want Communication to be a feature of musters, then we would have to think a suitable time and venue. Perhaps at a break in the Sunday morning drill!

Children do this quite a lot in their play. It is part of learning and growing. Being a priest is not a role to which I am normally accustomed. The same can be said of people who are acting as soldiers or officers, or a military professional. With perhaps one or two exceptions, few people in the regiment will have seen real action or worked as part of a military team. Does that then negate their contribution? The answer is no. When we pretend to be something else we can strive towards fulfilling that role, and surprising even ourselves. Both CS Lewis and Baden Powel have pointed this phenomenon out. Try it out, and bit-by-bit, proficiency follows. What is important then is to assume good role models upon which to base our conduct, and not to get too carried away with our imagination, as there seems a fragile line between timorous recognition of self worth,

And an image of our importance that not everyone shares.

Let us all hope and pray then that this will be a year when things not just go right for individuals, but the sparkle comes back into the life of the regiment, when we can truly be out there amongst the greats. Let us all believe in miracles so that we prepare the way for a good time to be had by all in everything that we do.

Pax Vobiscum