Sermon: Once upon a time......

That is how the best stories begin and Bede your patron was if nothing else a very fine story teller.

Once upon a time he says there were amazing people in the north east of England people like Cuthbert whose bones lie in this cathedral, Aidan, Hild, King Oswald - and the list goes on and Bede says they did amazing things. They spoke wise sayings, they cared for people who everybody else ignored, they healed people they lived well with the natural world........ and the list goes on.

And as Bede tells his stories he seems to have at the back of his mind the stories of Jesus - who did amazing and wonderful things.

Once upon a time.. Bede tells the story of a horse given by King Oswin to Aidan the holy man.... It is given with the very best of intentions to aid the saint in his missionary travels across Northumbria but the saint is made deeply embarrassed and deeply uncomfortable by this wonderful gift and when by the grace of God a beggar appears in his path the saint without a moment's hesitation gives the horse away to the beggar. Eventually the embarrassing moment comes and Aidan returns to the palace of king Oswin without the horse. The king knows full well what has happened and remonstrates with the saint saying to him "If you want to go round giving away horses to beggars I have dozens of old nags in the stables you can have to give away. You don't need to go round giving away to any old beggar a horse as good as the one I gave you." And the saint lovingly looks the king in the eye and says to him "Is this child of a mare more valuable to you than this child of God?"

Once upon a time ... Bede tells of Cuthbert, the Bishop of Lindisfarne who loved nothing more than to spend time alone on the outer Farne islands He tells stories of Cuthbert battling with demons - and that is Bede's way or reminding us that sorting the world out is never easy and never something that happens just on its own.

Once upon a time ..... What stories will the story-tellers of our generation tell?

In the North east they will tell stories of

• Sunderland where over half the children live in poverty
• They will tell of towns where some people live for ten years longer than other people simply depending on which part of the town they live in
• They will tell of local communities where the opportunities offered by your college are beyond the wildest dreams
• They will tell of north east communities where far more than in other parts of the country people live with long-term debilitating illnesses

Once upon a time.....

What stories will they tell of us, of your college, of you?

• Will they tell stories of your care and concern for?
• Will they tell stories of your creative imagination to create better health for those who need it most
• Will they tell stories of a college that seeks truly to serve those in the north east who need your wisdom and resources most?
• Will they tell stories of men and women from Bede college who made a real difference to... and saw that as being more important than personal wealth or gain?

Will they tell stories - as Bede told - of amazing people doing amazing things

What stories will they tell of you?

And of course only YOU know the answer to that one!