the wellington college year book 2010/2011
the wellington college year book 2010/2011
52
53
REMEMBRANCE
T R I N I T Y S U N DAY S E R M O N
?? ? ? ? ??? ? ? ?
W
We will remember them.
Above:
Remembrance readings
in Great School
Left:
??th hour, ??th day, ??th month
The whole school gathers
in Combermere Quad
hen I was asked by Fr
Novis to speak to you this
evening, I was completely
unsure of what I could or
should say. I am, after all,
only seventeen and having lived all my life in
a protective, safe and privileged public school
environment, I will be the first to admit that I
am far from worldly.
But after thinking about it for a while, I
had a sudden flood of flashbacks to all the
times you guys have come up to me and said,
‘Look, Lorenz, why do you put on a dress
every Sun day and march up and down Chapel
carrying the cross ?’ I figured that, to avoid
such future moments (although I must say I do
enjoy them when they come around), I shall
take the great opportunity I am presented
with this evening, and try to answer that
question now, hoping that I can inadvertently
reveal something to you about the nature of
faith as well.
I came to Wellington a confirmed
member of the Church of England, though I
was not particularly religious. But during my
first few terms here I had adopted a policy
of throwing myself into everything—drama,
sport, music even—and so I decided to
learn as much as I could about religion and
understand it better. To do this I met with
Oli Botes and Miles Seavill, who were both
in my house, since I had seen them carrying
the cross and candles themselves.
Somehow a few days later, and to this day I
still have no idea exactly how this happened, I
found myself walking up to the Altar dressed
in my robes and carrying a candle alongside
Miles and Oli.
Since that day I have never looked back
and have continued to serve here in Chapel
throughout my four years. So I suppose
a short answer to my question could be
that: I spoke to some boys in my house and
somehow ended up helping out in Chapel
each Sunday.
Of course though, there is so much more
to it than that. If that was the only reason
for my participation in Chapel then why did
I keep coming back ? Why did I go further
and check out Open Door and the Lent
Addresses over the next few years ? And why
did I suddenly start calling myself a Christian ?
The answer to these questions, I think, is the
true reason of why I put on a dress and carry
the cross in Chapel.
So to the first question: Why did I keep
coming back ? I think I can answer in an
obvious way. I simply enjoyed it. Now I’m
not saying I enjoyed giving up some time on
a Sunday to appear in front of the entire
school in what is effectively a dress—that
part still terrifies and, if I’m being completely
honest with you, embarrasses me. But I can
say without a doubt, that I enjoyed getting to
know and talking to Miles and Oli, as well as
the other servers, we have had over the years
including Jamie, Angus, Francesca, Henry and
Conor this year, and indeed our Chaplain and
Deputy Chaplains.
As soon as I began serving in Chapel I
also began to do something I had never really
done before: I listened. I didn’t just hear what
was being said and remember the stories, I
actually thought about what I was hearing
and wondered. I became interested in what
was being said—and that answers the second
of my questions: Why did I check out Open
Door and other religious groups at school ?
I was interested in what was being said to
me. Serving in Chapel had provided me with
something to investigate. I was trusting but
not gullible. Whilst I was sure that no one
would deliberately lie to us in Chapel, I wanted
to be sure they themselves were not wrong.
And so I became a curious, and probably an
annoying, Third Former who asked older
students and teachers what they thought
about religion, and went to Open Door to try
and get to the bottom of this.
Of course there was no way that was going
to happen. I am as ignorant now as I was
then. The greatest minds in the world cannot
answer these so called ‘Ultimate Questions’,
and so I’m not surprised that I can’t either.
Nonetheless, I began to study Theology and
take rs as a subject in the attempt to be better
informed. I was fascinated by the arguments
for and against the existence of God which I
came across, but I was even more intrigued by
the implications faith has on life; in ethics for
example, and even on one’s own personality.
I won’t talk about the academic arguments
now—it’s late on a Sunday and I only have two
minutes left (you’ll be pleased to know)—but
if anyone does want to speak to me, please
e-mail me or come and see me in house or
even after tonight’s service. I will say, though,
that I am persuaded by the arguments in
favour of God’s existence, and I’m happy to
discuss that with anyone.
But before I had even began to appreciate
these arguments, I was already calling myself
a Christian, for a much more simple and
altogether less controversial reason. This
reason is the answer to the third and final
question I posed: Why do I call myself a
Christian ? I noticed early on that, when I
was acting on the messages I had received in
Chapel—becoming humble, being kind and
generous, being peaceful—I was altogether
happier and I enjoyed myself more at school
and at home.
We heard in our reading tonight that the
Dalai Lama thinks that ‘the very purpose of
our lives is to seek happiness’. Wellington, I
think, shares this belief. And it is this which
provides the answer to my questions tonight.
Why do I carry the cross in Chapel ? Why do I
call myself a Christian ? It makes me happy.