The Lion-sized power of the Wren (for the Association of Wrens and Women of the Royal Naval Services)
11:00am, 26 February 2022 | Dean Anthony Cane
The heaviest book I own is a large hardback called simply, Birds and People. It explores the multiple ways in which birds of all kinds have inspired the human imagination, and how they are referenced in our culture: whether in religion, folklore, music or the arts. And of course there is a section on the bird that is pictured – if you look hard enough – on the cover of our order of service (and on both the standards at the heart of our service today). I refer, of course, to the wren.
Birds and People recounts a fable about the wren that is thousands of years old, and goes back to the ancient Greeks. It tells of a conference of all the birds in existence, in which they agree to elect a king. They decide that whoever can fly the highest, will be declared their leader. And so the competition proceeds, and perhaps unsurprisingly it is the eagle who reaches the greatest altitude. But then, just as the eagle is about to be announced as king of the birds, a little wren pops out from under the eagle’s plumage and flies just a little higher still!
There is a moral lesson for those who hear the fable, about intrinsic worth not being determined by size, ego and strength - please note, Vladimir Putin and many others - and about the value of strategic intelligence in negotiating the challenges that life throws at us.
It is now one hundred and five years since the founding of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, and no doubt its members have been underestimated and undervalued many times. In this sense the choice of the wren as a symbol is about much more than its name being drawn from the initials WRNS. Actual wrens, my book tells me, outside the world of fables, are known for the lion-sized power of their voice, and for their remarkable industry, and for their ingeniousness in constructing nests out of almost any materials and in any location. Aristotle refers to the bird as a ‘mechanic’, and over the years naval Wrens have fulfilled a huge range of roles with great distinction, skill and bravery: amongst them cooks and clerks, wireless telegraphists and radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians, and yes, air mechanics.
In 1993, the WRNS was finally integrated into the Royal Navy, with women serving on naval vessels as full members of the crew - but the nickname ‘wrens’ lives on: and a worthy nickname it is. With this integration, it might have been that the seventy year old standard we are laying up today would not be replaced. It continues to be right, however, to give thanks for the Wrens who have served God, Queen and country
in the past, and for the women of the Royal Naval Services in the present day. And so we have a fine new standard to dedicate this day.
In our first reading, we heard of the healing power of a rather different kind of standard, with a rather different member of the animal kingdom. Moses placed a representation of a serpent, the source of pain and suffering to many of his people, upon a pole. Those who are bitten look at the image, and live. The healing comes not from a distracted mind, avoiding the hurt, but from facing square on what is causing the harm. A different moral lesson from our fable, but nonetheless a true and powerful one.
And in our second reading, Jesus speaks about a grain of wheat needing to be buried in the earth before it can bear fruit. This is a way of speaking about how his own death must come before the new life of the resurrection. Followers of Christ are encouraged to take up their cross daily - that is, to accept the difficulties that often come with doing the right thing. The difficulties are not to be avoided or suppressed, but accepted and faced. On the order of service cover, and on the standards, it is highly appropriate therefore that the wren perches on a cross, which is also an anchor.
Our calling is to be anchored in the cross and resurrection of Christ, facing when necessary the suffering involved in the service of others, and the cost of working for peace and security in our world today.
Seventy years ago, my predecessor Eric Porter Goff spoke of the standard we are laying up today as a ‘symbol of comradeship, and a sign of duty to God, Queen and one another.’ Seven decades later, I am proud to be part of this special service, in which we dedicate a new standard with the same meaning, as a continuing symbol of the vital work, past and present, of the Wrens, and the Women of the Royal Naval Services. Perhaps in 2092 our successors will be here to do this again! And it is surely the case that the purposes and ideals of The Association of Wrens, and Women of the Royal Naval Services, will never fade or go out of date. Wrens will continue to fly high, and demonstrate their industry, and strategic intelligence, and mutual support, and commitment to service of God, Queen and country. And of all these things and more, the new and laid up standards will continue to be a focus and visual representation. Thank God for the Wrens, past, present and future!
Amen.