Worship by the Waves 26.05.25

In Worship by the Waves this week we heard the story of King Canute.  We first looked at some photos of sandcastles and noticed that they all had moats.  We discussed that when you build a sandcastle with a moat and the tide is coming in you can't stop the sea. King Canute was a Danish king who invaded Britain. He was very powerful and his people looked up to him. One day, he had his men carry him down to the beach, but he wasn’t planning on building sandcastles. He had something he wanted to show his men. ‘Put my throne at the water’s edge,’ he commanded. Then, King Canute, with his sceptre in his hand, shouted, ‘Sea, stay still! You are not allowed to come any further!’ His men watched silently as a little wave dared to wet the king’s toes. The next wave splashed his ankle. As time wore on, King Canute got increasingly wet, until he leapt backwards out of the water.
 King Canute is often considered to be a rather arrogant and silly king because of this story. However, he was actually wise and good. He had become fed up with his subjects acting as though he was all-powerful. He wanted them to know that he had no control over elements such as the incoming tide, so he purposely arranged the stunt on the beach knowing that he would fail, to prove to them that he was just a human like them.  King Canute is quoted as saying, ‘Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but he whom heaven, earth and sea obey by eternal laws
 
We sang 'My God is so big' and finished with a prayer.