‘Silence’, said Seraphim, ‘is the cross on which man must crucify his ego’;
‘Silence transfigures a man into an angel; it is the spiritual practice which most surely preserves inner peace.’
He was constantly repeating the words of St Ambrose, ‘I have seen many w
Writers Rooms : David Starkey
Posted on by James Woodward
Starkey offers this commentary:
The room is in an 18th-century house and was fitted out by one of the more bizarre figures of mid-20th-century British public life, Sir Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen. Hugessen retired here in disgrace to write his family memoirs
Writers Houses : Karen Blixen
Posted on by James Woodward
Karen also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen was born at Rungstedlund in Denmark on 17th of April 1885 as the second child of Wilhelm and Ingeborg Dinesen’s five children. She came to Africa in 1914 to marry her half cousin and carry out dairy farming in the then British Col
Surprise
Posted on by James Woodward
surprise
Expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.
become a stranger
To need of pity
Or, if compassion be freely
Given out
Take only enough
Stop short of urge to plead
Then purge away the need.
Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
opening
Posted on by James Woodward
opening
The Opening and the Close
Of Being, are alike
Or differ, if they do,
As Bloom upon a Stalk.
That from an equal Seed
Unto an equal Bud
Go parallel, perfected
In that they have decayed.
Emily Dickinson, The opening and the close
Peace
Posted on by James Woodward
The peace of wild things
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds
water !
Posted on by James Woodward
water
If I were called in
To construct a religion
I should make use of water.
Going to church
Would entail a fording
To dry, different clothes;
My litany would employ
Images of sousing,
A furious devout drench,
And I should raise in the east
A glass of water
Where any-ang
Don't tame me !
Posted on by James Woodward
the shout
The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains
of my gab and my loitering.
I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.
from Walt Whitman, Song of myself
awakening
Posted on by James Woodward
awakening
Enter the turret of your love, and lie
close in the arms of the sea; let in new suns
that beat and echo in the mind like sounds
risen from sunken cities lost to fear;
let in the light that answers your desire
awakening at midnight with the fire,
until its
eternity …..
Posted on by James Woodward
wild flower
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.
From William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
you will greet yourself…..
Posted on by James Woodward
LOVE AFTER LOVE
The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine.
wondering
Posted on by James Woodward
wondering
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it.
Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with lin
The genious of Gormley
Posted on by James Woodward
I was determined to make a significant detour during August to see some public sculpture on Crosby beach and this short piece gives me an opportunity to show off some of my photographs. The journey to Liverpool was not in vain and I was able to glimpse again at
THE ASTONISHMENT OF AGE – learning from Jung
Posted on by James Woodward
When my friend's mother developed dementia, he was discouraged that each day she seemed to be losing so much.
Then he remembered a saying from Taoism: In the way of learning, each day we gain more and more. In the way of the Tao, each day we have less and less.
Never standing still !
Posted on by James Woodward
(taken by JWW Savill Gardens June 2014)
tree
not even for a moment
do things stand still: look at
colour, in the trees
Seiju, his death poem (d. 1776, age 75)
Smile
Posted on by James Woodward
smile
Then new events said to me,
‘Don’t move. A sublime generosity is
coming towards you.’
You are the fountain of the sun’s light.
I am a willow shadow on the ground.
You make my raggedness silky.
The soul at dawn is like darkened water
that slowly begins
Vacation Suprises (5) Llanyblodwel Church
Posted on by James Woodward
On the road out of Oswestry travelling up the Tanant valley you will find a small village, Llanyblodwel, and tucked away the church of St Michael and the Archangel. It is beautifully kept and open each day for visitors. The church is believed to have been erected after the arriva
Vacation Surprises (4) Aberystwyth
Posted on by James Woodward
Aberystwyth is the principal holiday resort and administrative centre of the west coast of Wales. It is also home to the University of Wales Aberystwyth and the National Library. This excursion was especially worth the long journey across the hills through the rain to be greeted
Vacation Suprises (3) Richard Herbert
Posted on by James Woodward
A bright day took the car South and West towards Montgomery and the glad open door of St Nicholas Parish Church built in the early 13th century.
You can see the effect of the blazing sun on this Welsh Shropshire border town!
The most conspicuous object in the south transept
Vacation Suprises (2) Blackberries
Posted on by James Woodward
Late August, given heavy rain and sunFor a full week, the blackberries would ripen.At first, just one, a glossy purple clotAmong others, red, green, hard as a knot.You ate that first one and its flesh was sweetLike thickened wine: summer's blood was in itLeaving stains upon the t