In his living and in his dying. Michael knew the joy of contemplating God and the delight of living virtuously. Without realizing it, such people are fulfilling St Benedict’s injuction to keep death daily before our eyes. They would be surprised if anybody called them morbid; rather, they would insist that they had found a […]
A healthy and moderate contribution to debate
Posted on by James Woodward
The Bishop of Liverpool is to be congratulated for his moderate and heartfelt plea to get some of the Churches disagreements into a wiser perspective. See this report from the Diocese of Liverpools web page – and all the better coming from an evangelical! Perhaps this image of reconciliation might challenges us? The Bishop of […]
Evil?
Posted on by James Woodward
Each day here in St Georges Chapel we read or sing the Psalms. They uncover a world of struggle, of hope, of light and darkness. Above all they explore the world of evil. Evil is a mystery, something which cannot be grasped by rational thought, and whose existence and origin no one has been […]
Where do we find truth?
Posted on by James Woodward
The modern poet Cecil Day Lewis speaks of a poetic truth with ‘is not like scientific truth, verifiable’, but which operates upon us to bring about a ‘furtherance of life’. ‘The truth’, he says, ‘is in the passion’.
An ignorance a sunset
Posted on by James Woodward
My bedroom is high in the north wall of this great fortress and from the windows the sun in the morning and evening reveals its special splendour reminding me of this wonderful piece of Dickinson An ignorance a Sunset Confer upon the Eye — Of Territory — Color — Circumference — Decay — Its Amber […]
Cheese, fennel and herb soup
Posted on by James Woodward
Ingredients 15g/½oz butter ½ onion, chopped ½ potato, peeled, cut into 1cm/½in cubes 1 bulb fennel, finely sliced 150ml/¼ pint hot chicken stock (vegetarians can substitute vegetable stock) small handful fresh parsley, chopped 1 free-range egg yolk 4 tbsp double cream 55g/2oz Lancashire cheese, grated Method 1. Heat the butter in a saucepan and gently fry […]
Edward King
Posted on by James Woodward
The Archbishop talks to Crosslincs (Diocese of Lincoln newspaper) about the legacy of Bishop Edward King. While many Bishops of Lincoln have passed out of people’s memories, just a few of the 71 bishops who have held the post remain firmly in the memories and observances of the Church of England. But it is Edward […]
making us better?
Posted on by James Woodward
Extracts from a sermon preached this morning in Windsor – On the Virtue of Prudence Getting to know people is fascinating! Sometimes we are introduced to others, often we introduce ourselves. The way we do that may be revealing. The most adept of social animals may help us by easing us into conversation through a […]
‘A Church in Bavaria’
Posted on by James Woodward
See the movement in the poem – and make the connections for yourself! Everything flows upward and over chalk-white walls with the ordered freedom of a trellised creeper wreathed and scrolled in a densely choral anthem of ornament. Nimble angels poise above in […]
Michael Foot
Posted on by James Woodward
I heard Michael Foot, in person, three or perhaps it was four times in my life. It left an abiding memory. I remember his intelligence, his breadth of interests, his passion, his extraordinary appearance, his careful use of English, his humanity. All of these qualities are reflected in his writing. At a time when politics is […]
Sea
Posted on by James Woodward
WHEN the sea is everywhere from horizon to horizon .. when the salt and blue fill a circle of horizons .. I swear again how I know the sea is older than anything else and the sea younger than anything else. From Carl Sandburg, North Atlantic
The sound of dissonance?
Posted on by James Woodward
There are classical composers who write for the Church such as Judith Bingham, Judith Weir, Gabriel Jackson, Francis Grier and other who are writing music that is not afraid to be dissonant. But we have not moved fundamentally from the idea that harmony is good and disharmony is bad in music, as it was […]
St Chad
Posted on by James Woodward
St Chad was the first bishop of Mercia and Lindsey at Lichfield. He was the brother of Cedd, whom he succeeded as Abbot of Lastingham, North Yorkshire, and a disciple of Aidan who sent him to Ireland as part of his education. Chad was chosen by Oswi, king of Northumbria, as bishop of the Northumbrian […]
St David
Posted on by James Woodward
Saint David’s Day At school they told us that it was the day on which Jesus and a host of angels came to Wales. There was sunshine full of endless song – and the sould of David was borne away to heaven. I thought, ‘He must have been a good man for God’s Son to […]
intricate
Posted on by James Woodward
Intricate and untraceable weaving and interweaving, dark strand with light: designed, beyond all spiderly contrivance, to link, not to entrap: elation, grief, joy, contrition, entwined; shaking, changing, forever forming, transforming: all praise, all praise to the great web. Denise Levertov, Web
the face in the mirror
Posted on by James Woodward
we are the face in the mirror and we are the mirror itself. Here, now, right now, we taste the eternal. Yes, we are pain and yes, we are the medicine for pain. We are sweet cold water and the jar, from which it pours. Rumi
Anger
Posted on by James Woodward
from the Church Times ( 19th February 2010) As we begin Lent, with its emphasis on soul-searching and repentance, we might reflect on anger and its place in our living — its nature, its causes, and how it can be creative or destructive.With two young children and a wonderful new home in a fashionable part […]
Polycarp
Posted on by James Woodward
Polycarp was Bishop of Smyrna (today known as Izmir), a city on the west coast of Turkey. The letters to the “seven churches in Asia” at the beginning of the book of Revelation include a letter to the church in Smyrna, identifying it as a church undergoing persecution. Polycarp is said to have known the […]
Dark
Posted on by James Woodward
Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst we cannot have it all, or want it all. In its abundance it survives our thirst. In the evening we come down to the shore to drink our fill, and sleep, while […]
In Praise of Bach
Posted on by James Woodward
Bach’s contribution to Western imagination and spirituality is immense His is a sounds-world that in its scale and depth accompanies us on a profound spiritual and musical journey. The bass notes travel, often at walking pace, rising and falling, journeying through the narrative with delicacy but with seemingly inexorable harmonic confidence. The melody is horizontal, […]