I read 21st Century parody of Psalm 23 the other day. It goes something like this: The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest. It makes me lie down only when exhausted. It leads me into deep depression. It hounds my soul. It leads me in circles of frenzy, for activities sake. […]
Blueness
Posted on by James Woodward
blueness Reach me a gentian, give me a torch let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of this flower down the darker and darker stairs, where blue is darkened on blueness. even where Persephone goes, just now, from the frosted September to the sightless realm where darkness was awake upon the dark […]
Justin
Posted on by James Woodward
Most of what is known about the life of Justin Martyr comes from his own writings. He was born at Flavia Neapolis (ancient Shechem in Judaea/Palaestina, now modern-day Nablus). According to church tradition Justin suffered martyrdom at Rome under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius when Junius Rusticus was prefect of the city (between 162 and […]
Pentecost
Posted on by James Woodward
Almighty God, who on this day didst open the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of thy Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who […]
Josephine Butler
Posted on by James Woodward
Let your continual mercy, O Lord, kindle in your Church the Never-failing gift of love, that, following the example of your servant Josephine Butler, we may have grace to defend the poor, and maintain the cause of those who have no helper; for the sake of him who gave his life for us, your Son […]
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-angled light Would […]
Augustine of Canterbury
Posted on by James Woodward
O Lord our God, who by your Son Jesus Christ called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all […]
Bede
Posted on by James Woodward
Today we commorate The Venerable Bede Almost everything that is known of Bede’s life is contained in the last chapter of his Historia Ecclesiastica, a history of the church in England. It was completed in about 731, and Bede implies that he was then in his fifty-ninth year, which would give a likely birth […]
Yes?
Posted on by James Woodward
rejected things After the final no there comes a yes And on that yes the future world depends. No was the night. Yes is this present sun. If the rejected things, the things denied, Slid over the western cataract, yet one, One only, one thing that was firm, even One thing remaining, infallible, […]
When did you last talk about death?
Posted on by James Woodward
The British don’t talk about death, says a survey, because they fear it. So if you are going to have a chat about, for want of a better word, dying, how might it go? It’s got to be the party pooper to end them all: “Hi. What’s your name? What do you do? Do you […]
Ascension
Posted on by James Woodward
Today is Ascension Day – here are some arresting and stimulating images to help us into a deeper sense of the meaning of this Feast:
Alcuin of York
Posted on by James Woodward
Alcuin of York had a long career as a teacher and scholar, first at the school at York now known as St Peter’s School, York founded AD 627) and later as Charlemagne’s leading advisor on ecclesiastical and educational affairs. From 796 until his death he was abbot of the great monastery of St. Martin […]
Dunstan
Posted on by James Woodward
Today we remember Dunstan (c.909–19 May 988) was an abbot of Glastonbury, a bishop of Worcester, a bishop of London, and an archbishop of Canterbury who was later canonized as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church. His 11th century biographer, Osbern, himself an artist and scribe, states […]
The new Poet Laureate
Posted on by James Woodward
The excitement of welcoming the first woman to the post of poet laureate is similar to the emotion with which a supporter of an under-rated football team greets a goal. Then, of course, for both genders, there’s the moral satisfaction, and political buzz, in seeing the re-balancing of old inequalities. Women poets worth honouring […]
Rogation Sunday
Posted on by James Woodward
Today is Rogation Sunday. Here is a bit of background! Rogation days are, in the calendar of the Western Church, four days traditionally set apart for solemn processions to invoke God’s mercy. They are April 25, the Major Rogation, coinciding with St. Mark’s Day; and the three days preceding Ascension Day, the Minor Rogations. […]
Caroline Chisholm
Posted on by James Woodward
Today in the Calendar of Saints in the Church of England we commemorate – Caroline Chisholm (30 May 1808 – 25 March 1877) was a progressive 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her involvement with female immigrant welfare in Australia. Born on the outskirts of Northampton, the first stop on her way to […]
Matthais
Posted on by James Woodward
Today we commenorate Saint Matthias Saint Matthias (1st centuryAD- 80), according to the New Testament Acts of the Apostles, was the Apostle chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas’s betrayal of Jesus and his suicide (Acts 1:18-26). There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples […]
Meditate?
Posted on by James Woodward
mindful To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem. To meditate means to observe. Your smile proves it. It proves that you are being gentle with yourself, that the sun of awareness is shining in you, that you have control of your situation. You are yourself, and you have acquired […]
Saint Georges Chapel Windsor
Posted on by James Woodward
In 1348, King Edward III founded two new religious colleges: St Stephen’s at Westminster and St George’s at Windsor. The new college at Windsor was attached to the Chapel of St Edward the Confessor which had been constructed by Henry III in the early thirteenth century. The chapel was then rededicated to the Blessed […]
Attachment?
Posted on by James Woodward
brilliant light happy are those who are free from attachment, feeders on rapture shall they be, like the gods of brilliant light. the Buddha