Ministry is about a way of seeing and a way of serving.
That is to say, it is a way of giving attention to God and his creation, to yourself and to others, in order to learn to love them; and it is a lifelong commitment to that kind of service of others who formal name
Blog: Pictures-Books-Reflections
New Year Resolution: Silence and Reflection
Posted on by James Woodward
cushion
it's possible to sit
in meditation
until the cushion is
worn flat
and never know
the thing that is.
let me tell you
about that thing.
it's inside you
(and me)
already
right here
yay
end of.
Lu Tung Pin
New Year Resolutions : Dig deeper into God
Posted on by James Woodward
a tree
God
is a tree said Kabir
a tree in the forest; when the woodsmen come
to cut Him down
He will not defend Himself
He will not shame them.
And God, he said,
is the earth
an endless wonder
that allows Himself
to be ruined by us
bu
New Year Resolution: Embrace Change
Posted on by James Woodward
hammered gold and gold enamelling
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence
New Year resolution: Follow the heart
Posted on by James Woodward
make friends with fire I look at my heart, such as it is, so much lower than what language can do; but yet: the heart is itself what is, is all that is, it is all that is disguised by s
New Year resolutions : attention…..
Posted on by James Woodward
The métier of blossoming
If humans could be
that intensely whole, undistracted, unhurried,
swift from sheer
unswerving impetus! If we could blossom
out of ourselves, giving
nothing imperfect, withholding nothing!
From Denise Levertov, The métier of blos
Christmas prayers for those in Pain
Posted on by James Woodward
Lord God,
whose Son, Jesus Christ,
understood people's fear and pain
before they spoke of them,
we pray for those in hospital;
surround the frightened
with your tenderness;
give strength to those in pain;
hold the weak in your arms of love,
and give hope and patience
Christmas prayers for Syria
Posted on by James Woodward
A Prayer for Peace in Syria
Spirit of wisdom and grace,
the power of truth and judgement;
we pray for all who are working for peace
in the tangled conflict of Syria today.
For international leaders holding a thread of control,
for the politicians holding a thread of power
Christmas prayers for the homeless
Posted on by James Woodward
God of compassion,
your love for humanity was revealed in Jesus,
whose earthly life began in the poverty of a stable
and ended in the pain and isolation of the cross:
we hold before you those who are homeless and cold
especially in this bitter weather.
Draw near and comfo
Christmas prayer for reconciliation
Posted on by James Woodward
Lord God of compassion,
whose will is for peace built on righteousness,
we pray for peace in Gaza:
for an end to hostilities,
for comfort and help for all who suffer,
and for reconciliation between Palestine and Israel,
through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.
Amen.
Christmas makes a diffrence
Posted on by James Woodward
People often complain that religion doesn't make a difference - that people aren't better because of it. So what difference does worship this morning make to our lives? Does Christmas mean anything?
Yes - today makes a world of difference. For in the message of this Christmas
Light on our Lives
Posted on by James Woodward
Last month I travelled to Paris for a short break and spent some time with in the Louvre. It was good to catch this wonderful painting by George de la Tour ' the Adoration of the Shepherds'. I captured some fragments of photographs and have been dwelling on it in these last hou
Advent: Light and Darkness – knowing and not knowing
Posted on by James Woodward
where the moon lives
From the tawny light
from the rainy nights
from the imagination finding
itself and more than itself
alone and more than alone
at the bottom of the well where the moon lives,
can you pull me
into December?
The black m
Advent: and our thirst.
Posted on by James Woodward
water
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 fi
Advent :Life and Death
Posted on by James Woodward
sweet day
SWEET day, so cool, so calm, so bright!
The bridal of the earth and sky—
The dew shall weep thy fall to-night;
For thou must die.
Sweet rose, whose hue angry and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye,
Thy root is ever in its grave,
And thou must die.
Sweet s
Advent and our hope of salvation?
Posted on by James Woodward
In our postmodern culture self-fulfilment has become a matter of individually self-chosen goals. Freedom - in the sense of the absolute autonomy of the individual - has become the single, overarching ideal to which all other goals are subordinated. I must be free to be
Advent and our need for Patience
Posted on by James Woodward
patience
An absolute
patience.
Trees stand
up to their knees in
fog. The fog
slowly flows
uphill.
White
cobwebs, the grass
leaning where deer
have looked for apples.
The woods
from brook to where
the top of the hill looks
over the fog, send up
no
What makes for Good Church?
Posted on by James Woodward
Perhaps 'good' Church has a few essential things in common?
1. They share a deeply incarnational view of the world, the recognition that matter is the scaffolding of spirit, the two deeply entwined; each Church knows that the commonplace, when seen with the ey
Advent :Longing and Desire
Posted on by James Woodward
climb the stair
Turn from that road's beguiling ease; return
to your hunger's turret. Enter, climb the stair
chill with disuse, where the croaking toad of time
regards from shimmering eyes your slow ascent
and the drip, drip, of darkness glimmers on the stone
to s
Lord help us to see
Posted on by James Woodward
Vision is quite simply about seeing.
In religious terms it means seeing the world as God's world. It means refusing to conform to the world's standards and values, or to go along with that cynical pessimism which some call realism but is in fact a terrible, destructive