God, we know, is a mystery in which we lived every moment of every day.
The only question is, How? What kind of a God is this God we seek?
Is God a teasing giant who must be pacified as we go through life? Is life an obstacle course designed to merit only the perfect, only th
Blog: Pictures-Books-Reflections
gold and grey
Posted on by James Woodward
I was welcomed here--clear gold
of late summer, of opening autumn,
the dawn eagle sunning himself on the highest tree,
the mountain revealing herself unclouded, her snow
tinted apricot as she looked west,
tolerant, in her steadfastness, of the restless sun
forever risin
THE VOICE OF YOUR OWN LONGING
Posted on by James Woodward
"What's extraordinary is that the crucial thing we need for
breaking free is already inside us: our longing. And the voice
of our longing is repetition, insistently calling out to what's
beyond anything we're familiar with or even understand...
As you start bein
Beetroot and Feta Salad
Posted on by James Woodward
Ingredients
6 small Beetroot, raw, unpeeled
6 tbsp Olive Oil, 3 tbsp for the dressing
1 pinch Salt
1 pinch Black Pepper, freshly ground
1 Red Onion, very finely sliced
50g Rocket
100g Feta Cheese, cubed
1 handful Mint Leaves, torn, to garnish
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar,
God: Some Conversations.
Posted on by James Woodward
I have just finished a ten day consultation with 24 clergy here in St Georges House - a fascinating and moving journey for us all.
Here is our aspiration as set out by my colleague Hueston Finlay:
To try and speak of God is, unavoidably, to work with words and images carved from
The North Quire Aisle, St Georges Chapel
Posted on by James Woodward
The work of the preservation of the Chapel is fascinating. Slowly the Chapel is being restored and at the moment work has begun of the North Quire Aisle.
Scaffolding was erected in the North Quire Aisle in June allowing experts to undertake conservation cleaning of all the sto
leaves
Posted on by James Woodward
Life is the only way
to get covered in leaves,
catch your breath on the beach,
rise on wings;
to be a dog,
or stroke its warm fur;
to tell pain
from everything it's not;
to squeeze inside events,
hang out in views,
and seek the least of all possible mistakes.
A fa
the leaning grasses
Posted on by James Woodward
A poem should be palpable and mute
As a globed fruit
Dumb
As old medallions to the thumb
Silent as the sleeve-worn stone
Of casement ledges where the moss has grown -
A poem should be wordless
As the flight of birds
A poem should be motionless in time
As the moon climbs
radiant
Posted on by James Woodward
this blessing
God's love
calls us
to that elsewhere world
which only lovers
eyes alight, eyes aflame
can see at all.
only those who have
self surrendered:
once, they were flecks of fire;
now, they are
the radiant sun.
Rumi
Regression and Progression
Posted on by James Woodward
The most appropriate picture of living is of a spiral of regression and progression.
The child remains in each of us, and from time to time throughout our adult life we move to and from that phase. Sometimes we may appear merely to return to a point that we, or others, have pr
Theology and Ministry
Posted on by James Woodward
The Church's structures and intellectual formulations may become obsolete but 'the life of actual loving and caring, guided by tested knowledge, cannot get out of date'.
Such an observation invites assent. But the illegitimate conclusion may sometimes be drawn that there doe
Holding the Presence?
Posted on by James Woodward
The theological undergirding of his grasp of the mystery of God in a systematic exploration of the Christian faith:
It is said that souls are not saved nor the Kingdom advanced by academic rigour, intellectual openness or the need to ask the awkward question. True enough. But
Do we really know?
Posted on by James Woodward
One day Socrates made a young slave the centrepiece of a dialogue. Contrasting the innocent and ignorant boy with the sophisticated citizens, Socrates argued that 'a man who does not know, has in himself true opinions on a subject without having knowledge' (Plato Meno 8
LIVING THE QUESTIONS
Posted on by James Woodward
"...be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And t
LOVE THE WORLD
Posted on by James Woodward
1.
Will the hungry ox stand in the field and not eat
of the sweet grass?
Will the owl bite off its own wings?
Will the lark forget to lift its body in the air
or forget to sing?
Will the rivers run upstream?
Behold, I say - behold
the reliability and the finery and the te
The seven deadly sins CEOs won’t admit
Posted on by James Woodward
It's a classic job interview question: "What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
At the top of the business world, people seem to have taken to heart the advice to admit no negative traits, just positives in disguise, says Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times. Every week for th
Priesthood
Posted on by James Woodward
“Feed my Sheep”
A Tribute to a Priest I am Proud to Call Friend
On the Anniversary of His Ordination
In that moment,
The Luminous creases,
draws back the curtain;
Celestial, sacred, mystery stands unapologetically revealed.
In that corporeal touch
You were transformed,
M
what would like to be remembered for?
Posted on by James Woodward
The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love
Wordsworth