Let us return to imperfection's school.
No longer wandering after Plato's ghost,
Seeking the garden where all fruit is flawless,
We must at last renounce that ultimate blue
And take a walk in other kinds of weather.
From Adrienne Rich, Stepping backward
Blog: Pictures-Books-Reflections
Vincent de Paul
Posted on by James Woodward
Merciful God,
whose servant Vincent de Paul,
by his ministry of preaching and pastoral care,
brought your love to the sick and the poor:
give to all your people a heart of compassion
that by word and action they may serve you
in serving others in their need;
thro
Windsor
Posted on by James Woodward
How time moves on..... although I am into the second cycle of my ministry here in the College of St George - I find it difficult to remember what the routines and rituals were last year mainly because it was all so new! Often friends and visitors ask how I am doing and even off
Financial crisis leaves over 200 million on less than 2 dollars a day
Posted on by James Woodward
As world leaders meet for the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, 20-22 September, a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) highlights that because of the financial crisis around 120 million more people may now be living on less than U
Dementia cost ‘to top 1% of GDP’
Posted on by James Woodward
An economic, moral and spiritual challenge to us all:
The costs associated with dementia will amount to more than 1% of the world's gross domestic product this year at $604bn (£388bn), a report says.
The World Alzheimer Report says this is more than the revenue of retail gia
Valuing Age
Posted on by James Woodward
Selling books is no easy work these days and authors need all the help we can get...... I am glad to give some space to this review by Helen Cameron of Ripon College Cuddesdon.
WOODWARD, James. 2008. Valuing Ageing: Pastoral Ministry with Older People. London: SPCK. Pbk. 19
John Henry Newman
Posted on by James Woodward
Cardinal Newman's prayers
God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.
I have my mission - I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain, a bond o
Ninian
Posted on by James Woodward
Almighty and everlasting God,
who called your servant Ninian to preach the gospel
to the people of northern Britain:
raise up in this and every land
heralds and evangelists of your kingdom,
that your Church may make known the immeasurable riches
of your So
sunlight
Posted on by James Woodward
How can you stand it—looking at things?
For example, the geranium
out on the patio, the single pink
blossom in the sun? Or stand the sunlight
moving through it, illuminating,
holding the flower open like a high clear note,
an ecstatic widening which
arrives, arri
John Chrysostom
Posted on by James Woodward
John Chrysostom or 'golden-mouthed' has been called "the greatest preacher in the early church".
He was born in Syrian Antioch into a Christian family. His father Secundus, a civil servant, died when John was only a few years old. His widowed mother, Anthusa rejected any id
Sandra Blow
Posted on by James Woodward
Sandra Blow (14 September 1925 – 22 August 2006)
Sandra Blow was born in London, and studied at Saint Martins School of Art from 1941 to 1946, at the Royal Academy Schools from 1946 to 1947, and subsequently at the Academy of Fine Arts, Rome from 1947 to 1948. She trav
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
Social Justice?
Posted on by James Woodward
A piece of research published today reveals a clear north-south divide.
The Tees Valley in general and Middlesbrough in particular are places which became rich on heavy industry.William Gladstone famously went to the original town hall in Middlesbrough and proclaimed it an "
Nativity of Mary
Posted on by James Woodward
Almighty and everlasting God,
who stooped to raise fallen humanity
through the child-bearing of blessed Mary:
grant that we, who have seen your glory
revealed in our human nature
and your love made perfect in our weakness,
may daily be renewed in your image
and confo
Contrition
Posted on by James Woodward
published in the Church Times 3 September 2010
Beyond regret and guilt to true contrition
MY FATHER has a healthy ambivalence about religion, based on seven decades of living in a small village. Going to church, he maintains, does not seem to make a difference. I
Laughter
Posted on by James Woodward
you can take from me bread, if you like
you can take from me air, even, but
don't take from me your laughter.
don't take from me your rose,
your speech, your spear,
the splash of joy, the sudden
silver, the outbreak:
your laughter.
From Pablo Neruda, Your laughter
We all swim then sink!
Posted on by James Woodward
On Thursday eevening I had the pleasure of talking to clergy from Sion College - and as well as their warm hospitality I found them altogether a sane, humane and reflective bunch.
The reflections following a tour of Highgate Cemetery.
Here is an edited part of the talk:
Victor
Unclouded ending?
Posted on by James Woodward
VERA, aged 71, is a lifelong member of her church, in Birmingham. She is angry that the Church seems preoccupied with the young. “It’s almost if we do not exist,” she says.
While many churches focus on attracting younger congregations in the effort
Holiday Reading – final part three!!
Posted on by James Woodward
Getting back into the rhymn of work has its challenges and rewards - at the end of day two I thought I would round off with the remainder of the holiday reading highlights.
What do we want from leaders? How much humanity (and weakness) dare we tolerate in those in authority. Or
Holiday reading – part two!
Posted on by James Woodward
This is my favourite holiday reads this August picked up quite by accident when I was trying to spend a book token in waterstones - taking advantage of their three for two offer! You remember the feeling - you land your hands on two books you think you want and cannot find a