I was going to have a rant about the annual accounts from the Church of England (see news item 6 May on at www.cofe.anglican.org) and how much it costs us to keep Bishops – if someone can explain it to me without causing a minor stroke I should be grateful – but I resist […]
Living Regretfully?
Posted on by James Woodward
I sometimes wonder whether it is worth adding to the vast amount of material written – especially when so much of it ends up in the second hand bookshop (if you are lucky) or the scrap heap waiting to be pulped. Isn’t it extraordinary to think of the human struggle and engagement with life and […]
Montgomery Place
Posted on by James Woodward
About a mile or 15 minutes brisk walk from Brent House is Montgomery Place – a continuing Care retirement community and (much to my surprise) a place where I thought I could live. I am invited to lunch by the Director of Pastoral Care, Bob Petite, an Episcopal priest who has been working here for the last fifteen […]
What is he doing with all that time??
Posted on by James Woodward
Well – you may wonder and so do I!! Time passes by – sometimes we notce and sometimes we don’t. This space has given me valuable time to read and listen …. and that leads for me into writing. I have started some reflections on age for the more general reader and I thoughT that […]
I know why the Caged Bird Sings
Posted on by James Woodward
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, When he beats the bars and would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core But a plea, that […]
In praise of …….
Posted on by James Woodward
READING BOOKS – ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE YOURS!! The sun is high in the sky and doing its work without any hindrance from the clouds. I think that the temperature must be somewhere in the early 80’s and I buy some sun cream as a precaution. I will sit in and worship (the sun) […]
The Edwardians
Posted on by James Woodward
A good book is necessary for coping with a long flight – and this is the volume that caught my attention at Heathrow. Cheap and long and interesting but not too high brow! Hattersley is a skilled writer – don’t you admire the way these people can master a huge subject? Carefully researched – the […]
Visiting Scholar
Posted on by James Woodward
The students are back here at Virginia Theological Seminary and I’m struck by what a very nice lot they are. I especially like the ones who mistake me for a perspective student on interview – I must look young! I am introduced as a visiting scholar which sounds very grand but brings special priviledges in […]
The Importance of Being Lazy
Posted on by James Woodward
Borders bookshops are a great place to escape – it feels like walking into a home or more accurately where a group of people have made it their temporary home. The smell of coffee and toasted bread – the students trying to find textooks and an odd variety of people who are hidden in corners […]
Suicide of the West
Posted on by James Woodward
Do any of us know what we believe in? Perhaps all writers ought to be encouraged to be able to express their ideas in smaller and shorter books. Richard Coch and Chris Smith achieve both clarity and brevity in their book Suicide of the West (Continuum, 2006). A hundred years ago most Westerners felt tremendous […]
What shapes us for happiness?
Posted on by James Woodward
These bricks form part of the place where I live – well over 300 years old – and in need of some repair – history is fascinating. Imagine what life and change they have experienced! Andrew Marr has turned his pen to writing history A History of Modern Britain ( Macmillan 2007). The pages are […]