Blog | James Woodward

Reading Such a Long Journey : A biography of Gilbert Shaw, Priest

Posted on 13 February 2024 by James Woodward

I believe that I may have had at least two copies of this book written by Rod Hacking ( now a neighbour in Salisbury but then an incumbent in rural Ely) and published by Mowbray in 1988. What happened to them I know not – beware of lending books out – they have a habit […]

Saving Time by Jenny Odell

Posted on 28 January 2024 by James Woodward

I doubt very much, indeed, if anybody who has the time to read this book about time, would confidently be able to say that they had enough time! I have occasionally come across people who feel that they have too much time on their hands, particularly in older age. I have most often come across […]

Awe explored by Dacher Keltner

Posted on 21 January 2024 by James Woodward

When was the last time that you were simply lost for words? A moment that took hold of you by surprise ? The glorious blue light that marks the beginning of a new day with the stars and moon beginning to shift? The majesty of a tree, rooted and standing tall? The smell and beauty […]

Try Softer ? In praise of grounded advice from Kolber.

Posted on 21 January 2024 by James Woodward

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Where do you pick up recommendations for books these days? Half an hour on Waterloo station yesterday yielded a couple of books from Foyles, tempted of course by their buy one get the other half price offer! A trusted source is the Marginalian ( take a look- https://www.themarginalian.org/ ) which is broad, grounded and […]

On Digging Deep – a cluster of Books from Sacristy Press

Posted on 6 January 2024 by James Woodward

Perhaps you have some awareness of both the problems and possibilities that emerge from the way we articulate the shape and meaning of our religious convictions. What do you understand by God? How do we convey the presence, rationality and engagement of God amidst the complexities of this new year? We see and hear minute […]

Home Sweet Home?

Posted on 27 December 2023 by James Woodward

This is a very good book! We know our homes and make choices in relation to them but this book will change how you think about almost every aspect of your home! “Our houses and homes,” Heathcote writes, “no matter what style they are realised in, no matter how modest or seemingly ill-considered their architecture, […]

On interrogating the self – May on Politics and Power

Posted on 23 December 2023 by James Woodward

I guess that most of us wonder what this one life is about and particularly how we are living it. They are questions perhaps for those of us firmly in third age but shared by other generations too. If I had one regret ( or to name one here ) it might simply be […]

In Praise of Quakerism in the uncertain terrain for Religion

Posted on 18 December 2023 by James Woodward

John Hunt Publishing 2023 Many of the readers here will have experienced Quakerism in and through their presence of meeting houses and their active engagement in communities. Quakers are people living integrity with a single minded, focus on the tradition and disciplines of the spiritual life. I lived for some time in Bournville – that […]

Advice in Time ? Inter-generational Wisdom.

Posted on 13 December 2023 by James Woodward

Now here is a confession! Not all of the books on my shelves either at home or here in my study at Sarum College have been read from cover to cover. You might be familiar with the dilemma. You buy a book on a recommendation. You hear the author at a writers festival. Amazon delivers […]

Sermons in time and place?

Posted on 26 November 202328 November 2023 by James Woodward

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I am writing this on a rainy Sunday afternoon somewhat typical of November. Some of you may have been to Church this morning and experienced listening to a sermon. I wonder how it took hold of you ( if at all) and what you heard? At what point did your attention stray ? What were […]

Handling our disappointments : Rory Stewart reflects on politics

Posted on 29 October 2023 by James Woodward

Over the years I have absorbed myself in the world of political biography and autobiography. It is a strange and intriguing world. When I moved to Salisbury I was glad to offload many of these volumes. It wasn’t difficult to choose which writers or politicians to hang onto. This genre of writing is fraught with […]

Patience

Posted on 25 August 2023 by James Woodward

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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 not one bird. So absolute, it is no […]

of grief …. and getting past it

Posted on 23 August 2023 by James Woodward

Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver Chunky and noisy, but with stars in their black feathers, they spring from the telephone wire and instantly they are acrobats in the freezing wind. And now, in the theater of air, they swing over buildings, dipping and rising; they float like one stippled star that opens, becomes for […]

In Memoriam – Colin Woodward : Dad

Posted on 19 August 2023 by James Woodward

Colin Campbell Woodward 10th December 1937 – 24th July 2023 Funeral Address 16th August 2023 given by James Woodward Durham Crematorium 11.30am As we gather today to make our farewells to Colin – a much-loved father, grandfather, colleague, neighbour, and friend – there are so many feelings and thoughts in our hearts and minds. I […]

Re-reading – Transitions and the Life-course :Challenging the Constructions of ‘Growing Old’ by Amanda Grenier

Posted on 15 August 202310 August 2023 by James Woodward

Transitions and the Lifecourse Challenging the Constructions of ‘Growing Old’ Amanda Greener 256 pages, pbk £26.99, Policy Press 2012, ISBN 978 1 84742 691 8. I have been glad to revisit this book that explores the way we narrate age. It has helped me ( again ) to think about how we frame age. […]

Patience

Posted on 14 August 202313 August 2023 by James Woodward

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 not one bird. So absolute, it is no other than happiness […]

The Shrine Church of Saint Melangell

Posted on 13 August 2023 by James Woodward

Some places are etched into our lives in a way that draws us back. The Pennant Melangell valley is one of those spaces that has drawn me back for over two and a half decades. It is a liminal space with a tangible sense of the other and the spiritual. In all weathers and across […]

What kind of leadership ?

Posted on 10 August 20236 August 2023 by James Woodward

In the unchartered waters in which the Church finds itself a key responsibility of any leader is to be one who questions; a person who asks questions – of God, the Church and of the wider community. Any leader at this time, but perhaps especially in the Church will be aware of the […]

Does Belief change in Old Age?

Posted on 8 August 2023 by James Woodward

On re-reading – Belief and Ageing :Spiritual pathways in later life Peter G. Coleman (Editor) Paperback, 192 pages Policy Press Bristol 2011 I agreed to offering a session at this years Sarum Centre for Formation in Ministry on what the Bible might show us about flourishing in older age. I grabbed a few books […]

Seeing beyond the immediate: listening and learning alongside older people

Posted on 6 August 2023 by James Woodward

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From 1998 through to 2009, I had the privilege of working with many hundreds of older people in an Almshouse charity. We lived together in rather splendid seventeenth-century buildings which were surprisingly adaptable for modern use. It was an intentional community with a Church, primary school and a community of older adults living together. I […]

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