Here in Temple Balsall we know soemthing of the human cost of the present and longstanding unrest of Zimbawe as we have a number of resisdents who lived there and love its land and people.
The statement from Anglican leaders is a model of prophecy and Christian action -
In Praise of Snow…
Posted on by James Woodward
Walking in it is best!
My back garden...
Driving isnt fun - thank goodness you are not in charge of transport for London......
Bringing Dementia out of the shadows
Posted on by James Woodward
It is easy to knock the Government and I wonder sometimes if any of us really understand the complex and demanding nature of modern governance?
Today I want to commend the Governments excellent initiatives around Dementia. Let me remind you about the plans. The ambition is
Hugo Young
Posted on by James Woodward
Curiosity, Hugo Young argues, is the essential ingredient of the best journalism. The only way to understand any world, especially the ever complex, always churning, often deceiving world of politics, is to craft the right questions and then go in search of the answers.
CandleMas
Posted on by James Woodward
The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus, and falls on or around 2 February. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante (lit., 'Meeting'). Other
Giving shape to Old Age
Posted on by James Woodward
In the Old Age of the Soul
I do not choose to dream; there cometh on me
Some strange old lust for deeds.
As to the nerveless hand of some old warrior
Te sword-hilt or the war-worn wonted helmet
Brings momentary life and long-fled cunning,
So to my soul grown old –
Slumdog Millionaire
Posted on by James Woodward
A rather cold afternoon in January is a good time to rediscover the joys of cinema - and my goodness - what a film - deserving every possible acclamation.
So here is the plot!!!
Slumdog Millionaire opens with a police inspector in Mumbai, India interrogating and torturing J
Garlic Mushrooms on a bed of Rocket
Posted on by James Woodward
Ingredients
1/2 lb mushrooms, preferably button
1 packet of rocket or 1/2 an iceberg lettuce
(finely shredded)
250g (1/2 pt) whipping cream
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp sunflower oil
Pepper and salt
1/2 grated nutmeg or flat tsp ground mace
1 tbsp chopped chives
Method
Wipe th
VALUING AGE?
Posted on by James Woodward
Later today I shall travel down to London for a small event to mark th epublication of this book. Thanks to my old boss Richard Harries ( now Lord Harries ) the party is to be held in the House of Lords.
Here is a little taste of what I want to share with guests:
How are we to
Memory
Posted on by James Woodward
Alzheimer’s Patient
Oh, how can this be?
You and I are losing me
Some day soon
May be morning
Many be noon
I will no longer be the me
You and I know as me
And the answer seems to be
Words, and thought, frequently scramble
And my conversations seem to ramble.
Oh, how can
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
not one bird.
So absolute, it
How are we to understand our Life?
Posted on by James Woodward
SO MANY DIFFERENT LENGTHS OF TIME
How long is a man’s life, finally?
Is it a thousand days, or only one?
One week, or a few centuries?
How long does a man’s death last?
And what do we mean when we say, ‘gone forever’?
Adrift in such preoccupations, we seek clari
Sissinghurst
Posted on by James Woodward
Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History
by Adam Nicolson,
Harper, 2008
There are some places that have an extraordinary ability to get inside one’s mind and heart. Sissinghurst is one such place. I have only visited once, nearly 30 years ago – a day trip out of Lo
Spiced Fish and Rice
Posted on by James Woodward
Another discovery to share with you:
If you prefer an even more oriental flavour, a splash of dark soy sauce can be added - experiment with it and make it your own special recipe. It's such fun to do - keep tasting and add new ingredients a little at a time so you don't s
Obama and the weight of expectation
Posted on by James Woodward
If you had to choose another job I wonder what that job would be? Perhaps the move from being a teacher to a builder? Out of the kitchen as a cook into a hospital as a nurse? Away from the desk to a more physical job where papers and computers do not dominate?
Art and Death
Posted on by James Woodward
This highly sensitive and beautifully written book looks closely at the way contemporary Western artists negotiate death, both as personal experience and in the wider community. Townsend discusses but moves beyond the 'spectacle of death' in work by artists such as Damien H
What is a story?
Posted on by James Woodward
A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written, spoken, poetry, prose, images, song, or dance} that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. It derives from the latinverb narrare, which means "to recount" and is related to the
Lamb and Date Tagine
Posted on by James Woodward
Here is on eof my favourite recipes discovered over the New Year Holiday.
Ingredients
4 tblsp olive oil
2 onions peeled and chopped
I tsp ground cinnamon; ground turmeric, ground ginger, ground cumin, ground all-spice
1k diced leg of lamb
250gr soft dried pitted dates
25
Valuing Age:Pastoral Ministry with older people
Posted on by James Woodward
A new publication by James Woodward
Pastoral care and practical theology in the light of age and ageing are the focus of this book. It is written to help those involved in care, in a range of settings, to understand some of the pastoral questions and the issues that
Patience
Posted on by James Woodward
This is the grass your feet are planted on.
You paint it orange or you sing it green,
But you have never found
A way to make the grass mean what you mean.
A cloud can be whatever you intend:
Ostrich or leaning tower or staring eye.
But you have never found
A cloud suffic