The weekend brings a different kind of pattern here. Some of the students are in parishes learning the trick of the trade and some seem to be away. I have just had some lunch following a Eucharist at Immanuel Church. Rite I ( prayer book) which I haven’t experienced for some time – unfamiliar hymns – […]
Snow in Temple Balsall – Awesome!!
Posted on by James Woodward
Wow – snow at this time of year ! We must begin an immediate theological exploration of issues surrounding the environment! This is the view from my study window ( thanks Jen). As they say in these parts – Awesome!!
In Praise of
Posted on by James Woodward
Art. Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation and rational analysis. Science, for many, is the best methodology for determining this knowledge. While acknowledging that we should recognize the value of art as a source of knowledge. Art mirrors reality. It can offer us a way in to understand the world and our […]
Blue Grass
Posted on by James Woodward
I travel down to Old Town Alexandria To Tiffanys Tavern – that’s the closest to a pub that they get here – to sample the beer and listen to some Blue Grass music. Its a cross between Country and Folk – with a fiddle, tall double bass, steel guitar and vocals. There is a different […]
Not at my Age?
Posted on by James Woodward
Those who know me will recognize this phrase probably used so often that its originial intention to amuse has worn off a little! I have had a rather mixed day not helped by very heavy rain all night which kept me awake – my room is at the top of the building so it felt […]
I have a dream
Posted on by James Woodward
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King and it is being marked across this country with a number of events. The Washington Post reflects with its readers about how far American society has travelled over these past years. Here at VTS there is an ambivalent relationship with race and racism. […]
Freedom?
Posted on by James Woodward
If I were more creative then I should be able to find and upload pictures to accompany these wanderings. I’ll get back to you on that one! In conversation with some of my newly made American friends I ask about the values that shape this large, diverse and contradictory country. The answer is unequivocal Freedom. […]
In praise of …..
Posted on by James Woodward
the boiled sweet! One of my earliest memories of my childhood was the village sweetshop ran (I think) by two old ladies ! Well they looked old from the perspective of an eight year old. I remember that there was a large heavy set of brown shelves filled with jars and jars of sweets. Paradise! […]
Remembering the Future and Imagining the Past?
Posted on by James Woodward
How are we to understand the marvels of the human brain? Different parts of the brain play different roles in making decisions, in recognizing the faces of those we love and even in experiencing God. Memory and Imagination are linked in a dynamic way. Perhaps failures of memory and imagination are at the heart of […]
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 […]
Who would you vote for?
Posted on by James Woodward
The Aging in America conference is over and the delegates left the Marriot ballroom in good order telling each other that they would meet again in Las Vegas next March! I wonder if I could get away with that trip on parish expenses? I wondered about home and Temple Balsall on the Sunday that is […]
Is it good enough for us?
Posted on by James Woodward
The conference continues with the most breathtaking array of material and an ethusiasm about older people and their care which is very powerful. I wonder if it would be possible for such an event to take place in the UK? I move between workshop and lecture interested in story telling, successful aging and spiritual care. […]
A Tender Heart
Posted on by James Woodward
Picture the scene. 3,600 delegates crammed into the Ball Room of a Washington Hotel listening to a choir of ‘seniors’ as they call them over here. I am feeling the after effects of too little sleep and some jet lag having just flown from London yesterday. It is the Aging in America conference and the start […]
Please pray for me
Posted on by James Woodward
As a priest, I should not be surprised at how often sometimes perfect strangers ask me to pray for them. Sometimes it is related to a specific difficulty or crisis – more often than not people understandably take comfort from the reality of being prayed for. Intercession, prayer that is to ask God for something […]
Do we know our bodies?
Posted on by James Woodward
The rib gage from a useful anatonomy text book. My interest? Last thursday I slipped on a step and fell only to discover 36 hours later that I had broken a couple of ribs. Frustrating and painful – in equal measure. Nigel – a doctor friend – came to the rescue. A wonderfully careful […]
Dying for Care?
Posted on by James Woodward
Contrast two scenes. The first is a restaurant – where the food is carefully prepared and warmly served in an atmosphere which seeks to delight its customers. The second is a hospital. Parking the car is nearly impossible – the long impersonal corridors where people avoid eye contact. The noisy ward – the short temered […]
Waiting and Wondering
Posted on by James Woodward
I find myself along with others caught up in quite absurd activity as ‘ the Christmas rush’ bears down. I discover that in this maddness I have no evenings free before Christmas and wonder how much of this is of my own making! An early flurry of snow last night took me back to my […]
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 […]