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 ambiva
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.
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 swe
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 a
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 bri
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
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
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 tel
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 Amer
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, pray
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 c
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
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
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 ag
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 200
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 ( Macmill
Autumn Colour
Posted on by James Woodward
The last two days have been glorious - sharp, blue, fine days that lift the spirits. The leaves are falling and there is a real sense of the Autumn season kicking in. I love watching what happens to trees at this time of the year and how they shed their leaves - and what colour t
Too Old?
Posted on by James Woodward
And I thought that the Lib Dems were the nice lot in politics? All of us should take an interest in what has happened to Sir Menzies Campbell because deep down there is some shameful ageism at work. If we do not tackle it then we will suffer from the way our society views and
Too Old?
Posted on by James Woodward
And I thought that the Lib Dems were the nice lot in politics? All of us should take an interest in what has happened to Sir Menzies Campbell because deep down there is some shameful ageism at work. If we do not tackle it then we will suffer from the way our society views and val
Wise Politicians?
Posted on by James Woodward
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Most biography falls into the danger of self justification as we attempt to explain, defend or excuse ourselves. Only the very honest or deluded dare to tell it as it is! An official biography must attempt some balance and objectivity and that can be a problem when the sub