a tree
God
is a tree said Kabir
a tree in the forest; when the woodsmen come
to cut Him down
He will not defend Himself
He will not shame them.
And God, he said,
is the earth
an endless wonder
that allows Himself
to be ruined b
Reading a Building : Andrew Ziminski on Church Going
Posted on by James Woodward
I am presently in Wales appreciating some rest and space. There are two features of what makes for refreshment here. The first is reading given the gift of uninterrupted time. The second is exploring places and buildings near and far. These often include Churches if I
Adrian Cadbury and his legacy
Posted on by James Woodward
Book tokens are always a welcome opportunity to see what has been recently published and secure an adventure of discovery! Participating in a recent Church Times debate on assisted dying offered me the chance to secure a copy of this biography of Adrian Cadb
Prayer and Intercession ( Mother Mary Clare)
Posted on by James Woodward
These words from Mother Mary Clare SLG are worth pondering as we enter into a new season
PRAYER in its wholeness is relationship with God. Our part in all prayer is to be the ‘good ground’ out of which the seed can grow and, if we will let it, be mult
Inhabiting RS Thomas on his own soil
Posted on by James Woodward
It is a long way from Salisbury to the Llyn Peninsula. This was a pilgrimage of sorts to the RS Thomas Poetry Festival. https://rsthomaspoetry.co.uk/ The slow and wet journey north was worth every turn in the road and queue ad a number of spea
Nothing is Secure, Except God : visiting the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God
Posted on by James Woodward
I was first introduced to the Sisters of the Love of God by Geoffrey Connor, the Vocations advisor in the diocese of Durham in the late 1970s. I visited first the Convent during my first year as an undergraduate at Kings College London. These months of study were both exh
The Shrine Church of Saint Melangell
Posted on 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
Burkeman on the lessons of Time
Posted on by James Woodward
Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count Vintage 2022
What is your relationship to time ? How long is that To Do list ? And what about those good intentions we start any day with? This Saturday started quite
Close ( Film 2022)
Posted on by James Woodward
Gustav De Waele and Eden Dambrine as Rémi and Léo
On my post Easter travels I was glad to reaquaint myself with The Midland Arts Centre (https://macbirmingham.co.uk/) - a place of regular visits over twenty years of living in Birmingham.Based in Canon Hill Park
What does it mean to Journey? Reading Crossroad by Moseley
Posted on by James Woodward
Charles Moseley is a Cambridge scholar, teacher and English writer. I took this book with me to the Llŷn Peninsula in North Wales last weekend while present at a conference exploring the poetry of RS Thomas. This book was a perfect accompaniment in my lodgings in
understanding people ?
Posted on by James Woodward
Affinity
Consider this man in the field beneath,
Gaitered with mud, lost in his own breath,
Without joy, without sorrow,...
Without children, without wife,
Stumbling insensitively from furrow to furrow,
A vague somnambulist; but hold your tears,
For his name also is written
Praying for Peace
Posted on by James Woodward
and listening to the voices ......
Erich Fried
When we were the persecuted
I was one of you
How can I remain one
when you become the persecutors?
Your longing was
to become like other nations
who murdered you
Now you have become like them
Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede
Posted on by James Woodward
The Air Forces Memorial, or Runnymede Memorial, in Englefield Green memorial dedicated to some 20,456 men and women from air forces of the British Empire who were lost in air and other operations during World War II. Those recorded have no known grave anywhere in the world, and m
Hughenden Manor
Posted on by James Woodward
The manor of Hughenden is first recorded in 1086, when formerly part of Queen Edith's lands it was held by William, son of Oger the Bishop of Bayeux, and was assessed for tax at 10 hides.
Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister (1868 and 1874–1880, and Earl of Beaconsfiel
Auckland Castle
Posted on by James Woodward
I have very vivid memories of visiting Auckland Castle as a sixth form student beginning to wonder about my vocation to the ordained ministry in the Church of England. At a young people's gathering in the Throne room of this imposing building I remember the Bishop of Durham, John
Baddesley Clinton
Posted on by James Woodward
Baddesley Clinton , is a moated manor house, located just north of Warwick ; the house was probably established during the 13th century when large areas of the Forest of Arden were cleared and eventually converted to farmland. The site is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and the
Remembering Maya Angelou
Posted on by James Woodward
I started my blogging life in 2008 partly as a way of capturing my experience of a sabbatical in America. In the spring of that year I spent a month in Washington DC followed by three months in Chicago. It was a rejuvenating and very significant time. I managed to get o
A Tree….
Posted on by James Woodward
a tree telling of Orpheus
he spoke, and as no tree listens I listened, and language
came into my roots out of the earth, into my bark
out of the air, into the pores of my greenest shoots
gently as dew and there was no word he sang but I knew its meaning.
He tol
The Reverend Jeremy Sampson
Posted on by James Woodward
(from The Church Times Obits)
SAMPSON. -
On 11 July, the Revd Jeremy John Egerton Sampson: Vicar of North Perak, Malaya (1951-52); Priest-in-Charge of Johore Bahru (1952-57); Vicar of St John the Divine, Ipoh (1957-62); Killingworth (1962-76); Consett (1976-90); Rural De
Bangor Cathedral
Posted on by James Woodward
Bangor Cathedral is an ancient place of Christian worship situated in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol.
The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship since the 6th century. T