Are they shadows that we see? And can shadows pleasure give? Pleasures only shadows be Cast by bodies we conceive And are made the things we deem In those figures which they seem. But these pleasures vanish fast Which by shadows are expressed; Pleasures are not, if they last; In their passing is […]
Blog
Compton Verney House
Posted on by James Woodward
Compton Verney House is an 18th century country mansion at Compton Verney near Kineton in Warwickshire which has been converted into the Compton Verney Art Gallery. The building is a Grade I listed house built in 1714 by Richard Verney, 11th Baron Willoughby de Broke. It was first extensively extended by George Verney, the […]
Being Wrong
Posted on by James Woodward
All of us outgrow some of our beliefs. All of us hatch theories in one moment, only to find that we must abandon them in the next. Our tricky senses, our limited intellects, our fickle memories, the veil of emotions, the tug of allegiances, the complexity of the world around us: all of […]
‘que sais-je?’
Posted on by James Woodward
Michel de Montaigne, the great Renaissance philosopher and essayist, inscribed above the door of his study que sais-je?—what do I know? And thus Descartes set himself the task of doubting everything, up to and including his own existence . These thinkers weren’t nihilists, nor even skeptics. They believed in truth, and they wanted […]
the gaze
Posted on by James Woodward
Something different, set apart, special this single room in the house, a sanctuary, a refuge a place where the spirit, palpable, real, living where this presence is felt, alive Under the gaze of angels, a collections of guardians symbols, metaphoric, talismans, a row of saints connecting her to her heritage, shaman, things of the earth […]
longing
Posted on by James Woodward
Love is not condescension, never that, nor books, nor any pencil trace on paper, no; nor in how we talk about each other. Love is a tree with branches reaching out to always with roots that come from everywhere, and no trunk. Have you seen it? No. You can’t. Your deep desire can’t find […]
Edward the Confessor
Posted on by James Woodward
Edward was the son of Ethelred II ‘the Unready’ and Emma, the daughter of Richard I of Normandy. The family was exiled in Normandy after the Danish invasion of 1013, but returned the following year and negotiated Ethelred’s reinstatement. After Ethelred’s death in 1016 the Danes again took control of England. Edward lived in exile […]
Reflecting the light
Posted on by James Woodward
Yet any glass through which we see is always made of human hands, like mine. All spiritual language is by necessity metaphor and symbol. The Light comes from elsewhere, yet it is necessarily reflected through those walking on the journey. As Desmond Tutu often says “We are only the light bulbs and our job is just […]
exuberance
Posted on by James Woodward
It’s the mystery of the hunt that intrigues me, That drives us like lemmings, but cautiously— The search for a bright square cloud—the scent of lemon verbena— Or to learn rules for the game the sea otters Play in the surf. It is these small things—and the secret behind them That fill the heart. The […]
Embracing the diversity of the Bibles Impact
Posted on by James Woodward
Let us imagine entering a museum and contemplating one of the exhibits. The exhibit could be said to offer us a type of revelation, for it stands before us and communicates a message. However, the message of a piece of art is not simple, singular or able to be mastered. This is evidenced in the […]
A Cacophony of Voices
Posted on by James Woodward
The Bible itself is a dynamic text full of poetry, prose, history, law and myth all clashing together in a cacophony of voices. We are presented with a warrior God and a peacemaker, a God of territorial allegiance and a God who transcends all territorial divides, an unchanging God and a God who can […]
Scripture
Posted on by James Woodward
The Study of scripture is at the heart of theology. Scripture truthfully tells the story of God’s action of creating, judging and saving the world. It is to be read and reread above all for the sake of God and God’s purposes; hear it as God the Creator, Judge and Saviour crying out to humanity; respond […]
Living Life as it is!
Posted on by James Woodward
Every segment of life is both gift and challenge, both endowment and responsibility. It is the warp and woof of the fabric we call time. The delicate interplay between the two has the power to rock us back and forth between total confidence and abject despair. We lurch through life between doubt and faith, between […]
What is theology?
Posted on by James Woodward
If theology comes to be understood as the place where God speaks, then we must seek, not to speak of God, but rather to be that place where God speaks. Through our words and actions we seek to be the site of revelation through which people encounter the life- giving Word of God. For some, […]
Who do we listen to?
Posted on by James Woodward
Choose the company of those withdrawn in love Listen to those who open a path to you: listen, and don’t say a word. -Rumi
crucifix
Posted on by James Woodward
We can never be with loss too long. Behind the warped door that sticks, the wood thrush calls to the monks, pausing upon the stone crucifix, singing: “I am marvelous alone!” Thrash, thrash goes the hayfield: rows of marrow and bone undone. The horizon’s flashing fastens tight, sealing the blue hills with vermilion. Moss […]
A Vision of how the church should be?
Posted on by James Woodward
Found on a welcome sheet in a remote Welsh Church – how would you describe the welcome that your Church offers? Here we try to practise the generous Gospel of Jesus Christ. This means that you may be mixing with seekers, searchers, and those who have been bruised, those who limp and those […]
Tree
Posted on by James Woodward
I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her […]
Holiday Books – A Walk on Part by Chris Mullin
Posted on by James Woodward
Yes Minister meets Alan Clark. This third and final volume of Chris Mullin’s acclaimed diaries begins on the night John Smith died in May 1994, and continues until the moment of Mullin’s assumption into government in July 1999. Together with the bestselling “A View from the Foothills” and “Decline and Fall”, the complete trilogy covers […]
Holiday Books – The Life of Henry Moore
Posted on by James Woodward
Henry Moore’s rise from Yorkshire miner’s son to international acclaim as the twentieth century’s greatest sculptor is one of the most remarkable stories in British art. In this revised, updated, expanded and redesigned new edition of The Life of Henry Moore, Roger Berthoud charts Moore’s transition from controversial young modernist to pillar of the […]