I am now into my first year here at St George’s Windsor and people often ask me how it is going! Here is a short extract from my diary which picks up a key part of the life and work: At first it seemed strange to be sharing in worship without having sole responsibility for […]
Blog
reflection
Posted on by James Woodward
We are the time. We are the famous metaphor from Heraclitus the Obscure. We are the water, not the hard diamond, the one that is lost, not the one that stands still. We are the river and we are that Greek that looks himself into the river. His reflection changes into the waters of the […]
Wither the Anglican Communion?
Posted on by James Woodward
I thought it worth drawing your attention to these helpful comments by the Bishop of Gloucester? I think there are some things here we need to explore sensitively together. In doing so I want to acknowledge the honesty and courage of my friend, James Jones, the Bishop of Liverpool, who has publicly told his own […]
Georges Rouault Christ on the Cross
Posted on by James Woodward
In one of Rouault’s crucifixion scenes, painted around 1920, the dark is one again a fundamental feature. The Crucifixion could almost be taking place at night. The sky is dark, the land is dark and the outline of the Cross is black. This serves to focus the eye of the viewer on the unearthly light […]
Laughter
Posted on by James Woodward
Alternatively, what about something which is deeply and uproariously funny? Our uncontrollable laughter exceeds any rational reaction the occasion of the joke I have produced. We feel liberated by what is funny. Why? Because the funny event and our laughter at it means that we have caught a whiff of something that isn’t part of the […]
Older People have their part to play too
Posted on by James Woodward
(article published in the Church Times 7 May2010) THE latest statistics from the Archbishops’ Council suggest that half of those in our pews are pensioners. Some rural congregations were, on average, older than 65, while the youngest Anglicans were found in London, where the age of the “standard” churchgoer is 54. It compares with the […]
A Second Flowering?
Posted on by James Woodward
Why is older age so important? Inner exploration, undertaken with some cognizance of what may be discovered, leads to a possession of oneself, to risking change and allowing transformation. The second half of life can be a work of growth, a ‘’second flowering’’, in which exploration of the depths of self in relationship to God, […]
Henry Moore
Posted on by James Woodward
Radical, experimental and avant-garde, Henry Moore (1898–1986) was one of Britain’s greatest artists. This exhibition at Tate Britain takes a fresh look at his work and legacy, presenting over 150 stone sculptures, wood carvings, bronzes and drawings. Moore rebelled against his teachers’ traditional views of sculpture, instead taking inspiration from non-Western works he saw in museums. He […]
Going Deeper
Posted on by James Woodward
Reading the Saturday papers I am constantly surprised at the superficiality of much of our human commentary…. and this can often be reflected in human relationships. Here is a challenging reflection from Harry Williams….. If we are shallow people, our estimates of others and their behaviour will be superficial, and this is perhaps the most […]
Money worries in the C of E
Posted on by James Woodward
Clergy in the Church of England are being asked to cut their cloth to suit the economic times and to prepare for mergers and staff cuts that could drastically reduce pastoral care and worship. A report on finances has found that a quarter of all 44 dioceses are running deficits and plundering reserves to pay […]
Spring Quiet
Posted on by James Woodward
Gone were but the Winter, Come were but the Spring, I would go to a covert Where the birds sing. Where in the whitethom Singeth a thrush, And a robin sings In the holly-bush. Full of fresh scents Are the budding boughs Arching high over A cool green house: Full of sweet scents, And […]
Bothered and Bewildered
Posted on by James Woodward
When we are bothered and bewildered it is doubly important that our thinking and reflecting are courageous and honest. And in particular it is necessary to avoid two ‘quasi’ intellectual habits: The assumption that it is possible to impose solutions on people as a method of rekindling hope. Virtuous behaviour cannot be enforced. Whilst people […]
The Eucharist
Posted on by James Woodward
The sign-giving does not aim to take us back to the first century; the eucharist is not a time machine. Rather, it catches us into the stream of God’s continuing and liberating activity. It goes without saying that only the signs, rather than the symbols, can do this. The signs speak of a God who […]
ROGATION -TIDE
Posted on by James Woodward
This Sunday was originally so called because of the words in the Prayer Book gospel for the day: “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give to you”. (The Latin is ‘Rogare’ – to ask.) In the strictly biblical context, the chief thing to ask for is the spirit of God to […]
Home?
Posted on by James Woodward
John chapter 16 and verse28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. A man arrives at the gates of heaven. St. Peter asks, “Religion?” The man says, “Methodist.” St. Peter looks down his list, and says, “Go to […]
Contradiction, Collaboration and Comprimise?
Posted on by James Woodward
What a fascinating time and here are some images that sum up what we are all immersed in:
mist
Posted on by James Woodward
I wrote a poem on the mist And a woman asked me what I meant by it. I had thought till then only of the beauty of the mist, how pearl and gray of it mix and reel, And change the drab shanties with lighted lamps at evening into points of mystery quivering with […]
Gods scale of time ?
Posted on by James Woodward
I do not think that the real problem is with time itself, but with the paucity of our imaginations. God’s time-scale is, like God, unimaginably enormous; the mind falters in the face of it, poised on a ghastly chasm of emptiness. It is easier to write off time than to accept the vast vacuity of […]
The College of St George
Posted on by James Woodward
St George’s Windsor has a rich and varied history. Foundation of the College of St George On 6th August 1348 Edward III founded two new colleges, symbols of his devotion and generosity to the church. These institutions, which were essentially communities of priests, were charged with celebrating divine service within the two political nerve centres […]
The Self?
Posted on by James Woodward
The self at any given moment is a made self — it is not a solid independent machine for deciding and acting efficiently or rationally in response to stimuli, but is itself a process, fluid and elusive, whose present range of possible responses is part of a developing story. The self is — […]