Judge Not

For today's service in the Parish I have been using an All-age talk on the Parable of the Wheat and Weeds to speak about the dangers of judgementalism. For my All-age talk I added an introductory quiz about our default habits when it comes to how we form opinions about others.

Psychology Today has the following to say about judgementalism: "The more we live in a culture of divisiveness, the more judgmental people become. Being quick to pass judgment on others can harm not only the target but the teller, the very person doing the judging. In addition to creating a cloud of negativity, judgmentalism can lead to conflict and stunt personal growth. With a little conscious effort, it is possible to shift out of a critical mindset."

For our Healing Eucharist this evening, I included, as reflective moments, Al Green's cover of R.E.M.'s 'Everybody Hurts' and Jahlani Pierce's 'Stop Judging Others (You Never Know Their Battles)'.

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Jahlani Pierce's - Stop Judging Others (You Never Know Their Battles).

  

Creation waits for the revealing of the children of God

Here's the sermon that I shared this morning at St Gabriel's Pitsea:

We live in a world that, as St Paul described in Romans 8.12-25, is groaning because of its enslavement to decay and futility. What the Bible describes as the effects of sin impacts the world in terms of: our propensity to engulf the nations of the world in conflict; our greed which leaves some nations and individuals with too much by way of resources and others with too little; and our thirst for energy which has changed the climate in ways that threaten sustainability.

St Paul says that the solution to this is to be found in the reality and realisation that we are children of God. The creation, he writes, ‘waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God’ and it is only as the children of God are revealed that ‘the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God’.

This is because we naturally tend, as human beings, toward living life selfishly by putting ourselves first and looking after No. 1. This is what scientists describe when they talk about us having selfish genes which get us ready to live in a world that is about the survival of the fittest.

Jesus shows us a new and different way of being human, however. He gave his life so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. Jesus allowed his own life to end so that all people could know what it is like to really live. Not to live in the old, selfish, self-centred way of being human but to live in his new way of being human, loving God with all our being and loving our neighbours as ourselves.

It is this way of life that we enter when we realise we are God’s children and are baptised. When Jesus was baptised (Mark 1.9-15), he saw heaven opening, the Spirit coming down on him like a dove, and he heard a voice from heaven saying, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.” As he was baptised, he was immediately affirmed as God’s Son.

It is easy for us to think that that only applies to Jesus. That it was a special word spoken by God the Father especially to him and, on one level, no doubt it was. But the Bible makes it quite clear that Jesus came into our world and laid down his life to make us one with God so that, as Christians, we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, members of the same family – God’s family – and co-heirs with Jesus of everything that he has.

Let’s remind ourselves of what St Paul says about this in Romans 8. 14-17: “Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, Father! my Father! God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him …”

So, baptism is about moving from the old way of being human to Jesus’ new way of being human. It is about dying to the old purely materialistic way of life and taking up the new way of life which Jesus shows to us. We ask those who are baptised to: continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers; persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord; proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ; seek and serve Christ in all people, loving our neighbour as ourself; acknowledge Christ’s authority over human society, by prayer for the world and its leaders, by defending the weak, and by seeking peace and justice; so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, that we may be rooted and grounded in love and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. We ask this because, as Jesus said, it is by their fruits (their deeds) that true Christians will be known.

When we do these things we begin living the new way of life to which Jesus calls us and we are revealed as the children of God. As we live differently, selflessly, we impact the planet in different ways that are positive, not negative. This is why St Paul says the world is waiting ‘with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God’.

James Thwaites has written about this passage in Romans suggesting that the creation is crying out: ‘for its goodness to be fully realised and fully released. The creation cannot be good apart from the sons and daughters because we alone were given the right to name it; we are the image bearers who were made to speak moral value and divine intent into it. We were created to draw forth the attributes, nature and power of God in all things.’

He writes about the cry of sonship, pointing out that, because Christians have received the Spirit of adoption, they are sons and daughters of God who cry out "Abba, Father". He argues that this identity releases believers from fear and calls them into an eternal inheritance. 

He also notes the cry of creation and suggests that the physical creation is actively crying out for the full realization of its goodness. He argues that humans were made to be image-bearers who bring out the inherent possibilities and divine intent of the world through their everyday work and creativity. This is the task that we all have as human being and the calling on our lives our baptism. 

Then, he writes about the divine purpose in "all things". He looks at the phrase "all things work together for good" as proof of God's intimate involvement in the physical world and God's call for believers to engage with creation to bring it to its fullness. Ultimately, Thwaites uses Romans 8 to argue that followers of Jesus should stop treating the physical world as something to be abandoned. Instead, he believes Christians are tasked with noticing and nurturing God's goodness in their everyday lives and vocations.

This is the purpose for which we were created and for which the creation itself is crying out. Instead of the selfish and wasteful exploitation of creation’s resources – the domination and abuse – which characterises human engagement with the world, we are intended to creatively realise the inherent possibilities, the essential goodness, of creation through our imaginative ability as those who notice and name. We are able to do this because we have left our old, selfish way of life behind and have been adopted by God as his children, becoming brothers and sisters of Jesus, co-heirs with him of all he possesses. This is what we celebrate today and what we are challenged to be and to become as we begin to live the new way of being human that was first shown to us by Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Steve Scott - Different Kind Of Light.   

friday mailing: Churches and cultural programming

The most recent friday mailing from Nick Shepherd features a case study in which I briefly review the cultural programmes set up in each of the Parishes in which I have ministered, including several with smaller congregations and available resources, and draw out key learning from each initiative.

The friday mailing is compiled by Nick Shepherd and seeks to inform and inspire the community of practitioners leading learning in the church (with a particular slant towards the Church of England). It serves a diverse constituency of educators, leadership practitioners, discipleship enablers, jobbing ministers and fancy titled coach/facilitators working across the church.

The purpose of fm is to signpost articles, resources, events and research that stimulate reflection on the breadth of learning the church engages in; within worshiping communities, pioneering & mission contexts and the public square. This includes the continuing ministerial education and formation work in dioceses, courses and colleges. fm is compiled by staff in the Archbishops’ Council’s Ministry and Evangelism & Discipleship teams, but relies on community members to send us the appropriate news and views.

Check out the archive and sign up if you’re interested at https://mailchi.mp/churchofengland/fm

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The Call - The Walls Came Down.

Windows on the world (578)

London, 2026

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Echo and the Bunnymen - Lips Like Sugar.

Amethyst Review: Connections and contemplation in poetry and prayer

'Connections and contemplation in poetry and prayer', a brief survey of the connections between poetry and prayer has been published by Amethyst Review today. It looks at the connections between the two and highlights both poems about prayer and poems that are prayers. This piece was originally written as the introduction to a Quiet Day I ran recently on Poetry and Prayer. On the same day, I also wrote a new poem entitled 'Prayer' which was published recently by Amethyst Review.

The references for the article are:

• [1] D. Yezzi, ‘“Power of some sort or other”: on poems and prayers’ in The New Criterion, April 2012 - https://newcriterion.com/article/power-of-some-sort-or-other-on-poems-and-prayers/ [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [2] D. Rotty, ‘Poetry as Prayer’ in Catholic Exchange, 10 October 2022 - https://catholicexchange.com/poetry-as-prayer/ [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [3] J. Kranz, ‘Poetry and Wisdom Books of the Bible: The Beginner’s Guide’ in overviewbible.com, 4 March 2020 - https://overviewbible.com/poetry/ [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [4] G. Heugh, ‘How poetry can help us pray’, tear fund, 19 March 2021 - https://www.tearfund.org/stories/2021/03/how-poetry-can-help-us-pray [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [5] D. Yezzi, ‘“Power of some sort or other”: on poems and prayers’ in The New Criterion, April 2012 - https://newcriterion.com/article/power-of-some-sort-or-other-on-poems-and-prayers/ [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [6] J. Ramazani, ‘Poetry and Prayer’ in Poetry and Its Others: News, Prayer, Song, and the Dialogue of Genres, University of Chicago Press, 5 November 2013 - https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/15853/chapter-abstract/170723284?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false [Abstract accessed 27 April 2026]
• [7] ‘Poetry and Prayer: Continuities and Discontinuities’, An international conference organized jointly by the Institute of English Studies and Heythrop College, University of London, 29–30 June 2012 - https://academic.oup.com/litthe/article-abstract/26/2/242/1028143?redirectedFrom=PDF [Abstract accessed on 27 April 2026]
• [8] E. McGrath Smith, ‘Poetry as Prayer’ in talking writing, January 27, 2014 - https://talkingwriting.com/poetry-prayer [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [9] S. Weil, Gravity and Grace, Routledge, 12 September 2002.
• [10] A. Carroll, ‘Vocabulary of the Heart – What Poetry Taught Me About Prayer’ in Chronic Joy - https://chronic-joy.org/vocabulary-heart-poetry-taught-prayer/ [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [11] A. Baker, ‘A Conversation with Gregory Orr’, Image, Issue 66 - https://imagejournal.org/article/conversation-gregory-orr/ [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [12] M. Guite, Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination, Routledge, 28 March 2012
• [13] G. Heugh, ‘How poetry can help us pray’, tear fund, 19 March 2021 - https://www.tearfund.org/stories/2021/03/how-poetry-can-help-us-pray [accessed 27 April 2026]
• [14] G. Heugh, ‘How poetry can help us pray’, tear fund, 19 March 2021 - https://www.tearfund.org/stories/2021/03/how-poetry-can-help-us-pray [accessed 27 April 2026
• [15] ‘Oasis: Poetry’ in explorefaith.org - http://www.explorefaith.org/oasis/poetry/otherwise.html [accessed 27 April 2026]

Amethyst Review is a publication for readers and writers who are interested in creative exploration of spirituality and the sacred. Readers and writers of all religions and none are most welcome. All work published engages in some way with spirituality or the sacred in a spirit of thoughtful and respectful inquiry, rather than proselytizing.

The Editor-in-chief is Sarah Law – poet (mainly), tutor, occasional critic, sometime fiction writer. She has published five poetry collections, the latest of which is 'Thérèse: Poems'. Her novel, Sketches from a Sunlit Heaven is a 2023 Illumination Book Award silver medal winner. She set up Amethyst Review feeling the lack of a UK-based platform for the sharing and readership of new literary writing that engages in some way with spirituality and the sacred.

My poems to have been published in Amethyst Review are: 'Prayer', 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'.

I am among those whose poetry has been included in Thin Places & Sacred Spaces, a recent anthology from Amethyst Press. I also had a poem included in All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich, the first Amethyst Press anthology of new poems.

'Five Trios' is a series of poems on thin places and sacred spaces in the Diocese of Chelmsford. The five poems in the series are:

• 'Barking';
• 'Bradwell';
• 'Broomfield';
• 'Pleshey'; and
• 'Runwell'.

These poems have been published by Amethyst Review and International Times.

To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. International Times have also published other of my poems, including 'Spencer Reece at Bemerton' which is based on the visit that I made to Bemerton in 2026 with Spencer Reece, 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, and 'The Edge of Chaos', a state of existence poem. Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

Several of my short stories have also been published by IT including three about Nicola Ravenscroft's EarthAngel sculptures (then called mudcubs), which we exhibited at St Andrew's Wickford in 2022. The first story in the series is 'The Mudcubs and the O Zone holes'. The second is 'The Mudcubs and the Clean-Up King', and the third is 'The mudcubs and the Wall'. My other short stories to have been published by International Times are 'The Black Rain', a story about the impact of violence in our media, 'The New Dark Ages', a story about principles and understandings that are gradually fading away from our modern societies, and 'The curious glasses', a story based on the butterfly effect.

For more of my poems, see here, and for my poetic meditations, see here.

My first review of poetry for Tears in the Fence was of 'Modern Fog' by Chris Emery. My second review was of 'The Salvation Engine' by Rupert Loydell and my third was of 'For All That’s Lost' by David Miller. My poetry reviews for Stride include a review of two poetry collections, one by Mario Petrucci and the other by David Miller, a review of Temporary Archive: Poems by Women of Latin America, a review of Fukushima Dreams by Andrea Moorhead, a review of Endangered Sky by Kelly Grovier and Sean Scully, a review of John F. Deane's Selected & New Poems, a review of God's Little Angel by Sue Hubbard and a review of Spencer Reece's 'Acts'.

My poetry-related pieces for IT are: an interview with artist, poet, priest Spencer Reece, an interview with the poet Chris Emery, plus reviews of: 'Collected Poems' by Kevin Crossley-Holland; 'Breaking Lines' at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, albums by Deacon Blue, Mumford and Sons, and Andrew Rumsey, and 'What Is and Might Be and then Otherwise' by David Miller. I have also published pieces on poetry at Seen and Unseen - a profile of the poet Theresa Lola - and the Journal of Theological Studies - a review of Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination by Malcolm Guite. For more on poetry, read my ArtWay interview with David Miller here and my interview with Rupert Loydell here. See also Rupert Loydell's interview with poet and musician Steve Scott. My own dialogues with Steve can be read here, here, here, here, and here. For thoughts on the links between poetry and prayer see here and here.

My key literature posts (including poetry) are:

• There were giants in those days (1)
• There were giants in those days (2)
• There were Giants in those days (3)
• There were giants in those days (4)
• The Modern & Contemporary Catholic Novel (1)
• The Modern & Contemporary Catholic Novel (2)
• The Modern & Contemporary Catholic Novel (3)
• The Modern & Contemporary Catholic Novel (4)
• The Modern & Contemporary Catholic Novel (5)
• The poetry of connection
• Debate: Has Fiction Lost It's Faith?
• Jesus is having a moment in literary fiction
• Endo & Scorsese: Approaching Silence
• Contemporary Fiction and Christianity
• Debate: Has Fiction Lost It's Faith? (2)
• Jack Clemo: The Invading Gospel
• Dealing with faith and with secularism is difficult but necessary now
• The poet’s eloquently passionate struggle at the junction of doubt and devotion
• Christian Arts renaissance: Major or minor?
• T.S. Eliot: Christianity, fragmentation and reconciliation
• Jesus Novels & Films: The Greatest Story Ever Told
• Acts of the Assassins and Jesus Novels
• Czeslaw Milosz, Oscar Milosz and Simone Weil
• Blogs: cryingforavision & Stride magazine
• Tasos Leviaditis: The Blind Man with the Lamp
• Religious concerns in Greek poetry
• Thomas Merton and Latin American poets
• American Catholic poets & writers
• Connections of Sister Corita Kent and Norman Nicholson
• Ernesto Cardenal RIP
• Czeslaw Milosz, Jerzy Andrzejewski, Oskar Milosz, and Aleksander Wat
• Faith, Mystery & Poetry
• Elizabeth Jennings & David Gascoyne: Mystical Experience and the Making of Poems
• Roots of the Catholic Literary Revival

See also 'Art and Faith: Decades of Engagement: Introduction, 1880s, 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.

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Gideon Heugh - Love - An Easter Poem.

Edward Lucie-Smith R.I.P.

Edward Lucie-Smith, the Jamaican-born British art critic, poet and author whose output across more than six decades shaped how several generations understood modern and contemporary Art, has died aged 93. 

Artlyst write: 'It is with great sadness that we announce the death of the distinguished art critic, writer and poet Edward Lucie-Smith (1933–2026). For the last fifteen years, Edward served as Artlyst’s Chief Reviewer, bringing unrivalled knowledge, sharp critical insight and an unmistakable literary voice to our publication. His reviews challenged convention, celebrated artistic achievement and never shied away from difficult questions. A towering figure in post-war art criticism, Edward leaves behind an extraordinary body of work that shaped generations of artists, writers and readers. His absence will be felt by everyone at Artlyst and throughout the international art community.' See the Artlyst obituary here.

I first encountered Lucie-Smith through his poems in Penguin Modern Poets 6 (with Jack Clemo and George MacBeth) but met him early on in my time as Priest-in-charge at St Stephen Walbrook. Together, we organised exhibitions by Kim Poor, Joe Machine, Terry Ffyffe, Alexander de Cadenet, and Jamaican Spiritual artists. These also included concerts by Italian pianist Claudio Crismani, Riyad Nicolas and Katya DJ, Niklas Oldemeier and Shir Victoria Levy, poetry from Steven O'Brien, Joe Machine, and Lucie-Smith, and dance from Fernando Montaño and Kirill Burlov. 

During the poetry evening at St Stephen Walbrook organised with The London Magazine, Lucie-Smith read his powerfully intense series of poems about the Srebrenica massacre which took place in Bosnia in 1995. Lucie-Smith and I lectured on Francis Bacon at St Stephen Walbrook and also spoke at the PV for Terry Ffyffe's 'Painting the Light' exhibition. At a conference entitled 'Art Awakening Humanity', organised with Alexander de Cadenet, Lucie-Smith gave his agnostic’s view of art and spirituality. Knowledgable about art and spirituality, his books included 'The face of Jesus', a collection of paintings and images of Jesus throughout the centuries depicting his life, from birth to his crucifixion to his resurrection. 

As Chief Reviewer for Artlyst, he introduced me to Artlyst's Editor, Paul Robinson, and thereby enabled the invitation I received to begin writing for Artlyst. I owe him a debt of gratitude for that introduction and for the exhibitions we were able to organise together in my time at Walbrook.

Lucie-Smith was an enthusiast who, even though he had seen so much work over the course of his career, was still open to surprise as he wrote of Ffyffe's final series of work: "Every now and then even a hardened old lag in the art business - yes folks, I mean me - gets a nice surprise … Terry Ffyffe-asked me to come and look at a new series of paintings … and my reaction was 'Wow!' … These were whirling, dynamic abstract designs - a total break with anything major of his that I had encountered previously.” He was also a loyal supporter of artists like Ffyffe, even when their work was not generally considered as fashionable as that of others among their peers. Lucie-Smith was strong in his enthusiasms, insights and opinions and was happy to hold contrary views to those of other critics - see, for example, his twelve defining Artlyst reviews.  

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Claudio Crismani - Friss-Lassan.

Windows on the world (577)

London, 2026

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Eric Bibb - With My Maker I Am One.