Radion Project, Basildon

Radion is a collaborative project that explores Basildon’s past and present with a focus on nature and heritage within the borough. Basildon Borough History, Basildon Borough Heritage, its volunteers and local people have been suggesting pieces of built heritage to be celebrated and remembered within the Borough. These images have been used to create a panorama depicting an alternative skyline of Basildon from a chronological perspective.

This lenticular screen, which was launched today, allows two contrasting images to appear to change and move as you walk past the screen, creating an optical illusion. The lenticular screen is located at the back entrance of the cinema in Basildon, which acts as second entrance for visitors arriving by car or foot. This area is currently the car park off Great Oaks, near The Basildon Post Office Depot.

Students from ten local primary schools including Ryedene, Lee Chapel, Millhouse, Fairhouse, Pionner, Janet Duke, Noak Bridge, Great Berry, Northlands and Ghyllgrove School have all been exploring the importance of local nature through leaf rubbings and identification. The nature panorama depicts key green spaces around the borough with each leaf inserted (over 2,000) having been made by a different child.

Accompanying the lenticular screen is a series of QR codes which intend to animate the screen, from an audio history tour spoken by local people, a nature map showing where each schools leaves can be found and more. 

Richard Feldwick, Churchwarden for St Catherine's Wickford, was interviewed for the project and St Catherine's features in the panorama.

Other recent projects with a heritage focus include The BasildON Creative People & Places programme which is built on multiple projects that aim to engage across all of our communities. These were inspired by a range of unique cultural activities that were developed and assessed before putting in the application for funding to Arts Council England. Alongside this, extensive community discussions were undertaken to ensure the activity is what local people want to see!

‘Young Pioneers’ is a series of youth-led creative activities, developed through our creative skills development programme for 16-25 year olds, funded and supported by ReGeneration:2013, a Creative Estuary project. Supported by industry experts, the young pioneers have developed their own project that uses creativity to drive change in their local areas. Halls Corner Film: Made in collaboration with local filmmaker Maz Murray, Halls Corner Film explores Wickford’s past and present through intergenerational storytelling between Young Pioneer Em and her family. Watch the film here!

Field Artists is a creative exploration project set in the Basildon Borough. Artists embed themselves within a community within 5 areas of the borough, and co-create work in response to the connection they create. The Field Artists residencies support artists investigating what is happening within 5 areas of Basildon Borough - Wickford, Laindon, Billericay, Pitsea and Vange, and Basildon itself. This artist led process will enable better understanding of communities and residents, and aims to produce a series of public art pieces across the Borough alongside a digitally held archive of the residencies.

Syd Moore is an acclaimed novelist and short-story writer whose work focusses on the historic witch hunts in Essex. Her first book, The Drowning Pool (HarperCollins, 2011) looked at the legend of Sarah Moore, a notorious sea witch, in Moore’s home town of Leigh-on-Sea. The bestselling Witch Hunt (HarperCollins, 2012) investigated the hysteria of 1645–47 inflamed by the notorious Witchfinder General. Moore continues to explore the witch hunts of Essex in her current series The Essex Witch Museum Mysteries (Strange Magic, Strange Sight, Strange Fascination, Strange Tombs) published by OneWorld. The Strange Days of Christmas (OneWorld, 2019) is her first short-story collection. Prior to writing, Moore was a lecturer, worked extensively in the publishing industry and presented Channel 4’s book programme, Pulp. She was the founding editor of Level 4, an arts and culture magazine, and co-creator of Superstrumps, the game that reclaims female stereotypes. Moore was also the Assistant Curator of ABBA: Super Troupers The Exhibition that launched at the O2 in December 2019 and co-curated This is What an Essex Girl Looks Like at the Beecroft Gallery, as part of her work with the Essex Girls Liberation Front. Having founded the ‘Front’ she spearheaded the campaign to have the definition of ‘Essex Girl’ removed from the Oxford Learners’ Dictionary. And was successful.

For the Field Artists project, she has contributed an essay about Wickford which includes mention of St Mary's Runwell and the Running Well. In the piece, she concludes: "Wickford has its issues and, like other places, could do with some investment in the community to become whole again. But its soul is expansive, unique, eclectic, ancient and generous too. And of course, a town’s soul is its people. Wickfordians should feel very proud." Also on the site is a short film capturing Madame Curiosité’s Pub Quiz Caper live at The Railway Club in Wickford, an interactive performance piece scripted and performed by Moore.

For more on St Mary's Church and the Running Well, see my poem 'Runwell' by clicking here.

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Alison Moyet - Weak In The Presence Of Beauty.

Fruitfulness, and how to gain it

Here's the reflection I shared at St Andrew's Wickford this morning: 

The imagery of tree and fruit was regularly used by Jesus in his teaching. His followers were chosen and appointed to bear fruit. Fruitfulness is the overall aim and lack of fruitfulness, as here (Matthew 7.15-20), is to be challenged and is ultimately destructive.

The question, then, is how do we recognise fruitfulness and how do we become fruitful?

Fruitfulness is a consequence of being ‘in’ Christ, as Jesus makes clear in John 15.5, where he says: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Branches can only bud and grow because they are part of the vine as a whole receiving the sustenance that flows up into the vine from the roots. A vine roots in the soil but has most of its leaves in the brighter, exposed area, getting the best of both worlds. So, being rooted in Jesus is the way in which Christians can open to the light and bear fruit.

Rootedness could mean commitment to Christ or being embedded in Christ’s life and ministry or both. Psalm 1 uses the image of good fruit growing on a tree in order to say that good fruit grows in our lives when we delight in the law of the Lord and meditate of that law, day and night. Regular meditation on scripture feeds our ability to better integrate our words and actions.

What is fruitfulness? What is it that Jesus is aiming to see in his followers? One way of answering that question for Christians, because Christianity has been a missionary faith, has been to see fruit as souls saved but when Paul writes in Galatians 5 about the fruit of the Spirit he is writing about the character and actions of Christians as fruit, rather than the outcome of our actions:

22 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.

The originator of these behaviours in us is the Holy Spirit. The fruit are of the Spirit whenever and however they show up in our lives and actions. The Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus and the fruit which is grown in Christian’s lives is Christlikeness. Being rooted in Jesus enables the Spirit of Jesus to flow in and through a Christian enabling them to begin to become Christlike.

This kind of fruit is about behaviours leading to actions. Actions speak louder than words. That proverb can be traced at least as far back as a speech made by J. Pym in Parliament in 1628 in which he said: ‘A word spoken in season is like an Apple of Gold set in Pictures of Silver,’ and actions are more precious than words.’

The proverb is, however, ultimately based on Biblical ideas and phrases such as 1 John 3. 18 where we read: ‘let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.’ This teaching probably then derives from Jesus’ words in Matthew 7. 15 – 21, where he argues that we are known by our fruits, meaning our actions, and that simply saying ‘Lord, Lord’ without then acting on that confession is not enough to guarantee our salvation.

In the Parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25.31-46) Jesus emphasises that it is actions, not words, that will count in the final judgement, when he says: ‘‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ St Francis of Assisi summed up this aspect of Jesus’ teaching well, when he said: ‘Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.’ So, what kind of fruit is evident is our lives?

Finally, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that such actions as faith, hope and love remain. The word he used for remain hints that such actions continue beyond the grave into eternity i.e. that we can take something with us when we die, that the fruit or acts of faith, hope and love grown in this life continue into, and continue to bear fruit in, the next. Jesus said we will know disciples and false prophets by their fruits. He said to his disciples, "I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last" (John 15.16).

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Delirious? - Everything.

Stride Magazine: Review of Endangered Sky

My latest poetry review for Stride Magazine is of Endangered Sky by Kelly Grovier and Sean Scully:

'This book began in April 2021 when, while visiting the Bahamian island of Eleuthera with his wife and son, the artist Sean Scully began drawing on his iPhone as he sat on a balcony. The new medium enabled him to work with the rhythms of his stacks of abstract colour but in fresh, new and impressionistic ways.

Excited by this new development he shared, by email, one of these new works with his friend, the cultural critic and poet, Kelly Grovier. Grovier, equating the electric greens and phosphorescent yellows of Scully’s drawing, to the plumage of the Sun Parakeet, about which he had just been reading, responded with a poem about the endangered South American conure. Quickly, the two friends realised the possibility for a collaborative project that would meditate, visually and verbally, on a crisis about which both are passionately concerned: the vanishing beauty of the world’s imperilled bird population. Endangered Sky is the result.'

My interview with Sean Scully for Artlyst can be read here and my preview of Scully's The 12 / Dark Windows here.

My other 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, and a review of Fukushima Dreams by Andrea Moorhead. To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, and here.

Stride magazine was founded in 1982. Since then it has had various incarnations, most recently in an online edition since the late 20th century. You can visit its earlier incarnation at http://stridemagazine.co.uk.

I have read the poetry featured in Stride and, in particular, the work of its editor Rupert Loydell over many years and was very pleased that Rupert gave a poetry reading when I was at St Stephen Walbrook.

Rupert Loydell is a poet, painter, editor and publisher, and senior lecturer in English with creative writing at Falmouth University. He is interested in the relationship of visual art and language, collaborative writing, sequences and series, as well as post-confessional narrative, experimental music and creative non-fiction.

He has edited Stride magazine for over 30 years, and was managing editor of Stride Books for 28 years. His poetry books include Wildlife and Ballads of the Alone (both published by Shearsman), and The Fantasy Kid (for children).

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Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now.

Windows on the world (431)

 Rettendon, 2023

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Joy Oladokun - Jordan.

Comfort comes with challenge

Here's the sermon I shared at St Andrew's Wickford this morning:

Who knows what the most repeated command given in the Bible is? It’s actually repeated three times in today’s Gospel reading and is the command, ‘Do not be afraid.’ It’s possible that this command is found 365 times in the Bible, one for every day of the year. You can find quite a bit of debate on the internet about whether or not it is the case. Whether that is correct or not, the fact remains that that “Fear not” or “Do not be afraid” is the most frequently repeated command in the Bible.

This seems strange in a passage (Matthew 10. 24-39) where Jesus gives lots of reasons why we should be afraid:

• the effect of his message he says will be division within families (vs 34-36);
• there are powers abroad in the world which can destroy both body and soul (v 28); and
• everything that we do, including those things done in absolute secrecy, at some point in the future, will be revealed and no longer be secret.

The world is split Jesus seems to be saying between those who takes God as master and teacher and those who take Beelzebub or the powers of evil as master. No pupil is greater than his teacher, no servant greater than his master, so who we follow and who we serve defines who we are. Those who take up their cross, follow in Jesus’ footsteps and lose their lives for his sake are his disciples; those who do not take up their cross, do not follow in his footsteps and try to gain their own life are not. The divisions will run even through families with sons and fathers, daughters and mothers, daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law all making different choices and being on different sides of this divide.

It all sounds pretty scary to me but Jesus was preparing his disciples for the kind of world they would live in following his resurrection and ascension. A world in which those living in Jerusalem would experience the Roman army destroying the Temple and Jerusalem itself and a world in which those in other parts of the Roman Empire would experience persecution for sharing the good news of Jesus. Transpose these words and that setting into Ukraine or Sudan at present and you can glimpse the force and realism with which Jesus is speaking. We are not in those kinds of situations currently, although any extension of the war in Ukraine could make our experience of life here in the West much more conflicted in future. But even though we are not in that situation now, the new way that Jesus established of being God’s people still divides opinion and actions. If people genuinely follow his way, then somewhere down the track division is bound to be experienced.

In that kind of a world what reasons are there for us not to fear? The first reason Jesus gives initially seems strange, as Tom Wright the former Bishop of Durham, explains: “… the first reason he gives (verses 26-27) is that a time will come when everything will be uncovered. Everything that is presently secret will be made known."

Why should that mean they don’t need to be afraid? Lots of people would regard the imminent disclosure of their most private thoughts and words as a further reason to be afraid, not as a reason to throw fear to the winds. Jesus seems to be assuming that what will come to light on that day is the disciples’ loyalty and faith; they will be seen to have followed Israel’s true Messiah, the world’s true Lord. Their patience and perseverance will emerge into the light. What may have looked like obstinacy or even arrogance will at last be seen as what it is, a resolute determination to follow the Lord of life wherever he leads. In other words, truth will out, justice will prevail, and those who have lived with integrity and innocence, despite what the world says about them, will be vindicated. That, rather than a quick God-will-look-after-you message, is what Jesus is ultimately offering.”

Then Jesus goes on to give us what are some of his “most striking promises about the detailed love and care of God, not only for every one of his creatures, but for every hair of their heads.” God is actually “the one that we do not have to fear. Indeed, he is the one we can trust with our lives, our souls, our bodies, everything.” Tom Wright picks up on an important misunderstanding in the way that we often translate and understand Jesus’ words here. In verse 28, our translation of the Bible says that we should be afraid of God “who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” Wright argues that that is a mistranslation of Jesus’ words. It is the powers of evil that can destroy both body and soul in hell. The whole force of Jesus’ argument is actually that God cares for each one of his creatures from the sparrows to human beings knowing us intimately and does not want any of us to perish. “God is the one that we do not have to fear. Indeed, he is the one we can trust with our lives, our souls, our bodies, everything.”

Precisely because God can be trusted with everything, our allegiance to him matters: allegiance to Jesus must come top of every priority list. Comfort comes with challenge but the challenge of Jesus’ sayings, Wright says, is “matched by the remarkable promises he makes to those who accept them and live by them:”

“He will ‘own’ us before his father in heaven. Those who lose their lives will find them.” “You are worth more than a great many sparrows; so rest assured that God knows and cares about the details of your life, even as you face the temptations and dangers which so easily surround you.”

As followers of Jesus, we are bound to expect attacks at all levels. But we also need to learn and trust that the one we are serving is stronger than the strongest opponent we will ever meet.

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The Staple Singers - City In The Sky.

Unveiled: Friends of Wickford Memorial Park

We had a great Unveiled session at St Andrew's this evening as we heard from Kim Oakes and Janet Dunn about the work of the Friends of Wickford Memorial Park.

The mission of the Friends of Wickford Memorial Park is to enhance and protect the Memorial Park, to ensure that all visitors have a pleasant experience, to promote community spirit in Wickford and to encourage health and wellbeing for the volunteers and all visitors to the park.

Their objectives include:

• Promote the history of the park, ensuring the Memorial status is high profile.
• Endeavour to secure the future of the park, ensuring it is protected.
• Promote access and participation for local residents of all ages and abilities.
• Working to encourage wildlife in the park by improving habitats and ensuring a range plants.
• Create volunteer gardening/planting groups.

The Friends have: replanted the Home Front Garden; planted a woodland area with the Woodland Trust on the Beauchamps Meadow - 3500 new trees; painted the Park Gates; Spring bulb planting; refurbishing and repositioning of the Beacon for the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee; refurbishing the Crazy Golf; a hectare of field was sown with native wildflowers; planted a 200 fruit tree Community Orchard; and a fabulous new garden designed for peace and reflection.

In 1946 the idea of a Memorial Park was suggested, which would be a War memorial for the losses of Wickford lives during World War II. In January 1947 the organisers of the War Memorial Fund Committee purchased land, via public fund-raising, from the council at the Runwell Road end.

In 1949 the Park officially became known as the Wickford War Memorial Park and the Avenue of Remembrance was planted. Each tree as a plaque for a fallen solider. The Memorial Gates were added in 1951; a flag pole and formal flower beds a few years later. A further 36 acres were donated and added to the park to provide an area for camping, playing fields and for special needs children.

In the 1970s a bowling green was added; in 1975 a brick built pavilion; 1978 the crazy golf added. In November 1976, a former Nurses Home was demolished where the War Memorial tablets had been mounted. The tablets were transferred to just inside the main gates. By 2004 the plaques were deteriorating and the Wickford War Memorial Association was formed and were successful in campaigning for a new memorial. This was unveiled on November 4, 2011. In early 2012 a ‘Heroes Arboretum’ of trees was added, recording all the Theatres of Operations where Wickford men were killed.

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Paul Simon - Seven Psalms.

St Martin of Tours, Basildon

 

St. Martin's of Tours Church in Basildon Town Centre was officially opened on 10th November, 1962 in a consecration service conducted by the Bishop of Chelmsford; Rt. Rev. John Gerhard Tiarks. Its design was the work of local architect Trena M. Cotton.

The Church received a royal visitor on October 9th, 1968 when Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent (Katharine Windsor) dedicated the new south porch and Christ sculpture. The 10-foot high Christ figure was designed by the artist Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones and completed in fibreglass at his studio in Broomfield near Chelmsford, Essex. It was to be his last completed work as a short time later he was admitted to St. John's Hospital in Chelmsford where he died on 10th December 1968. The fibreglass figure is of our Lord pierced by shafts of light with his hands outstretched towards the town in service of the people. It is an invitation of welcome to all to enter.

Huxley-Jones, F.R.B.S., was a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and studied at the Wolverhampton School of Art (1924-1929) and from 1929-1933 at the Royal School of Art, South Kensington. For many years he was principal of the school of sculpture at Grays Art School, Aberdeen, Scotland. He was famed for his statue of Helios at BBC Television Centre and the Joy of Life Fountain in Hyde Park. He was married in 1934 to the artist and sculptress (Rose) Gwynneth Cobden Holt and they lived from around 1949 at High House, Broomfield in Essex. His grave, and that of his wife is in St. Mary churchyard at Broomfield.

The work of Huxley-Jones also features elsewhere within the Diocese. His Woman of Samaria is a fibreglass figure at St Peter's Aldborough Hatch, while at Chelmsford Cathedral, Huxley-Jones' work includes a Christus in St Cedd's Chapel, a carving of St Peter on the south-east corner of the South Transept and 16 stone carvings representing the history and concerns of Essex, Chelmsford, and the Church.

A Garden of Remembrance adjacent to the church opened on November 3rd, 1973, in a dedication service conducted by Rev. Peter Grimwood. Standing within the garden is a statue depicting St. Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar, which was created by notable sculptor and artist Peter Foster.

In 1989 the plain exterior glass was replaced with stained glass designed and made by Joseph Nuttgens. The North side windows from West to East tell the story of St Martin begining with the Cathedral of Tours then the River Loire and finally the Caves of Marmoutier and a Cross referring to St Martin's suffering. The South side windows East to West depict the Cross and Resurrection, colours and various designs to be found in the town centre and the flood barriers from the nearby river Thames. Finally a triangle an ancient representation of the Holy Trinity, the circle and rays depict an outburst of energy from God, which is love. His presence, open to all, flows as a river down through the Thames Barrier into the hustle and bustle of this modern town.

The magnificent stained glass window in the Lady Chapel by Nuttgens depicts in symbols the Blessed Virgin Mary in heaven. Within the window can be seen the signs of the universe, clouds, sky, stars, the sun and the moon.

Educated by Dominicans and brought up within a milieu of idealistic Catholicism, Nuttgens left to study at the Central School of Art and the Royal College of Art, completing his studies in 1964. He then worked experimentally, firstly with expanded plastics and metal sheet, exhibiting at the Camden Arts Centre, London in 1970; then making ‘light’ sculptures, incorporating steel sheet and coloured glass, transmitting colour from hidden light sources, which were exhibited at the Cochrane Gallery, London, and with AIM, at the CBX, in Milton Keynes, throughout the seventies. During this period he also taught at schools and art colleges and, for nine years, taught prisoners in Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Encouraged by Patrick Reyntiens, he returned to stained glass in 1978, becoming his assistant, working mainly on John Piper’s windows. On the death of his father in 1982 he re-established this studio and, since then, has designed and made stained glass windows for cathedrals, churches and many other venues. Throughout this time he has maintained an output of painting (complimentary and vital to his commissioned work) and, in recent years, has set up a relief print shop within his studio, producing woodcuts and linocuts.

A freestanding Bell Tower designed by Douglas Galloway RIBO and built in 1999 was opened by Her Majesty the Queen and dedicated by The Rt. Revd. John Perry The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford on Friday 12th March 1999. This special service marked the official opening of the Belltower and the first 50 years of Basildon new town.

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Soulsavers - Presence Of God.

A walk through the Park and Music for a Summer Evening

There are two great events coming up at St Andrew's Wickford this week:

A walk through the Park: A talk by Kim Oakes & Janet Dunn of Friends of Wickford Memorial Park
Friday 23 June, 7.00 pm
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN
Part of ‘Unveiled’, the fortnightly Friday night arts and performance event at St Andrew’s Church

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2023 AT 7:30 PM
Allegro Choir: Music for a Summer Evening
St Andrew's Church
The aim of Allegro is to have fun rehearsing a wide repertoire of music and to present high quality concerts which raise funds for charities. Tickets (£10 adults, free for children) are now on sale at the Allegro Box Office (01268 751303) or can be purchased at St Andrew's. Tickets can also be purchased on the door. The Programme will include a selection from My Fair Lady and South Pacific shows as well as some wonderful solos, duets and traditional and new choral arrangements with Allegro’s usual mix of music from traditional choral arrangements to popular modern composers and hit musicals.

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Audrey Hepburn - I Could Have Danced All Night.

All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich

To celebrate the 650th anniversary of Julian of Norwich's visionary 'Shewings', here is 'All Shall Be Well', an anthology of new poems for Mother Julian, medieval mystic, anchoress, and the first woman to write a book in English. Lyrical, prayerful, vivid and insightful, these poems offer a poetic testament to Julian's enduring legacy of prayer and confidence in a merciful God who assured her that 'All Shall Be Well, and All Shall Be Well, and All Manner of Thing Shall Be Well.' The anthology has been edited by and comes with an introduction by Sarah Law, editor of Amethyst Review.

The anthology has contributions from: Susan Brice, Mark S. Burrows, Lance Carden, Carol Casey, Johanna Caton, O.S.B.. Sarah Cave, Ann Cefola, Jennifer Clark, Linda Collins, Jonathan Cooper, Scott Dalgarno, Keren Dibbens-Wyatt, Jeffrey Essmann, Jonathan Evens, Ruth Gilchrist, Maryanne Hannan, James Harpur, Maura H. Harrison, Kale Hensley, Terry E. Hill, Angela Hoffman, Laura Reece Hogan, Erich von Hungen, Rosie Jackson, Elisabeth Engell Jessen, Sylvia Karman, Jane Keenan, Adrienne Keller, Desmond Kon, Irina Kuzminsky, Sarah Law, Tim Lenton, Shannon Lippert, Viv Longley, Rupert M. Loydell, Hannah Lucas, Tony Lucas, Marjorie Maddox, Marda Messick, Jennifer Davis Michael, Nessa O’Mahony, Tory V. Pearman, Ann Power, Frances Presley, Patrick T. Reardon, Merryn Rutledge, Deborah W. Sage, Maha Salih, Steven Searcy, Kathryn Simmonds, Susan Delaney Spear, Mark Tulin, Laura Varnam, Gail White, Martin Willitts Jr and Mike Wilson.

My poem for the anthology is based on a large painting 'The Revelations of Julian of Norwich' by Australian artist Alan Oldfield which is to be found at the Belsey Bridge Conference Centre in Ditchingham, Norfolk.

The online launch of the anthology is to be held on September 20th. To learn more about Julian of Norwich, please visit the Friends of Julian and consider supporting their work.

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The Albion Christmas Band - Julian Of Norwich.

Living life joyfully and hopefully

Here's the reflection I shared during tonight's Healing Eucharist at St Andrew's Wickford:

How many of us have watched the TV programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ How many of us have done some research into our family history? For those who have researched their family histories, how far back have you been able to go? What has been the most interesting thing that you have discovered? How many of us have known our grandparents? Our great-grandparents? Our great, great grandparents? What is that we find interesting about ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ Why is that we need to know so much about our past?

There can be many reasons why it is interesting to research our family histories; we may track down relatives about whom we knew nothing and broaden our extended family, for instance, or we might come to understand ourselves better by knowing about family traits and characteristics which have been passed down across the generations.

I doubt that any of us have traced our family histories back to Abraham and Sarah but our Bible reading today suggests that we can (Genesis 18.1-15). Abram and Sarai, as they were originally known, were very old and very sad because they had no children. But one night, out in the desert, God made Abram a special promise. God said:

“Look up and count the stars – if you can. That’s how many people there will be in your family one day. Think of the sand on the seashore. How many grains can you count? I’ll bless you and give you such a large family that one day they’ll be as many as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 15.1-6)

As a sign of that promise, God changes Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. God’s promise comes true when Sarah finally does have a baby, called Isaac, when she’s very old. The great-great-great-(lots of greats)-grandchildren of this family are the members of God’s family here today, so we’re all actually members of the same family; Abraham and Sarah’s family, which is also God’s family.

As a result, we’ve got millions of brothers and sisters of all ages and colours in every land all over the world. In fact, just like on ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, when we realise that we are Children of Abraham, we also realise that we have some unexpected relatives because Jewish and Muslim people are also Children of Abraham.

We can see through all this that although God’s promise starts out with small things it can become incredibly massive. Sarah laughed when she heard what God had planned. Just like Sarah we can be sceptical, cynical and mocking about what it is possible for God to achieve through us but, in the story, Sarah’s cynical laughter turns to joyful laughter when her son Isaac is born and the same can be true for us too as we learn to trust that God can use us and achieve great things through us.

We know the difference between cynical laughter and joyful laughter don’t we? Who can give me a cynical laugh? Who can give me a joyful laugh? Sarah’s story shows us how we live life joyfully and hopefully. Patricia De Jong has described what happened to Sarah like this:

“Here is Sarah, at age 90, saying to God: Look, I'm old, I'm tired, I have arthritis and even a little osteoporosis; are you sure we want to get into something new like this now?

But this is when we encounter the marvellous wonder of God, at that very vulnerable moment - when the improbable is mistaken for the impossible, at that moment when we actually believe that our spirits are wasting away, as our bodies are, and God couldn't possibly have any more surprises in store for us, at that moment when we have settled in to things the way they are, instead of things the way they can be through the hope of God …

And yet what better way to live than in the grip of a promise? To wake in the possibility that today might be the day ... To take nothing for granted. Or to take everything as granted, though not yet grasped. To handle every moment of one's life as a seed of the promise and to plant it tenderly, never knowing if this moment, or the next, may be the one that grows.

To live in this way is to discover that God is always blessing us ... This is what Abraham and Sarah found out late in life ... This is what the psalmist had in mind when he wrote, "so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:5) This is the spiritual path we embark upon when we place our hand in the open palm of God ...

Abraham and Sarah believed in God's promises and dared to hope. As Paul reminds us, "hope does not disappoint because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is given to us." (https://whosoever.org/a-laughing-hope/)

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Bruce Cockburn - Listen To The Laugh.

Travel light

Here's the reflection I shared at St Mary's Runwell (with an initial visual illustration involving lots of luggage as we had an All-age Service):

Did you notice the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples when he sent them out (Matthew 9: 35 - 10:8-23)? Jesus called the 12 to an itinerant ministry and they were to travel light as a result. Their focus was on going ahead of Jesus to prepare people for his coming and his message. So, they took nothing unnecessary with them, they weren’t distracted by small talk along the way, they welcomed hospitality when they received it but they simply moved on to the next place and the next person whenever they were not made welcome. No distractions, just a clear focus on their task and their message.

We also need to travel light in our individual lives and our corporate Church life in order that we are focused on our core task of sharing the good news about Jesus in actions and words. But there is a second reason for travelling light which is to do with the footprint that we leave on the world. By sitting light to possessions and by accepting hospitality as it was offered to them, they imposed as little as possible on the people, villages and areas through which they travelled. In our society, since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, we have done anything but. Our footprint has been heavy on our world as we have exploited its resources for our own gain and we are only now beginning to realise the consequences.

John V. Taylor's book, ‘Enough is Enough’, kickstarted the simple lifestyle movement. ‘Live more simply that others might simply live’ was their slogan and it is one that can be seen as coming out of the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples before he sent them out on their mission. In ‘The Message’ Eugene Peterson translates part of this passage as: “You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.” Keep it simple. Travel light. These are the key messages of Jesus’ instructions. Why? To keep us focused on our message and mission and to tread lightly on the earth as we do so.

Travelling light
without
a purse
without
a bag
without
shoes
without
equipment
you are
the equipment
you are
all you need

Travelling light
no
special appeals
no
luxury hotels
no
looking
for the best
cooks
keep it
simple
keep it
modest
be
content

Travelling light
don’t stop
to make
small talk
with those
on the road
move on
reach
your destination
the harvest
is great
but the
workers
few

Travelling light
do stop
to bless
the homes
in which
you rest
for all
you receive
give thanks
and peace
don’t create
when made
unwelcome
shrug
your shoulders,
wipe
your feet
move on

Travelling light
don’t
fill your barns
simply
to eat,
drink
and
be merry
don’t
store up
riches
simply
to rust
and decay
don’t
store up
riches
simply
for others
to steal
your heart
will be
where
your riches
are

Travelling light
do
store up
acts
of love,
hope
and faith
do
store up
the things
that remain
do
store up
treasures
in heaven
your heart
will be
where
your riches
are

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Leonard Cohen - Travelling Light.

Windows on the world (430)

 London, 2023

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Don McLean - Castles In The Air.

Church Times - Art review: Disability and the Divine: An Exhibition by Marc Bratcher (Peterborough Cathedral)

My latest exhibition review for Church Times is on Disability and the Divine by Marc Bratcher at Peterborough Cathedral:

Bratcher 'views his work as offering “the chance of a significant part of the Christian community, and indeed all society, to see themselves reflected in the Christian story in a way that they never have before”.

Like Bratcher, Canon Tim Alban Jones, Vice-Dean of Peterborough, has a similar hope, saying: “Whilst Marc’s pictures show us a different and surprising view of very familiar subjects, they are profoundly beautiful and moving. I hope they will start a conversation around the invisibility of people with disabilities both in religious and non-religious settings, and challenge us to change for the better.” “Disability and the Divine” is, therefore, part of a project to start a new conversation about the past and the future, and to get such images of disability and the Virgin Mary into as many churches and cathedrals as possible.'

For more on The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) click here, here or here. The next showing of The Blind Jesus (No-one belongs here more than you) exhibition will be at All Saints Church in Highgate.

Other of my pieces for Church Times can be found here. My writing for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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Joy Oladokun - Somebody Like Me.

Artlyst - Chris Ofili: Exploring Sin at Victoria Miro

My latest exhibition review for Artlyst is on Chris Ofili: The Seven Deadly Sins at Victoria Miro:

'Ofili’s focus is either on moments when sin is conceived – moments which, to be effective as temptations, must be attractive to us – or could represent a reconfiguring of our concept of sin. If heaven, as some theologians have suggested, involves a simple enjoyment of relationships with the divine, other human beings, and the creatures and plants of creation, then isolation becomes the key sin, making Ofili’s imagery fully paradisical without any sense of impending judgement.'

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

• Sean Scully A Humility Towards Nature
• Winslow Homer: American Passage An Interview With Biographer Bill Cross
• Grayson Perry Tapestries On Show At Salisbury Cathedral
• Sidney Nolan’s Africa: Interview With Andrew Turley
• Ilona Bossanyi: Tate’s Ervin Bossanyi Stained Glass Window Mothballed After 2011 Redevelopment
• Louis Carreon: Sampling Art History
• Modus Operandi - What Makes Successful Public Art: Vivien Lovell InterviewedGenesis Tramaine: A Queer Devotional Painter
• Lakwena Maciver: Review-Interview Hastings Contemporary
• Nicola Ravenscroft - Sculpture With A Peaceful Stillness
• Artist Hannah Rose Thomas – Tears of Gold – Interview
• Marcus Lyon: Human Atlas Explorations
• Elizabeth Kwant Interview
• Helaine Blumenfeld: Undulating Structures
• National Gallery Explores ‘Sin’ In New Exhibition – Interview Dr Joost Joustra Curator
• Betty Spackman: Posthumanism Debates
• Christopher Clack: Connecting The Material And Immaterial
• Peter Howson Artlyst Interview
• Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker On The Legacy Of ArtWay
• Alastair Gordon A Testament To His Faith
• Katrina Moss Chaiya Art Awards Interview: Where is God in our 21st century world?
• Apocalypse Now: Michael Takeo Magruder Interviewed
• Jonathan Anderson: Religious Inspirations Behind Modernism
• Caravan – An Interview With Rev Paul Gordon Chandler On Arts Peacebuilding
• Art Awakening Humanity Alexander de Cadenet Interviewed
• Michael Pendry New Installation Lights Up St Martin In The Fields
• Mark Dean Projects Stations of the Cross Videos On Henry Moore Altar

Monthly diary articles -

• The Art Diary June 2023
• The Art Diary May 2023
• The Art Diary April 2023
• The Art Diary March 2023
• The Art Diary February 2023
• Surveying New Exhibitions With A Spiritual Twist January 2023 Art Diary
• Christmas: The Art Of Faith December 2022 Diary
• Soulages And Strange Clay November 2022 Art Diary
• Alexander de Cadenet And Michael Forbes October 2022 Diary
• Spiritual Joseph Beuys Plus More: September Diary
• Holiday Snaps – End Of Summer Art Diary
• Art Search: August 2022 Diary
• Re-imagining Essex July 2022 Diary
• Art Illuminating spirituality June 2022 Diary
• Venice To London May 2022 Diary
• Jacob Epstein, Louis Carreon, Titus Kaphar, Betty Spackman – April 2022 Diary
• Audrey Flack Carlo Crivelli And Robert Indiana – March Diary
• My Art Diary And Other Thoughts February 2022
• And On An Art Note: End Of Year Diary 2021
• International Autumn Art Exhibition Reviews
• And On An Art Note: End Of Year Diary 2021

Articles/Reviews -

• Ai Weiwei - The Artist of Resistance - The Design Museum
• Saint Francis of Assisi A Timely Exhibition - National Gallery
• Why Critics Have A Problem With The Pre-Raphaelites?
• Religion and Spirituality in Post Impressionism National Gallery
• Black Artists From The American South Royal Academy
• Donatello: The Divine Fused With The Human V&A
• Lucian Freud And His Circle Surveyed In Two London Exhibitions
• A Question Of Clay: Strange Clay – Hayward Gallery
• William Kentridge: Merging Politics With Aesthetics – RA
• Winslow Homer: Beyond The Sea – National Gallery
• Hidden Depths: The Woman in the Window – Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Heavenly Visions: Churches As Spaces For Contemporary Art
• In The Black Fantastic London’s Best Summer Exhibition
• Hew Locke And The Christian Roots Of Carnival – Tate BritainLes Lalanne, Schütte And Gursky London Spring Exhibition Highlights
• Sensuous Sickert and Philpot Two Major UK Solo Exhibitions
• Raphael The Human And Divine – National Gallery
• Damien Hirst The Visceral Reality Of Death
• Ali Cherri: Artist in Residence National Gallery
• Surrealism Outside The Usual Story – Tate Modern
• Marcus Lyon Creates Fields of Vision At St Martin-in-the-Fields London
• Van Gogh Self Portraits The Infinite And The Ordinary
• Marvellous Icons: The London Jesuit Centre
• Albrecht Dürer Travels Of A Renaissance Artist – National Gallery London
• Diasporan Identities: Life Between Islands Caribbean British Art – Tate Britain
• Isamu Noguchi: Socially Engaged Art – Barbican Centre
• Pablo Bronstein: A This-World Vision Of Hell
• Bosco Sodi: In The Beginning Of Wisdom
• George Condo Lockdown Works Hauser & Wirth
• Theaster Gates Clay As A Profound Metaphor
• Mark Rothko: Mesmerising And Intimate Works On Paper
• Roger Cecil: A Once In A Generation Welsh Painter
• Tino Sehgal: Location, Nature And Pandemic – Blenheim Palace
• Michael Armitage And The Power Of Art – Royal Academy
• Marie Raymond And Post-War Avant Garde Painting In Paris
• Rachel Kneebone: A Complex Tableau Of Organic And Geometric Forms
• Rodin: Suffering And Conflict – Tate Modern
• Barbara Hepworth: Symbols Of Art & Life – Hepworth Wakefield
• 20th Century Women Artists Challenging Conventions In Britain
• Chaiya Art Awards 2021 Gallery OXO
• Marc Chagall’s Exquisite Stained Glass Window Commissions
• George Gittoes Equal parts artist and warrior
• Keith Haring: Personal Spiritual Imagery
• Sean Scully: Philosophical Poetic Pastoral The 12 / Dark Windows
• Arthur Jafa: The Art Of Cutting And Pasting
• Blackpentecostal Breath: Spirit-Led Movement Jumps From Music To Visual Art
• Made in USA Ed Ruscha An American Perspective
• Robert Smithson: The Archetypal Nature Of Things
• If Jesus Is A Man Of Colour Why Did We Make Him Aryan?
• Cosmic Patches And Quilts Five Exhibitions
• Everyday Heroes: Southbank Exhibition Celebrates Low-paid Key Workers
• Entwining Spiritualism And Art – Three Shows
• Of Church And The Visual Arts
• Has The Word Master Reached Its Sell-By Date?
• The People Behind Community Is Kindness Billboard Campaign
• André Daughtry: Art, Rebellion And Racial Justice
• Salisbury Cathedral 800 Years Of Art And Spirit
• Home Alone Together Twenty Five Artists
• Botanical Mind Online: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree
• Salvador Dalí The Enigma of Faith
• Art And Faith A Time For Seeing
• Andy Warhol: Catholicism His Work, Faith And Legacy
• Kiki Smith: Embodied Art
• Art and Christianity Awards A Positive New Millennium Legacy
• Arnulf Rainer: 90th Birthday Exhibition Celebrated At Albertina Museum
• A Belonging Project And Exiles Loss and Displacement
• Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico Opus Operantis
• Art, Faith, Church Patronage and Modernity
• Contemplating the Spiritual in Contemporary Art
• Mat Collishaw Challenges Faith Perspectives With Ushaw Installation
• Waterloo Festival Launches At St. John’s Waterloo
• John Bellany Alan Davie Spiritual Joy and Magic
• RIFT Unites 17 Art and Science MA Graduates At Central St Martins
• Visionary Cities: Michael Takeo Magruder – British Library
• Van Gogh’s Religious Journey Around London
• William Congdon Holy Sites And The Kettle’s Yard Connection
• Mark Dean Premieres Pastiche Mass At Banqueting Hall Chelsea College of Arts
• John Kirby: The Torment
• Underlying The Civilised Facade
• Curating Spiritual Sensibilities In Changing Times
• Homeless Highlighted: New Beau Exhibition At St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Ken Currie: Protest Defeat And Victory
• Bosco Sodi: A Moment Of Genesis
• Bill Viola And The Art Of Contemplation
• Art In Churches 2018: Spiritual Combinations Explored
• Sister Wendy Beckett – A Reminiscence
• Guido Guidi: Per Strada Flowers Gallery London
• Peter Howson: The play is over – Flowers Gallery
• Camille Henrot: Scientific History And Creation Story Mash Up
• Nicola Green Explores Recent And Contemporary Religious Leaders – St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Art And The Consequences Of War Explored In Two Exhibitions
• Helaine Blumenfeld Translating Her Vision
• Sam Ivin: Physically Scratched Portraits Of Asylum Seekers Exhibited
• Sacred Noise: Explores Religion, Faith And Divinity
• Bill Viola: Quiet Contemplative Video Installation St Cuthbert’s Church Edinburgh
• The ground-breaking work of Sister Corita Kent
• Picasso To Souza: The Crucifixion Imagery Rarely Exhibited
• Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum
• Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
• Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
• Can Art Transform Society?
• Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
• Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
• The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
• Polish Art In Britain: Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
• Refugee Artists: Learning from The Lives Of Others
• The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg
• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

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Maria McKee - You Gotta Sin To Get Saved.