London, 2024
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Bryan MacLean - Now It Has Begun.
Saturday, 21 December 2024
Thursday, 19 December 2024
David Ackles, Chris Bell, Bryan MacLean
My latest article for Seen and Unseen is entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion'. The article explores how popular music conjures sacred space through a survey of inter-connections between faith and music.
The article includes a link to my Spotify playlist 'Closer to the light' which includes a wide selection of the music I mention in this article. 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' is a review of Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death in which I explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.
My co-authored book The Secret Chord explores aspects of a similar interplay between faith and music (and the Arts, more broadly). Posts related to the themes of The Secret Chord can be found here.
Check out the following too to explore further:
David Ackles was a musician who has been described by Rev Jim Friedrich as: "a lifelong Christian, deeply spiritual and theologically astute, an authentic and generous man. And though some of his songs revealed a profound empathy with the suffering of displaced souls, there was an essential core in him—a comedic faith in resurrection—which survived the harrowing descent of the artist into the nether regions of the human condition."
"Ackles recorded three albums for Elektra – his self-titled debut (1969), ‘Subway To The Country’ (1970), and probably the most famous of all, ‘American Gothic’ (1972), the last of which was recorded in England, and produced by Bernie Taupin, the lyric writer for ...Elton John." Then, "What should have been the fourth album in a long and illustrious career, in retrospect turned out to be Ackles's swansong. Five & Dime may not be as tightly-knit as American Gothic, but as a many-colored patchwork of varied songs, the album has few rivals."
Kasper Nijsen writes that: "Ackles was a versatile and accomplished composer, drawing inspiration from disparate sources including Broadway composers, vaudeville and music hall tradition, French chansonniers, Nashville country music, American jazz and spirituals, Los Angeles surf music, and classical music."
The short-lived Memphis power-pop pioneers Big Star from the 1970s have been referred to as “the greatest American cult rock band this side of The Velvet Underground”. Given this, it is remarkable, as David Zahl has noted, that they "made music that, especially on their first record, bordered on proto-Christian rock". "Much of this was due to the influence of ... Chris Bell, the co-leader of the band" with Alex Chilton.
Zahl quotes by way of example the following lyrics from 'My Life is Right': “Once I walked a lonely road/I had no one to share my load/But then you came and showed the way/And now I hope you’re here to stay/You give me life”. Zahl notes that "Bell’s talent came with its fair share of personal demons" including drug addiction and clinical depression. As a result, songs like 'Try Again' are "anguished first-person prayers":
"Lord I’ve been trying to be what I should Lord
I’ve been trying to do what I could
But each time it gets a little harder
I feel the pain
But I’ll try again
Lord I’ve been trying to be understood
And Lord I’ve been trying to do as you would
But each time it gets a little harder
I feel the pain
But I’ll try again"
After the first Big Star album #1 Record "failed to achieve commercial success ... Bell left the band in 1972." "He struggled with depression for the rest of his life." "Bell concentrated on solo work after leaving Big Star" but it was only 14 years after his death that "the songs from his Car Records single and several of his other 1970s recordings were released on 1992's I Am the Cosmos full-length CD on Rykodisc." "Many of the songs reflected his embrace of Christianity."
John Jeremiah Sullivan writing about one of the songs from that album says that: "
"Better Save Yourself," opens jarringly with organ and a huge, minor-key guitar-god riff.
I know you’re right
He treats you nice
It’s suicide
I know, I tried it twice
We have it from David Bell that his brother had, in fact, tried suicide. In the throes of whatever drove him to it, he found Jesus and became a devout Christian, further complicating the psychological picture of his post-Big Star years. In "Better Save Yourself," he goes on to sing "You shoulda gave your love to Jesus/Couldn’t do you no harm.""
There Was a Light: The Cosmic History of Chris Bell and The Rise of Big Star by Rich Tupica is the principle source of information about Chris Bell.
Similarly, the life of Bryan MacLean is, as Jon Cody has written, "a story of extremes; missed opportunities, addiction and family dysfunction alongside critical acclaim, reconciliation and redemption".
MacLean was a member, with Arthur Lee, of the Los Angeles rock band Love. Love's drummer, Michael Stuart-Ware, in his 2003 autobiography, Behind the Scenes on the Pegasus Carousel, describes MacLean's contributions to Love's music: “Bryan’s contributions to the first three Love albums spoke to his talent. My favorite of his compositions has always been ‘Softly To Me,’ but all of Bryan’s songs demonstrated a mystically unique lyrical and musical phrasing quality that defies category, but is at once, both emotional and powerful.”
"MacLean was offered a solo contract with Elektra after the dissolution of Love, but his demo offerings were rejected by the label and the contract lapsed ...
Around 1996, MacLean's Elektra Records demo tapes were discovered by his mother Elizabeth in the family garage, and after two years of persistent shopping around to record companies, a deal was struck with Sundazed, who in 1997 released the CD Ifyoubelievein. In the album's liner notes, Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote that the collection was, "in a sense, the Love record that never was: solo demos and home recordings of fourteen original MacLean songs, all written in the earliest and most vital years of Love and all but three virtually unheard in any form since MacLean wrote them"."
Cody writes that MacLean "was one of the very first from the L.A. music community to embrace Christianity". "Intra Muros (the title translates as “Inside the Wall) was his ‘real’ solo album, a collection of 14 worship-oriented songs". He said that "Intra Muros is what I care about. It’s who I am" and "My deepest longing is that Intra Muros touches lives and changes them." His mother, Elizabeth McKee, described Intra Muros as "Bryan’s masterpiece". "MacLean described the absolutely unique blend of gothic rock and jazz as “spooky worship music.”" Part of the uniqueness of his music, including his worship songs, derives from the "Broadway influence that permeates his entire catalogue ... with many of the songs sounding like show stoppers from another era".
My co-authored book The Secret Chord explores aspects of a similar interplay between faith and music (and the Arts, more broadly). Posts related to the themes of The Secret Chord can be found here.
Check out the following too to explore further:
- God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You
- Jesus Music - 1 & 2
- The Jesus Rock Revolution and the Jesus Movement
- When Jesus Met Hippies
- A Rough Guide to Christian Art
- Looking down the wrong end of a telescope
- Pop's holy rollers
- Perhaps the most underrated band ever
- Rock gets Religion
- Ed Kowalczyk and Scott Stapp: Angels on a razor
- Hidden Gems - Bill Fay & Michael Morley
- Salt and Sweetners
- The mystery at the heart of music - 1 and 2
- Inspiration from the Psalms
- 'Tryin' to throw your arms around the world' click here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
"Ackles recorded three albums for Elektra – his self-titled debut (1969), ‘Subway To The Country’ (1970), and probably the most famous of all, ‘American Gothic’ (1972), the last of which was recorded in England, and produced by Bernie Taupin, the lyric writer for ...Elton John." Then, "What should have been the fourth album in a long and illustrious career, in retrospect turned out to be Ackles's swansong. Five & Dime may not be as tightly-knit as American Gothic, but as a many-colored patchwork of varied songs, the album has few rivals."
Kasper Nijsen writes that: "Ackles was a versatile and accomplished composer, drawing inspiration from disparate sources including Broadway composers, vaudeville and music hall tradition, French chansonniers, Nashville country music, American jazz and spirituals, Los Angeles surf music, and classical music."
"He was called a genius, one of the best that America had on offer (Elton John, Reuters obituary, March 1999), and was said to have forged an utterly unique and unrivaled sound (Collin McElligatt, Stylus, 09-01-2003). His masterpiece album was hailed as the Sgt. Pepper of folk (Derek Jewell, Sunday Times, 1973) and called a work of pure poetry, theatrical, witty and sublime (Robert Cochrane, Culture Catch, 03-30-2008). It was also said that Ackles could have been another Randy Newman or Leonard Cohen (Reuters obituary, March 1999) and his music has been compared to Weill and Brecht and even Richard Wagner (Bernie Taupin, blog entry, 12-3-2008)."
Michael Baker concludes the story: "Brutalized in a near fatal car accident in the early eighties, the weakened Ackles found time to raise a son, maintain a successful marriage, work for bigwig philanthropic organizations, write an occasional score for a made for TV movie, and work on an operatic treatment of Aimee Semple Macpherson ... who became L.A.'s leading religious leader and basked in world wide celebrity ... Tough, individualist, and savvy, she most certainly would have been a formidable opponent, for Ackles wanted if not clarity about faith and individual works of grace at least a reconciliation between a cold world that dumps slag on top of children and an uncommunicative God. This reconciliation, man's major intellectual achievement, is both disconcerting and liberating. And Ackles knew full well that the balance between conventional and conservative faith and yearning, narcissistic, seductive art is the greatest of musical aspirations."
Baker suggests that "Ackles regarded the message from Ecclesiastes as gospel: "Who gathers knowledge gathers pain."" He expands by noting that Ackles and his vignettes of dispossessed personae: "set the stage for blurred epiphanies, an ironic fusion of baseless ritual and superficial decorum. These pockets of darkness contain paralysis, vagueness, and thwarted ambitions. The only thing holding the center is the voice, a voice of grandeur, tenor resonance, and declamatory power. Never comfortable simply crooning, and forsaking a kind of blues/soul aesthetic that would have diminished his uniqueness, Ackles uses his booming, cajoling voice to proclaim truths from the center of town. It is a convincing voice of reason in the re-created scenes of missing emotions. Although the narratives are uncertain with action deferred or muddled, and the characters are inarticulate carnage of that universe, Ackles retains dignity for himself, his characters, and their landscapes, by renouncing censure. We are all flawed; we have all fallen."
Baker suggests that "Ackles regarded the message from Ecclesiastes as gospel: "Who gathers knowledge gathers pain."" He expands by noting that Ackles and his vignettes of dispossessed personae: "set the stage for blurred epiphanies, an ironic fusion of baseless ritual and superficial decorum. These pockets of darkness contain paralysis, vagueness, and thwarted ambitions. The only thing holding the center is the voice, a voice of grandeur, tenor resonance, and declamatory power. Never comfortable simply crooning, and forsaking a kind of blues/soul aesthetic that would have diminished his uniqueness, Ackles uses his booming, cajoling voice to proclaim truths from the center of town. It is a convincing voice of reason in the re-created scenes of missing emotions. Although the narratives are uncertain with action deferred or muddled, and the characters are inarticulate carnage of that universe, Ackles retains dignity for himself, his characters, and their landscapes, by renouncing censure. We are all flawed; we have all fallen."
This seems to me to be an accurate description of Ackles' storytelling songs which demonstrate a incarnational 'being with' approach to his characters ("We are all flawed; we have all fallen."), while the cumulative picture painted is of the bleakness of a world which has, as with the stunning 'His name is Andrew', lost its connection with God.
Look out for the forthcoming biography of David Ackles by Mark Brend, which is due in July 2025.
"Lord I’ve been trying to be what I should Lord
I’ve been trying to do what I could
But each time it gets a little harder
I feel the pain
But I’ll try again
Lord I’ve been trying to be understood
And Lord I’ve been trying to do as you would
But each time it gets a little harder
I feel the pain
But I’ll try again"
"Better Save Yourself," opens jarringly with organ and a huge, minor-key guitar-god riff.
I know you’re right
He treats you nice
It’s suicide
I know, I tried it twice
We have it from David Bell that his brother had, in fact, tried suicide. In the throes of whatever drove him to it, he found Jesus and became a devout Christian, further complicating the psychological picture of his post-Big Star years. In "Better Save Yourself," he goes on to sing "You shoulda gave your love to Jesus/Couldn’t do you no harm.""
MacLean was a member, with Arthur Lee, of the Los Angeles rock band Love. Love's drummer, Michael Stuart-Ware, in his 2003 autobiography, Behind the Scenes on the Pegasus Carousel, describes MacLean's contributions to Love's music: “Bryan’s contributions to the first three Love albums spoke to his talent. My favorite of his compositions has always been ‘Softly To Me,’ but all of Bryan’s songs demonstrated a mystically unique lyrical and musical phrasing quality that defies category, but is at once, both emotional and powerful.”
"MacLean was offered a solo contract with Elektra after the dissolution of Love, but his demo offerings were rejected by the label and the contract lapsed ...
Around 1996, MacLean's Elektra Records demo tapes were discovered by his mother Elizabeth in the family garage, and after two years of persistent shopping around to record companies, a deal was struck with Sundazed, who in 1997 released the CD Ifyoubelievein. In the album's liner notes, Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote that the collection was, "in a sense, the Love record that never was: solo demos and home recordings of fourteen original MacLean songs, all written in the earliest and most vital years of Love and all but three virtually unheard in any form since MacLean wrote them"."
Cody writes that MacLean "was one of the very first from the L.A. music community to embrace Christianity". "Intra Muros (the title translates as “Inside the Wall) was his ‘real’ solo album, a collection of 14 worship-oriented songs". He said that "Intra Muros is what I care about. It’s who I am" and "My deepest longing is that Intra Muros touches lives and changes them." His mother, Elizabeth McKee, described Intra Muros as "Bryan’s masterpiece". "MacLean described the absolutely unique blend of gothic rock and jazz as “spooky worship music.”" Part of the uniqueness of his music, including his worship songs, derives from the "Broadway influence that permeates his entire catalogue ... with many of the songs sounding like show stoppers from another era".
In his last interview, he said "My goal from the beginning writing music was to be timeless, to transcend age or style and to enrich peoples' lives, to make them feel better about life in general".
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David Ackles - Berry Tree.
Models of inculturation celebrated in art
My latest interview for ArtWay is with Paul Chandler of Caravan and artist Brian Whelan about WHITE ROBE: An exhibition celebrating the life of Rev. Dr. John Roberts among Native Americans. John Roberts was a Welsh Episcopal/Anglican priest who served on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming from 1883-1949. His ministry stands as an exemplary model of inculturation, as he honoured indigenous Native American spirituality and embraced their culture and languages.
Working in narrative series in the way that Whelan has done has synergies with the work of Greg Tricker (series on Anne Frank, Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, etc.) and murals about Brother Joseph Dutton that André Girard painted for Blessed Sacrament Church at Stowe in Vermont. Chandler is familiar with Girard’s paintings and windows that commemorate the influential ministry of Dutton in Hawaii and sees similarities with Roberts, as both “tell a story of remarkable servants, whose examples have much to teach us today.”
Girard was a multi-faceted artist and creative individual who was not only an internationally-renowned painter, but a film and television innovator, a printer of fine books, a French Resistance fighter, a writer, a lecturer, a stage-designer, and educator (see my ArtWay article on Girard for more information). When he visited Blessed Sacrament Church at Stowe in 1949 to install his paintings of the Way of the Cross, he saw the empty space with only an altar and a crucifix and became inspired to meet the challenge of creating an entire atmosphere of sacred space within the church through his own creative vision.
The continuous row of 36 windows surrounding the uppermost level of the church provided the perfect opportunity for him to utilize his technique of painting on light. Upon hearing of the humanitarian efforts of Brother Joseph Dutton, he was inspired to paint highlights of his life in Molokai on large-scaled murals on the outer walls of the church so that people could visually experience his life of sacrifice and dedication.
Brother Dutton felt drawn to his service at the leper colony on the island of Molokai, after hearing of the ministry there of Father Damien, who had built homes, an orphanage, and churches there and, as a result, contracted leprosy himself. At the age of forty, Dutton had a spiritual transformation and found a deeper purpose in his life by going to Molokai to help Father Damien in his mission of caring for the lepers. Following the death of Father Damien, the responsibility of directing the entire settlement fell to Brother Dutton. Dutton not only initiated many building projects but also made the residents realize they were part of a community, and with some training could help build each others’ houses, grow crops, and raise chickens to help feed their families. He also used his letter-writing skills to communicate with people all over the world to bring attention to the needs of his flock.
Another series of paintings celebrating an example of inculturation among indigenous peoples is DeGrazia and Padre Kino by Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia at the Mission in the Sun in Tucson, US.
In 1687, Padre Eusebio Kino arrived in northern Mexico on horseback traveling into what is now Arizona. Padre Kino explored the vast lands of Arizona and California, making friends with the Native Americans whom he encountered as he mapped the region. Unfortunately, with him also came the soldiers of the King of Spain, who brought guns and swords, while the gentle priest brought a simple cross to introduce Christianity without destroying the native cultures. He told them stories of Christ and the Bible, introduced them to Christian ceremonies, and together they built 24 missions in 24 years that stretched from Sonora, Mexico, to Southern Arizona. San Xavier del Bac, also known as the “White Dove of the Desert,” is one of the most impressive of those missions. It is located just southwest of Tucson.
DeGrazia was inspired by the memorable events in the life and times of Padre Kino, the heroic, historic and immortal priest-colonizer of the Southwestern desert. Since childhood, DeGrazia admired Padre Kino for his education, life of adventure, and respect for Native Americans. DeGrazia traveled to every Kino mission as he lovingly studied the life of his favorite Jesuit priest. The Mission in the Sun is dedicated to his memory.
Nancy Wiechec writes that: "DeGrazia died in 1982. Among his tens of thousands of surviving works are the Way of the Cross; multiple depictions of Our Lady of Guadalupe; a series on Jesuit Father Eusebio Kino, a missionary to the Southwest; and a mission, which the artist designed, built and dedicated to Father Kino.
“I don’t know how many religious paintings he did, but he did a pretty good share,” said Lance Laber, executive director of the DeGrazia Foundation, the organization DeGrazia founded to preserve his art.
According to Laber, DeGrazia’s Catholic heritage, the faith and spirituality of the Indians he befriended and his admiration of Father Kino were inspirations for his religious works.”
These works began after a priest "approached DeGrazia about painting the Stations of the Cross for the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center at the University of Arizona." DeGrazia "fulfilled the request in 1964."
Working in narrative series in the way that Whelan has done has synergies with the work of Greg Tricker (series on Anne Frank, Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, etc.) and murals about Brother Joseph Dutton that André Girard painted for Blessed Sacrament Church at Stowe in Vermont. Chandler is familiar with Girard’s paintings and windows that commemorate the influential ministry of Dutton in Hawaii and sees similarities with Roberts, as both “tell a story of remarkable servants, whose examples have much to teach us today.”
The continuous row of 36 windows surrounding the uppermost level of the church provided the perfect opportunity for him to utilize his technique of painting on light. Upon hearing of the humanitarian efforts of Brother Joseph Dutton, he was inspired to paint highlights of his life in Molokai on large-scaled murals on the outer walls of the church so that people could visually experience his life of sacrifice and dedication.
Brother Dutton felt drawn to his service at the leper colony on the island of Molokai, after hearing of the ministry there of Father Damien, who had built homes, an orphanage, and churches there and, as a result, contracted leprosy himself. At the age of forty, Dutton had a spiritual transformation and found a deeper purpose in his life by going to Molokai to help Father Damien in his mission of caring for the lepers. Following the death of Father Damien, the responsibility of directing the entire settlement fell to Brother Dutton. Dutton not only initiated many building projects but also made the residents realize they were part of a community, and with some training could help build each others’ houses, grow crops, and raise chickens to help feed their families. He also used his letter-writing skills to communicate with people all over the world to bring attention to the needs of his flock.
In 1687, Padre Eusebio Kino arrived in northern Mexico on horseback traveling into what is now Arizona. Padre Kino explored the vast lands of Arizona and California, making friends with the Native Americans whom he encountered as he mapped the region. Unfortunately, with him also came the soldiers of the King of Spain, who brought guns and swords, while the gentle priest brought a simple cross to introduce Christianity without destroying the native cultures. He told them stories of Christ and the Bible, introduced them to Christian ceremonies, and together they built 24 missions in 24 years that stretched from Sonora, Mexico, to Southern Arizona. San Xavier del Bac, also known as the “White Dove of the Desert,” is one of the most impressive of those missions. It is located just southwest of Tucson.
DeGrazia was inspired by the memorable events in the life and times of Padre Kino, the heroic, historic and immortal priest-colonizer of the Southwestern desert. Since childhood, DeGrazia admired Padre Kino for his education, life of adventure, and respect for Native Americans. DeGrazia traveled to every Kino mission as he lovingly studied the life of his favorite Jesuit priest. The Mission in the Sun is dedicated to his memory.
“I don’t know how many religious paintings he did, but he did a pretty good share,” said Lance Laber, executive director of the DeGrazia Foundation, the organization DeGrazia founded to preserve his art.
According to Laber, DeGrazia’s Catholic heritage, the faith and spirituality of the Indians he befriended and his admiration of Father Kino were inspirations for his religious works.”
These works began after a priest "approached DeGrazia about painting the Stations of the Cross for the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center at the University of Arizona." DeGrazia "fulfilled the request in 1964."
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Lone Justice - Wade In The Water.
Wednesday, 18 December 2024
The qualities of Mary and Joseph
Here's the sermon I shared at St Andrew's Wickford this morning:
The experience of being the Theotokos, the God-bearer, was a difficult one for Mary (Matthew 1.18-25). Difficult, because she was not believed - both by those closest to her and those who didn’t really know her. Mary was engaged to Joseph when the annunciation occurred. As she was found to be with child before they lived together, Joseph planned to dismiss her quietly. He had his own meeting with Gabriel which changed that decision but, if the man to whom she was betrothed, could not believe her without angelic intervention, then it would be no surprise if disbelief and misunderstanding characterised the response to Mary wherever she went.
We can learn much from Mary’s faith, trust and persistence in the face of disbelief, misunderstanding and probable insult. Our experience in times of trouble and difficulty will be similar as, on the one hand, God asks us to trust and persevere while, on the other, he will provide us with moments of support and strengthening.
Mary has been given many titles down the ages but ‘the earliest ‘title’, agreed throughout the church in the first centuries of our faith, before the divisions of East and West, Catholic and Protestant, was Theotokos, which means God-Bearer. 'She is the prime God-Bearer, bearing for us in time the One who was begotten in eternity, and every Christian after her seeks to become in some small way a God-bearer, one whose ‘yes’ to God means that Christ is made alive and fruitful in the world through our flesh and our daily lives, is born and given to another.’ In his poem ‘Theotokos’, Malcolm Guite suggests some ways in which Mary’s experience can speak to us and inspire us in the challenges we face as we go through life:
You bore for me the One who came to bless
And bear for all and make the broken whole.
You heard His call and in your open ‘yes’
You spoke aloud for every living soul.
Oh gracious Lady, child of your own child,
Whose mother-love still calls the child in me,
Call me again, for I am lost, and wild
Waves surround me now. On this dark sea
Shine as a star and call me to the shore.
Open the door that all my sins would close
And hold me in your garden. Let me share
The prayer that folds the petals of the Rose.
Enfold me too in Love’s last mystery
And bring me to the One you bore for me.
Mary is centre-stage is the drama of the Nativity but there is also a role for those who simply stand and wait. Joseph is also an example to us because his calling was to quietly support the calling of Mary – to marry her, to name the child, to raise him: ‘Joseph simply does as he was told. For him, belief is action. Quietly, Joseph cared for Mary. Quietly, he raised the child and named him Jesus. Quietly, he believed and acted.’ (https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/josephs-silent-submission-to-marys-god-given-calling-is-real-biblical-manhood/14578.article)
Joseph must have had the patience of a saint, as it must have taken an incredible amount of patience to follow God's plan, and to support his wife throughout their trials and tribulations. He was also the epitome of discretion. Despite the miraculous circumstances of Jesus' conception, he kept Mary's secret safe, showing incredible respect for her and her divine calling. He diligently provided for the physical and emotional needs of his family. He working to ensure their safety, sustenance. He humbly accepted God's will and obediently followed His guidance, even when it meant facing challenges and uncertainties. His humility allowed him to support Mary in her unique calling without seeking recognition or glory for himself (https://aleteia.org/2024/03/02/8-ways-st-joseph-was-a-wonderful-husband-to-mary). These are all great qualities that we can take into our own experiences of supporting and caring for others.
To end, here’s a short poem by Madeleine L’Engle imagining Mary speaking about Joseph, her spouse.
It was from Joseph first I learned
of love. Like me he was dismayed.
How easily he could have turned
me from his house; but, unafraid,
he put me not away from him
(O God-sent angel, pray for him).
Thus through his love was Love obeyed.
The Child’s first cry came like a bell:
God’s Word aloud, God’s Word in deed.
The angel spoke: so it befell,
and Joseph with me in my need.
O Child whose father came from heaven,
to you another gift was given,
your earthly father chosen well.
With Joseph I was always warmed
and cherished. Even in the stable
I knew that I would not be harmed.
And, though above the angels swarmed,
man’s love it was that made me able
to bear God’s love, wild, formidable,
to bear God’s will, through me performed.
The experience of being the Theotokos, the God-bearer, was a difficult one for Mary (Matthew 1.18-25). Difficult, because she was not believed - both by those closest to her and those who didn’t really know her. Mary was engaged to Joseph when the annunciation occurred. As she was found to be with child before they lived together, Joseph planned to dismiss her quietly. He had his own meeting with Gabriel which changed that decision but, if the man to whom she was betrothed, could not believe her without angelic intervention, then it would be no surprise if disbelief and misunderstanding characterised the response to Mary wherever she went.
We can learn much from Mary’s faith, trust and persistence in the face of disbelief, misunderstanding and probable insult. Our experience in times of trouble and difficulty will be similar as, on the one hand, God asks us to trust and persevere while, on the other, he will provide us with moments of support and strengthening.
Mary has been given many titles down the ages but ‘the earliest ‘title’, agreed throughout the church in the first centuries of our faith, before the divisions of East and West, Catholic and Protestant, was Theotokos, which means God-Bearer. 'She is the prime God-Bearer, bearing for us in time the One who was begotten in eternity, and every Christian after her seeks to become in some small way a God-bearer, one whose ‘yes’ to God means that Christ is made alive and fruitful in the world through our flesh and our daily lives, is born and given to another.’ In his poem ‘Theotokos’, Malcolm Guite suggests some ways in which Mary’s experience can speak to us and inspire us in the challenges we face as we go through life:
You bore for me the One who came to bless
And bear for all and make the broken whole.
You heard His call and in your open ‘yes’
You spoke aloud for every living soul.
Oh gracious Lady, child of your own child,
Whose mother-love still calls the child in me,
Call me again, for I am lost, and wild
Waves surround me now. On this dark sea
Shine as a star and call me to the shore.
Open the door that all my sins would close
And hold me in your garden. Let me share
The prayer that folds the petals of the Rose.
Enfold me too in Love’s last mystery
And bring me to the One you bore for me.
Mary is centre-stage is the drama of the Nativity but there is also a role for those who simply stand and wait. Joseph is also an example to us because his calling was to quietly support the calling of Mary – to marry her, to name the child, to raise him: ‘Joseph simply does as he was told. For him, belief is action. Quietly, Joseph cared for Mary. Quietly, he raised the child and named him Jesus. Quietly, he believed and acted.’ (https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/josephs-silent-submission-to-marys-god-given-calling-is-real-biblical-manhood/14578.article)
Joseph must have had the patience of a saint, as it must have taken an incredible amount of patience to follow God's plan, and to support his wife throughout their trials and tribulations. He was also the epitome of discretion. Despite the miraculous circumstances of Jesus' conception, he kept Mary's secret safe, showing incredible respect for her and her divine calling. He diligently provided for the physical and emotional needs of his family. He working to ensure their safety, sustenance. He humbly accepted God's will and obediently followed His guidance, even when it meant facing challenges and uncertainties. His humility allowed him to support Mary in her unique calling without seeking recognition or glory for himself (https://aleteia.org/2024/03/02/8-ways-st-joseph-was-a-wonderful-husband-to-mary). These are all great qualities that we can take into our own experiences of supporting and caring for others.
To end, here’s a short poem by Madeleine L’Engle imagining Mary speaking about Joseph, her spouse.
It was from Joseph first I learned
of love. Like me he was dismayed.
How easily he could have turned
me from his house; but, unafraid,
he put me not away from him
(O God-sent angel, pray for him).
Thus through his love was Love obeyed.
The Child’s first cry came like a bell:
God’s Word aloud, God’s Word in deed.
The angel spoke: so it befell,
and Joseph with me in my need.
O Child whose father came from heaven,
to you another gift was given,
your earthly father chosen well.
With Joseph I was always warmed
and cherished. Even in the stable
I knew that I would not be harmed.
And, though above the angels swarmed,
man’s love it was that made me able
to bear God’s love, wild, formidable,
to bear God’s will, through me performed.
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Madeleine L'Engle - First Coming.
Tuesday, 17 December 2024
Fundraising Campaign - St Catherine’s Church, Wickford
Due to the long dry summer of 2022, the foundations of the NW corner of St Catherine’s Church subsided. This caused large cracks to appear in the walls.
In 2023, we completed Phase 1 of our campaign involving safety and weather protection work costing £20,000, with funds raised by donations, events and grants. In 2024 we began Phase 2 involving groundwork investigations and design of an underpinning solution. This will cost £13,560 and is essential to design a long-term solution.
Phase 3, for which we are now beginning to raise funds, will be when the church is underpinned.
If you wish to contribute, please use the QR Code below or go to https://givealittle.co/c/CXlEMNUoerIeTUtbQmvYS to donate online. Send cheques to Wickford and Runwell PCC to The Rectory, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB or phone 07803 562329/email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for bank details for a bank transfer.
We are very grateful for all the support we have received to date whether through individual donations, fundraising events or grant funding awards. This project has been supported by: Benefact Trust, Friends of Essex Churches Trust, Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, Minor Repairs & Improvements Grants via Diocese of Chelmsford, and National Churches Trust.
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Sofia Gubaidulina - Offertorium.Seen and Unseen: Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion
My latest article for Seen and Unseen is entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion'. The article explores how popular music conjures sacred space.:
'In Faith, Hope and Carnage, his book of conversations with Seán O’Hagan, Nick Cave said: “... Some music can ,,, lead us to a place where a fundamental spiritual shift of consciousness can happen. At best, it can conjure a sacred space.”
My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.
My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.
My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.
My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.
My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.
My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.
My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.
My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.
My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.
My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.
My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.
My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.
My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.
My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history
My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).
My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.
My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.
My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.
My 20th article was entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally.
My 21st article was entitled 'James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord'. In the article I noted that the composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred.
'In Faith, Hope and Carnage, his book of conversations with Seán O’Hagan, Nick Cave said: “... Some music can ,,, lead us to a place where a fundamental spiritual shift of consciousness can happen. At best, it can conjure a sacred space.”
That’s because, as Elvis Presley stated during his ‘68 Comeback Special, "Rock and roll is basically just gospel music, or gospel music mixed with rhythm and blues". 'Following in the wake of key precursors such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Rock ‘n’ roll merged Blues (with its spiritual strand) and Country music (tapping its white gospel) while Soul music adapted much of its sound and content from Black gospel. For both, their gestures and movements, and sometimes the songs too, were adopted wholesale from Pentecostalism.'
The article includes a link to my Spotify playlist 'Closer to the light' which includes a wide selection of the music I mention in this article. 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' is a review of Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death in which I explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.
My co-authored book The Secret Chord explores aspects of a similar interplay between faith and music (and the Arts, more broadly). Posts related to the themes of The Secret Chord can be found here.
Check out the following too to explore further:
Check out the following too to explore further:
- God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You
- Jesus Music - 1 & 2
- The Jesus Rock Revolution and the Jesus Movement
- When Jesus Met Hippies
- A Rough Guide to Christian Art
- Looking down the wrong end of a telescope
- Pop's holy rollers
- Perhaps the most underrated band ever
- Rock gets Religion
- Ed Kowalczyk and Scott Stapp: Angels on a razor
- Hidden Gems - Bill Fay & Michael Morley
- Salt and Sweetners
- The mystery at the heart of music - 1 and 2
- Inspiration from the Psalms
- 'Tryin' to throw your arms around the world' click here - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
My first article for Seen and Unseen was 'Life is more important than art' which reviews the themes of recent art exhibitions that tackle life’s big questions and the roles creators take.
My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.
My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.
My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.
My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.
My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.
My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.
My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.
My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.
My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.
My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.
My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.
My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.
My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.
My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history
My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).
My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.
My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.
My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.
My 20th article was entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally.
My 21st article was entitled 'James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord'. In the article I noted that the composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred.
My 22nd article was a book review on Nobody's Empire by Stuart Murdoch. 'Nobody's Empire: A Novel is the fictionalised account of how ... Murdoch, lead singer of indie band Belle and Sebastian, transfigured his experience of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) through faith and music.'
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Elvis Presley - There'll Be Peace In The Valley.
Sunday, 15 December 2024
All Saints Stock Harvard: Gwynneth Holt
As part of preparation for my 'People and Stone' talk on 'Broomfield Artists: Thomas Huxley-Jones and Gwynneth Holt' (8 February, 2.00 pm, Broomfield Parish Church), I visited All Saints Stock Harvard briefly this morning to photograph their rood figures carved by Holt.
These are now on the north wall at the west end of the North Aisle. Before 1986 this area housed the Sacristry and was cleared with the building of the new Vestries on the North side of the church. The Rood Figures of Our Lord, Our Lady and St. John were designed in 1955 by Holt and are carved in lime wood. As part of the post war restoration these figures were originally position in the Chancel Arch on a Rood Beam. The figures were incorporated in a hanging rood, still in the Chancel Arch, as part of the 1981 re-ordering but were moved to their present position in about 1990 to open up the view of the East Window.
The Parish Magazine of Stock Harvard (May 1955) contains the following comment about the figure of Christ on the rood beam at All Saints Church: "The figure speaks to us of eternal wisdom combined with eternal youth, and there is about the whole figure and its expression a strength and calmness which communicates itself to people who look at it long enough with a really open mind ... The figure has that strange factor of timelessness which some of the medieval artists secured."
The blue plaque information from Chelmsford City Council records that “In 1952, Holt was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. She also produced works in the United States when she visited the Hopkins Centre at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire in both 1963 and 1968. Holt was also known to be one of the Royal Society of Sculptors earliest female members, where she expressed frustration at the sculpture profession being dominated by men. Following her death, Holt’s work has been showcased in many places by both the Royal Society of Sculptors and Chelmsford Museum.”
In expressing her frustration with the male-dominated nature of her profession, she said: “Women are just as intelligent as men, and their contribution to art is just as valuable: They are not given a chance to take art up seriously. What with looking after the house, there is not much time left for concentrating on art."
Joan Weedon writes that from the time Holt married Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones (also a sculptor) “both exhibited at the London, Scottish and West of England academies, the Society of Portrait Sculptors and the Paris Salon. Among the awards Gwynneth won were the Feodora Gleichen award (for 'outstanding work by a woman sculptor') for her 'Mother and Child' exhibited at the Royal Academy, and two at the Paris Salon for 'Arts Decoratif and for sculpture. A set of her wartime figurines of a semi-humorous character [‘Our Gang’], which were cast by the Bovey Tracey pottery, is now in the Imperial War Museum. While living in Aberdeen she also exhibited work in ivories, woods, copper, terracotta and bronze in London and Edinburgh.
[They] moved to Broomfield, Chelmsford, in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden [at High House] and both achieved high personal success. Huxley-Jones's brilliant, imaginative figures gained him wide recognition, and he undoubtedly influenced Gwynneth's own style, although her life studies at that time may be perceived as more naturalistic than the style of her husband's large symbolic works.”
“Holt completed many works with a religious theme, or for ecclesiastical buildings, such as His Holiness Pope John XXIII, Hands, The Resurrection and Mother and Child. She completed commissions for the pulpit of St. Andrew’s Church in Hornchurch, Essex; the chapel of the East Mission in Stepney and the limewood The Immaculate Conception for the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Chelmsford.”
“It was for her work in ivory, however, that Holt was most celebrated as a sculptor, and her ivory sculpture Annunciation (1946) received particular praise for her carving skills. Annunciation depicts the Virgin Mary, her palms raised to God, with Gabriel depicted beneath her feet. In the 1972 book Modern Ivory Carving, Holt was described as ‘Britain’s foremost ivory carver’.”
Weedon also notes that: “The demonstrable piety of many of Gwynneth's exhibits created a demand for interpretations of Christian figures and symbols. Eight churches in and around Essex contain her important representations of such figures, and there are other such works traceable to her 'Chelmsford phase'.
Examples of her work may be seen in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Chelmsford; Stock Harvard Parish Church, Essex; Balsham Parish Church, Cambs; St Andrew's, Hornchurch, Essex: Downham Church, Essex; Methodist East End Mission, London; Navestock Church, Essex; Buxhall Church, Suffolk; St Leonard's Parish Church, Eynsham.”
Broomfield Parish Church has a prayer desk of light oak decorated on the plain apron front with an applied carved head by Gwynneth Holt. The head of the Virgin Mary is in 20th C style, her bare head emerging from a cowl.
The grave of Holt and Huxley-Jones is to be found in the churchyard St Mary with St Leonard in Broomfield.
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Enya - Dreams Are More Precious.
The two things that matter
Here's the sermon that I shared at St Catherine’s Wickford this morning:
The Jewish people to whom John the Baptist was speaking in today's Gospel reading (Luke 3.7-18) thought that they were God’s people because of their birth; because they were Abraham’s ancestors (v 8). John the Baptist tells them that that isn’t the case. If the people of Israel are like a tree, he says, then God can cut that tree down at its roots.
Many of us will have grown up in Christian families, just as all those to whom John was speaking had grown up as Jews. Like them we may well have attended services for the worship of God since we were children and we, like them, might think that that makes us a part of God’s family. John’s message is that that is not the case.
There are two things that matter says John. Two things that make all the difference and family roots and traditions are not included. The two things that matter, says John, are firstly how we respond to Jesus, the coming Messiah and secondly whether our response involves actions as well as words.
John pictures Jesus, the coming Messiah, with a winnowing shovel separating the wheat from the chaff. He is saying that the coming of Jesus will separate out the true people of God from the false and it is by our reaction to Jesus that this will become apparent. Isaiah speaks about God being like a stone over which people stumble and, in the New Testament, both Paul and Peter apply this image to Jesus. Jesus himself says that he did not bring peace but a sword and came to set sons against fathers, daughters against mothers and so on. What he is talking about is the reality that as the coming Messiah he would be a controversial figure about whom people would be divided, even in the same family.
It is by our reactions and responses to Jesus, John says, that we can see who are God’s people and who are not. The question for us this morning then is who do we believe Jesus to be. Is he the Messiah, the son of God and saviour of the world, or was he just a good man but a man nonetheless? What we believe is important because, John says, if we reject Jesus then we reject God.
But within our response to Jesus as God’s son, as the Messiah there is also a further level of consideration. Is our response to Jesus just about words that we speak and beliefs that we keep in mind or do those words and those beliefs change our lives; do they affect the way in which we live? Our actions reveal our true beliefs. Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins, John says to the crowd in verse 8. Don’t just mouth meaningless words but put your money where your mouth is and do the things that will demonstrate that your life has been turned around by your encounter with Jesus.
What are we to do, the crowd, the tax collectors and the soldiers ask John in verses 10 – 14. His response is not actually that demanding; do your job well, do it fairly and honestly and be generous with what you have.
Working hard and well and being generous are signs that we have changed from people who are out for ourselves to people with a concern for God and for others. It is that change that God is looking for in our lives. It is that change that shows Him and other people that we have had a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ that has changed our heart and not just our mind or our words.
These then are the two things that John the Baptist says matter when we stand before God; our response to Jesus and a response that involves practical change in our lives to show that we have genuinely encountered Jesus and accepted him as God’s son, the Saviour of the World. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.
The Jewish people to whom John the Baptist was speaking in today's Gospel reading (Luke 3.7-18) thought that they were God’s people because of their birth; because they were Abraham’s ancestors (v 8). John the Baptist tells them that that isn’t the case. If the people of Israel are like a tree, he says, then God can cut that tree down at its roots.
Many of us will have grown up in Christian families, just as all those to whom John was speaking had grown up as Jews. Like them we may well have attended services for the worship of God since we were children and we, like them, might think that that makes us a part of God’s family. John’s message is that that is not the case.
There are two things that matter says John. Two things that make all the difference and family roots and traditions are not included. The two things that matter, says John, are firstly how we respond to Jesus, the coming Messiah and secondly whether our response involves actions as well as words.
John pictures Jesus, the coming Messiah, with a winnowing shovel separating the wheat from the chaff. He is saying that the coming of Jesus will separate out the true people of God from the false and it is by our reaction to Jesus that this will become apparent. Isaiah speaks about God being like a stone over which people stumble and, in the New Testament, both Paul and Peter apply this image to Jesus. Jesus himself says that he did not bring peace but a sword and came to set sons against fathers, daughters against mothers and so on. What he is talking about is the reality that as the coming Messiah he would be a controversial figure about whom people would be divided, even in the same family.
It is by our reactions and responses to Jesus, John says, that we can see who are God’s people and who are not. The question for us this morning then is who do we believe Jesus to be. Is he the Messiah, the son of God and saviour of the world, or was he just a good man but a man nonetheless? What we believe is important because, John says, if we reject Jesus then we reject God.
But within our response to Jesus as God’s son, as the Messiah there is also a further level of consideration. Is our response to Jesus just about words that we speak and beliefs that we keep in mind or do those words and those beliefs change our lives; do they affect the way in which we live? Our actions reveal our true beliefs. Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins, John says to the crowd in verse 8. Don’t just mouth meaningless words but put your money where your mouth is and do the things that will demonstrate that your life has been turned around by your encounter with Jesus.
What are we to do, the crowd, the tax collectors and the soldiers ask John in verses 10 – 14. His response is not actually that demanding; do your job well, do it fairly and honestly and be generous with what you have.
Working hard and well and being generous are signs that we have changed from people who are out for ourselves to people with a concern for God and for others. It is that change that God is looking for in our lives. It is that change that shows Him and other people that we have had a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ that has changed our heart and not just our mind or our words.
These then are the two things that John the Baptist says matter when we stand before God; our response to Jesus and a response that involves practical change in our lives to show that we have genuinely encountered Jesus and accepted him as God’s son, the Saviour of the World. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.
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Nirvana - Lord, Up Above.
All that we once thought marginal to human life has been shown to be essential
Here's the reflection I shared on Friday evening during the Service of Lessons and Carols at St Catherine's Wickford for Beauchamps High School:
Tonight, we are retelling a story which culminates in the birth of a man, born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in a town from which no good was known to come. He worked in a carpenter’s shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...
In appearance he was reckoned to be without beauty or majesty, undesired. In his life, he was despised and rejected, unrecognised and un-esteemed, as, while still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth – his coat. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
An entire Millennium and more has passed since he first was born in Bethlehem and yet all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of human beings upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
Through his birth, life, death and resurrection all that we once thought marginal to human life has been shown to be essential: the way of compassion rather than the way of domination; the way of self-sacrifice rather than the way of self; the way of powerlessness rather than the way of power; the way of serving rather than the way of grasping.
Tonight, we are retelling a story which culminates in the birth of a man, born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in a town from which no good was known to come. He worked in a carpenter’s shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...
In appearance he was reckoned to be without beauty or majesty, undesired. In his life, he was despised and rejected, unrecognised and un-esteemed, as, while still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying his executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth – his coat. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
An entire Millennium and more has passed since he first was born in Bethlehem and yet all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of human beings upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
Through his birth, life, death and resurrection all that we once thought marginal to human life has been shown to be essential: the way of compassion rather than the way of domination; the way of self-sacrifice rather than the way of self; the way of powerlessness rather than the way of power; the way of serving rather than the way of grasping.
So, as Malcolm Guite has written:
Christmas sets the centre on the edge;
The edge of town, the outhouse of the inn,
The fringe of empire, far from privilege
And power, on the edge and outer spin
Of turning worlds, a margin of small stars
That edge a galaxy itself light years
From some unguessed at cosmic origin.
Christmas sets the centre at the edge.
And from this day our world is re-aligned
A tiny seed unfolding in the womb
Becomes the source from which we all unfold
And flower into being. We are healed,
The end begins, the tomb becomes a womb,
For now in him all things are re-aligned.
Christmas sets the centre on the edge;
The edge of town, the outhouse of the inn,
The fringe of empire, far from privilege
And power, on the edge and outer spin
Of turning worlds, a margin of small stars
That edge a galaxy itself light years
From some unguessed at cosmic origin.
Christmas sets the centre at the edge.
And from this day our world is re-aligned
A tiny seed unfolding in the womb
Becomes the source from which we all unfold
And flower into being. We are healed,
The end begins, the tomb becomes a womb,
For now in him all things are re-aligned.
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Saturday, 14 December 2024
Windows on the world (497)
Northampton, 2024
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Bad Religion - O Come All Ye Faithful.
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Seen and Unseen: Belle and Sebastian's suffering singer on the struggle and the hope
My latest book review for Seen and Unseen is on Nobody's Empire by Stuart Murdoch:
'Nobody's Empire: A Novel is the fictionalised account of how Stuart Murdoch, lead singer of indie band Belle and Sebastian, transfigured his experience of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME) through faith and music.'
My first article for Seen and Unseen was 'Life is more important than art' which reviews the themes of recent art exhibitions that tackle life’s big questions and the roles creators take.
My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.
My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.
My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.
My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.
My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.
My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.
My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.
My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.
My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.
My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.
My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.
My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.
My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.
My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history
My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).
My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.
My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.
My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.
My 20th article was entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally.
My 21st article was entitled 'James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord'. In the article I noted that the composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred.
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My second article 'Corinne Bailey Rae’s energised and anguished creative journey' explores inspirations in Detroit, Leeds and Ethiopia for Corinne Bailey Rae’s latest album, Black Rainbows, which is an atlas of capacious faith.
My third article was an interview with musician and priest Rev Simpkins in which we discussed how music is an expression of humanity and his faith.
My fourth article was a guide to the Christmas season’s art, past and present. Traditionally at this time of year “great art comes tumbling through your letterbox” so, in this article, I explore the historic and contemporary art of Christmas.
My fifth article was 'Finding the human amid the wreckage of migration'. In this article I interviewed Shezad Dawood about his multimedia Leviathan exhibition at Salisbury Cathedral where personal objects recovered from ocean depths tell a story of modern and ancient migrations.
My sixth article was 'The visionary artists finding heaven down here' in which I explored a tradition of visionary artists whose works shed light on the material and spiritual worlds.
My seventh article was 'How the incomer’s eye sees identity' in which I explain how curating an exhibition for Ben Uri Online gave me the chance to highlight synergies between ancient texts and current issues.
My eighth article was 'Infernal rebellion and the questions it asks' in which I interview the author Nicholas Papadopulos about his book The Infernal Word: Notes from a Rebel Angel.
My ninth article was 'A day, night and dawn with Nick Cave’s lyrics' in which I review Adam Steiner’s Darker With The Dawn — Nick Cave’s Songs Of Love And Death and explore whether Steiner's rappel into Cave’s art helps us understand its purpose.
My 10th article was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.
My 11th article was 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from Rosen's book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World'.
My 12th article was 'Blake, imagination and the insight of God', exploring a new exhibition - 'William Blake's Universe at the Fitzwilliam Museum - which focuses on seekers of spiritual regeneration and national revival.
My 13th article 'Matthew Krishanu: painting childhood' was an interview with Matthew Krishanu on his exhibition 'The Bough Breaks' at Camden Art Centre.
My 14th article was entitled 'Art makes life worth living' and explored why society, and churches, need the Arts.
My 15th article was entitled 'The collective effervescence of sport's congregation' and explored some of the ways in which sport and religion have been intimately entwined throughout history
My 16th article was entitled 'Paradise cottage: Milton reimagin’d' and reviewed the ways in which artist Richard Kenton Webb is conversing with the blind poet in his former home (Milton's Cottage, Chalfont St Giles).
My 17th article was entitled 'Controversial art: how can the critic love their neighbour?'. It makes suggestions of what to do when confronted with contentious culture.
My 18th article was an interview entitled 'Art, AI and apocalypse: Michael Takeo Magruder addresses our fears and questions'. In the interview the digital artist talks about the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence.
My 19th article was entitled 'Dark, sweet and subtle: recovered music orientates us'. In the article I highlight alt-folk music seeking inspiration from forgotten hymns.
My 20th article was entitled 'Revisiting Amazing Grace inspires new songs'. In the article I highlight folk musicians capturing both the barbaric and the beautiful in the hymn Amazing Grace and Christianity's entanglement with the transatlantic slave trade more generally.
My 21st article was entitled 'James MacMillan’s music of tranquility and discord'. In the article I noted that the composer’s music contends both the secular and sacred.
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Belle and Sebastian - Ever Had A Little Faith.
Sunday, 8 December 2024
Matthew Askey: I, Santa
I, Santa: Contemporary representations of St Nicholas - Father Matthew Askey and Charles Williams and guests explore the Santa Claus mythology in painting.
5 – 24 December
studio1. 1
with
Father Matthew Askey, Dr Charles Williams, Phil King, Jake Clark, Andrew Seto, Rupesh Sudanshu, Brian Cheesewright, Matthew Collings, David R. Newton, Keran James and Jonny Green.
I, Santa interrogates Santa Claus’s layered symbolism, exploring themes of masculinity and social liminality. Williams’ paintings, influenced by early 20th-century British artists, present Santa as a pensive figure, embodying consumerism, mythology, and human longing. His works transform Santa from a jolly gift-giver into a complex cultural icon, navigating hope and despair.
In contrast, Father Matthew Askey’s works portray figures “playing at” Santa, using the character to explore human dualities: joy and sorrow, generosity and greed. His art questions the role of myth in an increasingly disenchanted world, reflecting on belief and belonging.
Through these diverse perspectives, the exhibition encourages viewers to reflect on Santa’s evolving significance in an age of consumerism and societal change. It’s a call to reconsider our collective mythology, explore the deeper narratives beneath the holiday icon, and contemplate what Santa represents in the broader human experience.
Matthew Askey spoke about his St Nicholas images in my interview with him for ArtWay.
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Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming' To Town.
Advent change
Here's the sermon I shared at St Mary’s Runwell this morning:
Get the road ready! Turn away from your sins! Bring the right kind of offerings!
These are cries and readings about the need for change because of dissatisfaction with the present. God’s coming does not involve comfort for the complacent but instead is a challenge to change.
Malachi (Malachi 3: 1 - 4) sets out a timetable or schedule for change; first a messenger will come to prepare the way for God himself to come, then the Lord himself will suddenly come to his Temple. Neither coming though will be easy or comfortable.
John the Baptist (Luke 3: 1 – 6) is the promised messenger and he comes preaching repentance and change as the necessary preparation for the coming of God himself. Turning away from sins and being baptized is the way to get the road ready along which God will come. He calls on the people of Israel to do this, so that the whole human race – all peoples everywhere – will be able to see God’s salvation when it comes in the person of Jesus.
But, as Malachi emphasises, the coming of Jesus is also about challenge and change: “He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver.”
How was this aspect of Jesus expressed when he came? In John’s Gospel Jesus says to Nicodemus: “This is how the judgement works: the light has come into the world, but people love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil. Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up. But those who do what is true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God.”
In other words, the light of Christ is all about comparisons and transparency. Generally, when we compare ourselves with others, we compare ourselves with those we think are worse than or similar to ourselves. On the basis of these comparisons, we think we are ok; at least no better or worse than others, at best, better than many others around us. On the basis of these comparisons, we are comfortable with who we are and see no need to change. But Jesus, through his life and death, shows us the depth of love of which human beings are really capable and, on the basis of that comparison, we come up well short and are in real need of change. In the light of Jesus’ self-sacrifice, we see our inherent selfishness and recognise our need for change.
The light of Christ is also about transparency. When we think others cannot see what we are doing, our tendency is to try to get away with things we know are wrong and of which we would be ashamed were they public knowledge. We can see this tendency at work in all major public scandals such as phone hacking, libor-rate fixing, MPs expenses, and so on. When we think no one can see what we are doing, we try to get away with murder but when those things become public that is when we are then contrite. This is why campaigners call for transparency in business and politics and why their calls are often resisted.
Yet God does see all and Jesus, in his ministry, was able to shine a light on the deepest recesses of the human heart. The Samaritan woman said of him: “Come see the man who told me everything I have ever done.” With Jesus, nothing is hidden, everything is transparent; therefore, we need to change if we are to truly live in the light of his presence.
The Secret Chord, the book I have had published, was written with Peter Banks, the keyboard player in the rock band After The Fire. One of the best songs by After The Fire is called ‘Laser Love’ and it contains these lines:
“Your love is like a laser burning right into my life
You know my weaknesses, you cut me like a knife
You’re separating all the wrong things from the right
It’s like a laser, laser love.
Your love is like an X-ray there is nothing that can hide
You hold me to the light, you see what is inside
It’s all so clear when it’s there in black and white
Just like a laser, laser love.”
We might wonder what this kind of exposure has to do with love but it is a love which refuses to leave us in the dark and which does everything possible to bring light into our lives.
This is the light and love that we celebrate as coming into the world at Christmas. It is tough love and a searching light. When we light our Advent candles or our Christingles or sing carols by candlelight it is easy to think that what we are celebrating is traditional, pretty, unchanging and sweet. But the reality of Christ’s love and light is tough and searching because it is challenging and because it calls us to change.
At Christmas we often ask the question what will we give but before we can answer that question, we need to respond to the question posed by Advent which is, ‘How are we going to change?’ It is once we have been changed by God that we, then, have something good to give. So how will you respond to these Advent challenges to ‘Get the road ready!’ ‘Turn away from your sins!’ and ‘Bring the right kind of offerings!’ What will you change about yourself this Advent as you prepare to welcome the Christ who comes at Christmas?
One starting point in thinking this through might be to think of what you would want to change in others and then, as the saying goes, to realise that “When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back at you.” Alternatively, you could think of what you would like to see changed within the world and then take on board the challenge of Mahatma Gandhi to “Be the change you want to see in the world”
An inherent danger in thinking about change is our tendency to assume that change begins with someone else. It is so easy to believe that “we” are doing the right things and that it is “them” that need to change but, as Eric Jensen has said, “The reason things stay the same is because we stay the same. For things to change, we must change” or, as U2 once sang, “I can’t change the world but I can change the world in me.”
So, this year, instead of focusing on Christmas Cheer, let us think of Christmas Change. What will you change about yourself this Advent as you prepare to welcome the Christ who comes at Christmas?
Get the road ready! Turn away from your sins! Bring the right kind of offerings!
These are cries and readings about the need for change because of dissatisfaction with the present. God’s coming does not involve comfort for the complacent but instead is a challenge to change.
Malachi (Malachi 3: 1 - 4) sets out a timetable or schedule for change; first a messenger will come to prepare the way for God himself to come, then the Lord himself will suddenly come to his Temple. Neither coming though will be easy or comfortable.
John the Baptist (Luke 3: 1 – 6) is the promised messenger and he comes preaching repentance and change as the necessary preparation for the coming of God himself. Turning away from sins and being baptized is the way to get the road ready along which God will come. He calls on the people of Israel to do this, so that the whole human race – all peoples everywhere – will be able to see God’s salvation when it comes in the person of Jesus.
But, as Malachi emphasises, the coming of Jesus is also about challenge and change: “He will be like strong soap, like a fire that refines metal. He will come to judge like one who refines and purifies silver.”
How was this aspect of Jesus expressed when he came? In John’s Gospel Jesus says to Nicodemus: “This is how the judgement works: the light has come into the world, but people love the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil. Those who do evil things hate the light and will not come to the light, because they do not want their evil deeds to be shown up. But those who do what is true come to the light in order that the light may show that what they did was in obedience to God.”
In other words, the light of Christ is all about comparisons and transparency. Generally, when we compare ourselves with others, we compare ourselves with those we think are worse than or similar to ourselves. On the basis of these comparisons, we think we are ok; at least no better or worse than others, at best, better than many others around us. On the basis of these comparisons, we are comfortable with who we are and see no need to change. But Jesus, through his life and death, shows us the depth of love of which human beings are really capable and, on the basis of that comparison, we come up well short and are in real need of change. In the light of Jesus’ self-sacrifice, we see our inherent selfishness and recognise our need for change.
The light of Christ is also about transparency. When we think others cannot see what we are doing, our tendency is to try to get away with things we know are wrong and of which we would be ashamed were they public knowledge. We can see this tendency at work in all major public scandals such as phone hacking, libor-rate fixing, MPs expenses, and so on. When we think no one can see what we are doing, we try to get away with murder but when those things become public that is when we are then contrite. This is why campaigners call for transparency in business and politics and why their calls are often resisted.
Yet God does see all and Jesus, in his ministry, was able to shine a light on the deepest recesses of the human heart. The Samaritan woman said of him: “Come see the man who told me everything I have ever done.” With Jesus, nothing is hidden, everything is transparent; therefore, we need to change if we are to truly live in the light of his presence.
The Secret Chord, the book I have had published, was written with Peter Banks, the keyboard player in the rock band After The Fire. One of the best songs by After The Fire is called ‘Laser Love’ and it contains these lines:
“Your love is like a laser burning right into my life
You know my weaknesses, you cut me like a knife
You’re separating all the wrong things from the right
It’s like a laser, laser love.
Your love is like an X-ray there is nothing that can hide
You hold me to the light, you see what is inside
It’s all so clear when it’s there in black and white
Just like a laser, laser love.”
We might wonder what this kind of exposure has to do with love but it is a love which refuses to leave us in the dark and which does everything possible to bring light into our lives.
This is the light and love that we celebrate as coming into the world at Christmas. It is tough love and a searching light. When we light our Advent candles or our Christingles or sing carols by candlelight it is easy to think that what we are celebrating is traditional, pretty, unchanging and sweet. But the reality of Christ’s love and light is tough and searching because it is challenging and because it calls us to change.
At Christmas we often ask the question what will we give but before we can answer that question, we need to respond to the question posed by Advent which is, ‘How are we going to change?’ It is once we have been changed by God that we, then, have something good to give. So how will you respond to these Advent challenges to ‘Get the road ready!’ ‘Turn away from your sins!’ and ‘Bring the right kind of offerings!’ What will you change about yourself this Advent as you prepare to welcome the Christ who comes at Christmas?
One starting point in thinking this through might be to think of what you would want to change in others and then, as the saying goes, to realise that “When you point one finger, there are three fingers pointing back at you.” Alternatively, you could think of what you would like to see changed within the world and then take on board the challenge of Mahatma Gandhi to “Be the change you want to see in the world”
An inherent danger in thinking about change is our tendency to assume that change begins with someone else. It is so easy to believe that “we” are doing the right things and that it is “them” that need to change but, as Eric Jensen has said, “The reason things stay the same is because we stay the same. For things to change, we must change” or, as U2 once sang, “I can’t change the world but I can change the world in me.”
So, this year, instead of focusing on Christmas Cheer, let us think of Christmas Change. What will you change about yourself this Advent as you prepare to welcome the Christ who comes at Christmas?
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After The Fire - Laser Love.
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