A radical challenge bringing healing love

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

This passage (Mark 3.1-6) focuses on a conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning behaviour that is acceptable on the Sabbath. Tom Wright says that Jesus brings a radical challenge to the religious leaders by breaking Sabbath rules to show God's kingdom - bringing healing love. This highlights Jesus as the true Israel, a new temple, and a powerful King whose actions expose the blindness of those who prioritize law over people, setting the stage for conflict and revealing the core purpose of his mission to establish God's reign.

The whole point of the commandment - celebrating God's creation and redemption, past, present and future - had been lost sight of. The rule mattered more than the reality. Jesus' verdict on that was that it constituted 'hard-heartedness' - one of the regular charges that the prophets levelled against law-breaking Israelites in days gone by. Like the wilderness generation under Moses, his contemporaries were unable to see and celebrate what God was actually doing in front of their noses. So he puts the question in its starkest terms, in words dripping with irony: is it legal to do good on the sabbath, or only to do evil? Is it legal to make people alive, or only to kill them? If the sabbath speaks of creation and redemption, the answer is obvious - and if the current interpretation of the rules says otherwise, so much the worse for the current interpretation of the rules.

I think we have an example of a similar hardheartedness before us this week as US President Donald Trump has said he no longer feels obliged to think only of peace after he was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year. In a message to Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Trump blamed the country for not giving him the prize. Trump wrote: "Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper' for the US."

However, we should never simply point the finger at others without remembering that there are also fingers pointing back at us. So, also need to ask whether there are ways in which the church today can get so blinded by its commitment to what appear necessary rules that it fails to see God's healing and restorative work breaking through?

Thankfully, we continue to have marvellous examples around us of those who give and give again to others regardless of cost and time. The stories told in the Call the Midwife books and TV series are based on selfless and sacrificial real-life experiences of nuns and nurses in the East End from the 1950’s through the 1960’s.

Series 9 and Episode 5 begins with the following opening diary monologue: There are moments when the world seems to pause in its perpetual spinning: when the minutes hang suspended as life begins, or ends. The Sisters of Nonnatus House were guardians of the threshold. A wise word, a gentle glance, the first or last murmur of blessing - they brought wisdom, they brought comfort, they brought love. They were witnesses to all that mattered: struggle, loss, triumph, ties of blood. Other people's lives were their life, and in their service, they gave all they had... all that they were. They did not stop to count the cost, for this was their mission, their calling, their joy.

Then, at the end, we hear: The wise will always learn, the generous will always find they have more to give. Thus, we cross the threshold into freedom, and to progress, and to embracing all that's new. The world shifts around us and we shape ourselves to fit: imperfect and beautiful, wounded and thriving, delicate, invincible, forever moving on. Time is not the tide, it moves in only one direction. Go forth with courage and in hope. Change is not lost - we must run with it, dance with it, give it all we have.

Other people's lives were their life, and in their service, they gave all they had... all that they were. They did not stop to count the cost, for this was their mission, their calling, their joy. This is what people like Trump do not understand and cannot experience as a result. Rather than his transactional rules-based approach which says if I do X then I will receive Y and, if not, I will no longer do X, the sisters of Nonnatus House did not stop to count the cost because, like Jesus, compassion and peace was their overarching goal, not something that was transactional or something to be earnt.

As a result, in Series 8 and Episode 4, we hear these words, which are based on what we learn from Jesus’ words and actions:

"Love is never the only answer. But it is always the best, the simplest, the one most likely to withstand the test of time. Love is the beginning. It should be the final word."

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Call The Midwife - Full Length Theme.

A life lived to introduce others to Jesus Christ

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

Here, in five short verses at the beginning of today's Gospel reading (John 1:29-34), we have the testimony of John the Baptist regarding Jesus. Who does John say that Jesus is?

Firstly, John says that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The image of Jesus as the lamb that takes away sin reminds us of the story of the Exodus and the Passover. Death was coming to the entire land of Egypt and those saved were those who sacrificed lambs and daubed the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes. John was saying that when Jesus died his sacrifice would affect the entire world not just the people of Israel and would do so by taking away our sin for which the punishment is death. 

Next, John says that Jesus ranks ahead of him because he was before him. John the Baptist was a great prophet. So much so, that Jesus compares him to Elijah referring to the prophecy in Malachi 4:5 that God would send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. Despite the greatness of John’s role and ministry (and despite the fact that he is the elder of the two), Jesus is the one to whom John bows the knee (the strap of whose sandal he is not worthy to untie) because, as we hear at the beginning of John’s Gospel, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was Jesus. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

John then says that Jesus is the one on whom the Spirit remains. The Spirit “came upon” such Old Testament people as Joshua (Numbers 27:18), David (1 Samuel 16:12-13) and even Saul (1 Samuel 10:10). In the book of Judges, we see the Spirit “coming upon” the various judges whom God raised up to deliver Israel from their oppressors. The Holy Spirit came upon these individuals for specific tasks. What happens with Jesus is different, as the Spirit remains with him. In Jesus the fruit of the Spirit -  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – can be fully expressed, therefore the Spirit remains with Jesus in a way which had not been possible until then. All of Jesus' ministry, "must be understood as accomplished in communion with the Spirit of God".

Fourthly, John says that Jesus is the one who baptises others with the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit remains with Jesus, so she also remains with those who are his followers.  The New Testament teaches the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20). When we place our faith in Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. The Apostle Paul calls this permanent indwelling the “guarantee of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Finally, John sums up his testimony by saying that Jesus is the Son of God, a title that implies His deity (John 5:18) because it is one of equality with God. This title has many facets, including showing that He is to be honoured equally with the Father (John 5:22-23), that He is to be worshipped (Matt. 2:2, 11, 14:33, John 9:35-38, Heb. 1:6), called God (John 20:28, Col. 2:9, Heb. 1:8), and prayed to (Acts 7:55-60, 1 Cor. 1:1-2).

John was sent as a man of God expressly to prepare the way for and to testify regarding the Christ, so the people would believe in Him. He plainly said that Jesus was the One for Whom He was preparing the way. He said Jesus would have pre-eminence, that Jesus was the Christ, that He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and that He was the Son of God. John lived his life to introduce others to Jesus Christ and his testimony is a model of Christian witness to Jesus. 

John believed in the Christ and his great faith prepared him for hardships, but it kept him steadfast on his course until the time when he could say as he saw Jesus approach, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). As believers, we can all have this steadfast faith. John is also a model of Christian discipleship in his humility, a key characteristic of discipleship in this Gospel. We see this because, even when he is asked to testify concerning himself, he points to Jesus. Therefore, we can find in John the Baptist a powerful example of humility, single-mindedness and witness. We will do well to follow in his footsteps.

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Mavis Staples - Everybody Needs Love.

Nazareth Community: Everyday reflections

Two initial meetings have been held in recent months to move towards the formation of a Nazareth Community for South Essex. At the first, in December, information was shared about the history of the Nazareth Community and the 7 S's that form its rule of life. Then those present experienced Lectio Divina in a listening group. Today, we began working on our individual rules of life using the 7 S's, had a time of reflection on a Nazareth letter, and shared a Bread for the World Eucharist together.

In today's Bread for the World service, I shared the following reflection:

The Bible is full of encouragement to reflect. The words, reflect, consider, ponder, meditate and examine, crop up everywhere. God encourages us to reflect on everything; his words (2 Timothy 2.7), his great acts (1 Samuel 12.24), his statutes (Psalm 119.95), his miracles (Mark 6.52), Jesus (Hebrews 3.1), God's servants (Job 1.8), the heavens (Psalm 8.3), the plants (Matthew 6.28), the weak (Psalm 41.1), the wicked (Psalm 37.10), oppression (Ecclesiastes 4.1), labour (Ecclesiastes 4.4), the heart (Proverbs 24.12), our troubles (Psalm 9.13), our enemies (Psalm 25.19), our sins (2 Corinthians 13.5). Everything is up for reflection but we are guided by the need to look for the excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4.8) and to learn from whatever we see or experience (Proverbs 24.32).

Clearly all this reflection cannot take place just at specific times. Just as we are told to pray always, the implication of the Bible's encouragement to reflection is that we should reflect at all times. We need to make a habit of reflection, a habit of learning from experience and of looking for the excellent things. 

How can we do this? In the paraphrase of Matthew 6. 34 from The Message, we hear Jesus say: “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Simon Small writes in ‘From the Bottom of the Pond’ that: “Our minds find paying full attention to now very difficult. This is because our minds live in time. Our thoughts are preoccupied with past and future, and the present moment is missed.”

But, he says, “Contemplative prayer is the art of paying attention to what is”: “To pay profound attention to reality is prayer, because to enter the depths of this moment is to encounter God. There is always only now. It is the only place that God can be found.”

This is very much what Jesus seems to be saying in Matthew 6. 34 and also in his teaching on worry and anxiety found in Matthew 6. 24 – 34.

One of the ways, I would suggest is that we use all that is around us – what we see, do and experience. Everything around us can potentially be part of our ongoing conversation with God, part of which is reflection. The Celtic Christians had a sense of the heavenly being found in the earthly, particularly in the ordinary events and tasks of home and work, together with the sense that every event or task can be blessed if we see God in it.

David Adam, who has written many contemporary prayers in this style, says that: “Much of Celtic prayer spoke naturally to God in the working place of life. There was no false division into sacred and secular. God pervaded all and was to be met in their daily work and travels. If our God is to be found only in our churches and our private prayers, we are denuding the world of His reality and our faith of credibility. We need to reveal that our God is in all the world and waits to be discovered there – or, to be more exact, the world is in Him, all is in the heart of God. Our work, our travels, our joys and our sorrows are enfolded in His loving care. We cannot for a moment fall out of the hands of God. Typing pool and workshop, office and factory are all as sacred as the church. The presence of God pervades the work place as much as He does a church sanctuary.” (Power Lines: Celtic Prayers about Work, SPCK, 1992)

Other examples of similar styles of prayer include, Alexander Carmichael’s Carmina Gadelica, a collection of Gaelic prayers and poems collected in the late 19th century, which “abounds with prayers invoking God’s blessing on such routine daily tasks as lighting the fire, milking the cow and preparing for bed.” Many of George Herbert’s poems use everyday imagery (mainly church-based as he was also a priest) and are based on the idea that God is found everywhere within his world. People like Ray Simpson and Ruth Burgess have provided series of contemporary blessings for everyday life covering computers, exams, parties, pets, cars, meetings, lunchtimes, days off and all sorts of life situations from leaving school and a girl’s first period to divorce, redundancy and mid-life crises.

Similarly, Martin Wallace suggests that: “Just as God walked with Adam in the garden of Eden, so he now walks with us in the streets of the city chatting about the events of the day and the images we see.” (City Prayers, The Canterbury Press, 1994) He wants to encourage us to “chat with God in the city, bouncing ideas together with him, between the truths of the Bible and the truths of urban life” and, “as you walk down your street, wait for the lift, or fumble for change at the cash-till … to construct your own prayers of urban imagery.”

One helpful way of beginning to do this is to identify the times and spaces in your normal day when you could take time to pray in this way. Before ordination, when I worked in Central London I used to use my walk to and from the tube station in this way and also had a prayer on my PC that I would pray as I ate lunch at my desk. As a result, since being ordained I have been sending emails to working people in the congregation of which I have been part with a brief reflection and prayer that they can use in these ways.

If you would like to pay more attention to events in this way, why not start by making a list of all the things that you see and do in a typical day? Then think how you could use these to reflect and pray. Then, as Martin Wallace suggests, you might like to try writing your own prayer, reflection or blessing using some of these things as your starting point.

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Peter Mayer - Holy Now.

Windows on the world (554)

London, 2026

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Guards of Metropolis - Tired.

 

Poetry Update

My latest review for International Times is on Collected Poems by Kevin Crossley-Holland:

'His Collected Poems span a lifetime; a lifetime, as Lucy Newlyn writes, spent ‘mining the resources of elegy, myth, lyric, prayer, and dramatic monologue to form delicately crafted meditations on love and loss, time and memory, spiritual longing and emotional growth’. In them, he harnesses the music of language and uses it beautifully, insightfully, and with depth of meaning to help us to sing. His poems invite us in to the landscape of the creative moment where we are set free to imagine. There, suggestion makes the dream and we are prepared for the possible, whilst becoming aware that anything could happen. There can be no greater goal for poetry and no greater commendation for this transformative collection.'

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

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

IT have also published several of my poems, including 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, and 'The Edge of Chaos', a state of current existence poem. Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations. 'Deflated Ego 18: Jonathan Evens on Jonathan Evens' is an article I wrote for Stride Magazine about the 'Five Trios' series of poems.

To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. My poems published in Amethyst Review are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'.

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

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

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

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

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

My key literature posts (including poetry) are:

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

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

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Kevin Crossley-Holland - Poetry Reading.

International Times: Setting the Reader Free to Imagine

My latest review for International Times is on Collected Poems by Kevin Crossley-Holland:

'His Collected Poems span a lifetime; a lifetime, as Lucy Newlyn writes, spent ‘mining the resources of elegy, myth, lyric, prayer, and dramatic monologue to form delicately crafted meditations on love and loss, time and memory, spiritual longing and emotional growth’. In them, he harnesses the music of language and uses it beautifully, insightfully, and with depth of meaning to help us to sing. His poems invite us in to the landscape of the creative moment where we are set free to imagine. There, suggestion makes the dream and we are prepared for the possible, whilst becoming aware that anything could happen. There can be no greater goal for poetry and no greater commendation for this transformative collection.'

My earlier pieces for IT are: an interview with the artist Alexander de Cadenet; an interview with artist, poet, priest Spencer Reece, an interview with the poet Chris Emery, an interview with Jago Cooper, Director of the the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, a profile of singer-songwriter Bill Fay, plus reviews of: 'Lux' by Rosalía; 'Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere'; 'Great Art Explained' by James Payne; 'Down River: In Search of David Ackles' by Mark Brend; 'Headwater' by Rev Simpkins; 'The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art' by Jonathan A. Anderson; 'Breaking Lines' at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, albums by Deacon Blue, Mumford and Sons, and Andrew Rumsey, also by Joy Oladokun and Michael Kiwanaku; 'Nolan's Africa' by Andrew Turley; Mavis Staples in concert at Union Chapel; T Bone Burnett's 'The Other Side' and Peter Case live in Leytonstone; Helaine Blumenfeld's 'Together' exhibition, 'What Is and Might Be and then Otherwise' by David Miller; 'Giacometti in Paris' by Michael Peppiatt, the first Pissabed Prophet album; and 'Religion and Contemporary Art: A Curious Accord', a book which derives from a 2017 symposium organised by the Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art.

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

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

To read my poems published by Stride, click here, here, here, here, here, and here. My poems published in Amethyst Review are: 'Runwell', 'Are/Are Not', 'Attend, attend' and 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages'.

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

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

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

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

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Duvall - I'll Be Around.

Church Times - Art review: Jean Lamb: An Urban Passion (St Marylebone Parish Church and then St Peter’s, Nottingham)

My latest exhibition review for Church Times is on 'Jean Lamb: An Urban Passion' (St Marylebone Parish Church and then St Peter’s, Nottingham):

'JEAN LAMB has a track record for reimagining the Stations of the Cross in new and challenging forms.

Her carved sculptural Stations of the Holocaust, besides illustrating the Passion narrative, included images from the Holocaust showing the Jewish people as they were forced into ghettos, humiliated, tortured, and executed. This thought-provoking set of Stations was described as being a brave work that offered fraught and disturbing links between Christianity and Judaism.

Her latest set of Stations — An Urban Passion — is essentially an act of protest.'

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, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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Josh Caterer - Hallelujah! He Is Risen. 

Church Times - Book review: Practical Theology Beyond the Empirical Turn by Heather Walton

My latest book review for Church Times is on 'Practical Theology Beyond the Empirical Turn' by Heather Walton:

'Walton’s argument is that empirical approaches to knowledge, particularly in relation to practical theology, are narrow in both measurement and understanding, while also reflecting the unconscious biases of those who devise them. As a result, she argues that a radical expansion of approaches is required, and arts-based and creative approaches, particularly those that address the climate emergency, are strongly advocated.'

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, those for Seen & Unseen are here, and those for Art+Christianity are here.

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John Davis - I Hear Your Voice.

Seen and Unseen - Turner and Constable: storms, salvation and the sublime

My latest article for Seen and Unseen is 'Turner and Constable: storms, salvation and the sublime' in which I discuss how Tate Britain reveals how rival visions shaped art and spirit:

'Despite the differences of style, focus and experience, these images – each of which are to be found in ‘Turner & Constable: Rivals & Originals’ - are linked by the story of Noah and the Flood. Turner depicts the flood as judgement and the covenant that followed as more broadly salvific by the inclusion of Moses and the brazen serpent which, by implication, also includes Christ. Constable recalls the same story through the imagery of the rainbow, which reminds us of God’s promise that, whatever storms we face, God will never again flood the earth.

John Ruskin, the great champion of Turner’s work in his own day and time, encouraged viewers to ‘let each exertion of [Turner’s] mighty mind be both hymn and prophecy – adoration to the Deity – revelation to mankind’. The significance of Constable’s faith in his work has only been recognised much more recently through the work of Richard Humphreys, David Thistlethwaite, and Bendor Grosvenor. The latter describes Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows as ‘an emphatic demonstration of the religious sublime’. Constable commended the understanding that we are ‘endowed with minds capable of comprehending the “beauty and sublimity of the material world” only as the means of leading us to religious sentiment’. With these images, that is what Turner and Constable both achieve.'

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.'

My 23rd article was entitled 'Rock ‘n’ roll’s long dance with religion'. The article explores how popular music conjures sacred space.

My 24th article was an interview with Alastair Gordon on the artist’s attention which explores why the overlooked and everyday capture the creative gaze.

My 25th article was about Stanley Spencer’s seen and unseen world and the artist’s child-like sense of wonder as he saw heaven everywhere.

My 26th article was entitled 'The biblical undercurrent that the Bob Dylan biopics missed' and in it I argue that the best of Dylan’s work is a contemporary Pilgrim, Dante or Rimbaud on a compassionate journey.

My 27th article was entitled 'Heading Home: a pilgrimage that breaks out beauty along the way' and focuses on a film called 'Heading Home' which explores how we can learn a new language together as we travel.

My 28th article was entitled 'Annie Caldwell: “My family is my band”' and showcased a force of nature voice that comes from the soul.

My 29th article was entitled 'Why sculpt the face of Christ?' and explored how, in Nic Fiddian Green’s work, we feel pain, strength, fear and wisdom.

My 30th article was entitled 'How Mumford and friends explore life's instability' and explored how Mumford and Sons, together with similar bands, commune on fallibility, fear, grace, and love.

My 31st article was entitled 'The late Pope Francis was right – Antoni Gaudi truly was God’s architect' and explored how sanctity can indeed be found amongst scaffolding, as Gaudi’s Barcelona beauties amply demonstrate.

My 32nd article was entitled 'This gallery refresh adds drama to the story of art' and explored how rehanging the Sainsbury Wing at the National Gallery revives the emotion of great art.

My 33rd article was an interview with Jonathan A. Anderson about the themes of his latest book 'The Invisibility of Religion in Contemporary Art'.

My 34th article was an interview with 'Emily Young: the sculptor listening as the still stones speak'.

My 35th article was a profile of New York's expressionist devotional artist, 'Genesis Tramaine: the painter whose faces catch the spirit'.

My 36th article was a concert review of Natalie Bergman at Union Chapel - a soul-soaked set turned personal tragedy into communal celebration.

My 37th article was based on the exhibition series 'Can We Stop Killing Each Other?' at the Sainsbury Centre. In it I explore how art, theology, and moral imagination confront our oldest instinct.

My 38th article article was 'The dot and the dash: modern art’s quiet search for deeper meaning' in which I argue that Neo-Impressionism meets mysticism in a quietly radical exhibition at the National Gallery.

My 39th article was 'From Klee to Klein, Wenders to Botticelli: angels unveiled' in which I explore how, across war, wonder and nativity, artists show angels bridging earth and heaven.

My 40th article was 'When Henry Moore’s Madonna shocked Northampton' in which I explore how a modernist mother and child stirred outrage, then lasting wonder.

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This Picture - The Great Escape.

Windows on the world (553)

London, 2026

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Twelfth Night - East Of Eden.

 

The Father’s call and the Spirit’s empowering

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

Jesus’ baptism marks the point at which he was commissioned for his public ministry (Matthew 3. 13-18). Through his baptism, he is publicly affirmed by John the Baptist, who says that Jesus is the one for whom he has been waiting, and by God himself, as the dove of the Spirit descended on him and the Father said, This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.” Following his baptism, he goes into the desert, where he is tested by the Devil, before returning to begin his ministry by quoting Isaiah as his public manifesto in the synagogue at Nazareth.

In the contemporary paraphrase of the Bible called ‘The Message’ we read of Jesus saying to John the Baptist, who questioned the need for Jesus’ baptism, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” In his baptism, Jesus was equipped by the Spirit to carry out the work of putting all things right and he was affirmed in the rightness of this work when the Father said, “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” Following his baptism, Jesus knew he was in a partnership with God working to put the world to rights.

Let’s explore those two aspects of Jesus’ baptism – the Father’s call and the Spirit’s empowering – in a little more detail this morning.

The Father’s call is about the question, ‘Who am I?’ The answer to that question was given to Jesus as soon as he came up out of the waters of baptism. As he did so, he saw heaven opening, the Spirit coming down on him like a dove, and he heard a voice from heaven saying, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.” As he was baptised, he was immediately affirmed as God’s Son.

It is easy for us to think that that only applies to Jesus. That it was a special word spoken by God the Father especially to him and, on one level, no doubt it was. But the Bible makes it quite clear that Jesus laid down his life to make us one with God so that, as Christians, we are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, members of the same family – God’s family – and co-heirs with Jesus of everything that he has. Listen to what St Paul says about this in Romans 8:

“Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, Father! my Father! God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him …”

Take a moment, to let those words sink into your hearts and minds. You are a child of God, you are a brother or sister of Jesus, you are loved, you are valued, you are blessed. This is the Father’s call to us, as it was to Jesus. It is transformative to know that we are loved and accepted by our Father God.

The Spirit’s empowering is to do with the question, ‘Why am I here?’ and that question too is answered in this reading. After he is baptised, Jesus has a time of preparation in the desert and then begins to preach the Good News from God. He had a God-given task to complete, a reason for his existence and a meaning for his life. The same is true for us. Listen to St Paul again, this time from 1 Corinthians 12:

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.”

For each one of us, the Spirit’s presence is shown in us in some way for the good of all. Take a moment, to let those words sink into your hearts and minds. You have been given the abilities you need for your particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in you for the good of all. Your life has meaning and purpose because God has work that only you can do.

These two aspects of his baptism were vital for Jesus because he then experienced significant testing in the wilderness when he was tempted by the Devil. He was able to go through that experience and emerge victorious because he had been affirmed and equipped by God through his baptism. Re-emerging from the desert to begin God’s work, he could then explain what he was about to do in words taken from the prophecies of Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

These words describe what God’s work involves, the work of putting the world to rights.

As those who follow Jesus, we are the body of Christ – the hands, eyes, mouth, ears, feet and hands of Jesus in our world. Therefore, we have the task to undertake. We are called to the same job of work and need the same resource. Whatever our role in life, we are called to work together with God in our shared task of putting the world to rights. Each of us can consider how our day-to-day lives could contribute to this task – for example, through care for family and friends, through visiting those who are unwell or elderly, through consistent prayer for people and places in need, through generosity in our giving to those in need, and so on.

To do this we need to know that we are loved and accepted by our Heavenly Father and also to be equipped and led by the Holy Spirit. Led by the Spirit, our work can involve creativity, care and collaboration; biblical signs that work is undertaken in partnership with God. Jesus says to us what he said to John, “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Duvall - Gimme Some Light.

Unveiled: Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby

 The latest exhibition at St Andrew's Wickford opened tonight with an exhibition viewing evening that included a chance to meet the artist, David Sowerby. 

Our thanks to David, both for his marvellous exhibition and his talk this evening about creativity. Those of us present enjoyed a lovely exhibition viewing evening seeing great paintings and drawing inspiration from David's reflections.

Fear not, for I am with you: An exhibition of religious paintings by David Sowerby
9 January – 3 April 2026
St Andrew’s Church, 11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN

St Andrew’s is usually open: Sat 9am-12.30pm; Sun 9.30am-12 noon; Mon 2-3.45pm; Tue 1-4.30pm; Wed 10am-12 noon; Fri 10am-1pm. https://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/whats-on.html

David Sowerby

Born 24th October 1954
Studied Foundation at Middlesbrough Art College
BA (hons) Art and Design at The Central School of Art (London)

I worked as a freelance illustrator and teacher throughout my life and eventually retired as a Principal Lecturer at The University of the Arts London.

I now support a range of charities, both local and national, via my mutual interest and fascination with art and creativity.

An earlier exhibition was just prior to the first lockdown which was held at The Transition, Chelmsford, with proceeds going towards The British Heart Foundation raised just over £6,000.

I continue to support local and national charities, contributing a large percentage of any sales to such charitable organisations and causes.

My work can be viewed on my Facebook pages, search for David Sowerby with more available to view at Sowerbycreations (Facebook again).

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Jonathan Jackson - Breaking Loose The Chains.