International Times - Documenting the Journey

Here's my latest review for International Times, which is on Flowers from the Graveyard by Michael McDermott:

"Hope is found, as he sings in ‘But For The Little Moments’, in the ‘little moments’ that he looks out for and pays attention to (like the flowers from the graveyard that he smelt whilst out riding his bike). These can be both acts of kindness – ‘A smile, a kind word’ – and acts of liberation – ‘the things that give ourselves some wings / And free us from our own psychosis’. This song essentially encapsulates the conclusion at which he arrived in his biography Scars from another life: ‘Stop looking in the same spots for what is not there. Stop seeking the things you think you need. You must create new narratives in order to break through the wall that you have encased yourself in.’"

My earlier pieces for IT are: an interview with curator Jacquiline Creswell; 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:

• an IMMERSE performance by Wilderthorn at Bradwell Chapel
• albums by Switchfoot, Jon Foreman and NEEDTOBREATHE:
• 'Walls and Windows' at The Minories in Colchester
• 'The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art and the birth of America's Culture Wars' by Isaac Butler
• 'Moving Pictures' and 'Closeups' by Steve Scott, 'Never Mind the Ballads Here's Nick Battle' by Nick Battle, and 'Blank Arcades' by Andrew Rumsey
• Michael Takeo Magruder -Reconstructed Landscape{s}
• The Last Supper: Art, Faith, Sex and Controversy in the 1980s
• In Another World: The Four Seasons of Talk Talk
• Hulda Guzman: Please awake - asked Nature kindly' at Turner Contemporary;
• 'Devotions' by Lucy Caldwell and 'Catholic Modernism and the Irish ‘Avant-Garde’: The Achievement of Brian Coffey, Denis Devlin, and Thomas MacGreevy' by James Matthew Wilson;
• the 'Stations' project from Dunlin Press;
• 'William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy';
• Joseph Arthur in concert;
• installations by Chiharu Shiota and Yin Xiuzhen at Hayward Gsllery,
• U2's 'Days of Ash', Mumford and Sons' 'Prizefighter' and Moby's 'Future Quiet';
• 'Collected Poems' by Kevin Crossley-Holland;
• '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 'Spencer Reece at Bemerton' which is based on the visit that I made to Bemerton in 2026 with Spencer Reece, 'The ABC of creativity', which covers attention, beginning and creation, and 'The Edge of Chaos', a state of existence poem. Also published have been three poems from my 'Five Trios' series. 'Barking' is about St Margaret’s Barking and Barking Abbey and draws on my time as a curate at St Margaret's. 'Bradwell' is a celebration of the history of the Chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, the Othona Community, and of pilgrimage to those places. Broomfield in Essex became a village of artists following the arrival of Revd John Rutherford in 1930. His daughter, the artist Rosemary Rutherford, also moved with them and made the vicarage a base for her artwork including paintings and stained glass. Then, Gwynneth Holt and Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones moved to Broomfield in 1949 where they shared a large studio in their garden and both achieved high personal success. 'Broomfield' reviews their stories, work, legacy and motivations.

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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Michael McDermott - The Future.

Poem: Prayer

Here's a poem that I wrote during yesterday's Quiet Day on 'Poetry and Prayer' held at St Mary's Runwell:

Prayer

A list of names sellotaped
inside a bible;
particular people remembered
on particular days.
A quiet place, a mindful space,
attention paid to moments,
feelings, objects, people.
A conversation threaded
through the minutes
of each day, who, what,
when and where, and why.
Reflection on a passage,
tasting and savouring words,
images and meanings.
Words to comfort,
challenge or inspire;
words to shape our being
and doing in conversation
using improvisation.
A listening time,
in quiet, hearing
the sounds only
revealed in silence.

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The Innocence Mission - God Is Love.

Peter Rodulfo: Waiting for a Bite

'Peter Rodulfo: Waiting for a bite' opened today at Chappel Galleries. It was good to meet Peter Rodulfo there and to see his wonderful paintings. 

Peter was born in Washington D.C, USA, in 1958. His early years were spent in Australia and India before coming to England in the mid sixties. He was educated in Suffolk, before going to study painting at Norwich School of Art 1975 – 1979. Since leaving art school he has exhibited all over the world in both solo, group and open shows. Rodulfo has a prolific output in many different mediums, such as oil paint, watercolour, etching, bronze sculpture and assemblages. His work can be found in both private and public collections.

The alluring mystery of everyday life is contemplated in his work and this exhibition for which I have written the catalogue essay:

‘Watching and waiting also characterises the work of the artist in creation. Rodulfo writes of casting a line out and waiting for a bite, not knowing which creature will take the bait, because he suspects that something surprising may be lurking under the surface of his image as it emerges and coheres. Through the patient watching and waiting that the artist undertakes for that emergent something in the work, his images entice, tease and challenge us, as viewers, to pay attention to what is revealed through the interplay between the patterns of form and colour within which our interactions in creation and in community occur. The patterns of shadows, reflections, and echoes seen in these works then evoke memories from different times and places in our own lives. Life is an alluring mystery which changes and passes too quickly for us to apprehend fully. Rodulfo’s images still a moment in time, enabling us to stop, wait, and see by paying attention to the emergent something his art has revealed. What will bite, what will surface, what will emerge, what will you notice, as you watch and wait and see?’

See here for information about my catalogue essay on Alan Caine and here for information about an essay on Damien Hirst, originally written to be a catalogue essay.

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Lucinda Williams - The World's Gone Wrong.

Chappel Galleries - 'Peter Rodulfo: Waiting for a bite'

 

My latest catalogue essay is for 'Peter Rodulfo: Waiting for a bite' at Chappel Galleries. The exhibition opens on 28 February and runs until 29 March 2026.

Peter Rodulfo was born in Washington D.C, USA, in 1958. His early years were spent in Australia and India before coming to England in the mid sixties. He was educated in Suffolk, before going to study painting at Norwich School of Art 1975 – 1979. Since leaving art school he has exhibited all over the world in both solo, group and open shows. Rodulfo has a prolific output in many different mediums, such as oil paint, watercolour, etching, bronze sculpture and assemblages. His work can be found in both private and public collections.

The alluring mystery of everyday life is contemplated in his work and this exhibition: 

‘Watching and waiting also characterises the work of the artist in creation. Rodulfo writes of casting a line out and waiting for a bite, not knowing which creature will take the bait, because he suspects that something surprising may be lurking under the surface of his image as it emerges and coheres. Through the patient watching and waiting that the artist undertakes for that emergent something in the work, his images entice, tease and challenge us, as viewers, to pay attention to what is revealed through the interplay between the patterns of form and colour within which our interactions in creation and in community occur. The patterns of shadows, reflections, and echoes seen in these works then evoke memories from different times and places in our own lives. Life is an alluring mystery which changes and passes too quickly for us to apprehend fully. Rodulfo’s images still a moment in time, enabling us to stop, wait, and see by paying attention to the emergent something his art has revealed. What will bite, what will surface, what will emerge, what will you notice, as you watch and wait and see?’

See here for information about my catalogue essay on Alan Caine and here for information about an essay on Damien Hirst, originally written to be a catalogue essay.

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Bill Callahan - Stepping Out For Air.

International Times: ‘A dialogue across time’

My latest book review for International Times which is on 'Great Art Explained' by James Payne:

'Payne notes that we live in an era defined by images and where we are inundated with visual content. As a result, he suggests (and this is the guiding principle for his book): ‘We need to stop and consider the impact of one image, one work of art. Art is not just something to look at, it’s something to engage with. It challenges us to pause, to question and to connect with ideas that transcend time and place.’ As he concludes, in writing of Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’, art ‘makes us realise that the quiet moments are often the most profound’.'

See also Great Books Explained on the King James Bible, a script I co-wrote with James Payne.

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: '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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ROSALÍA - Divinize.

God's presence in the everyday

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

God calls us, in prayer and contemplation, to see his presence in the everyday, our everyday lives, tasks, activities, and the people and things we see around us. With spiritual insight we will see Christ in all these things. In Philippians 4.4-9 we read: whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. We are, therefore, encouraged to go through life looking for God and the good in all that is around us. 

Today, therefore, we are going to pay attention to one of our Harvest donations. This humble jar of Branston Pickle. I wonder what we can see of God in this jar when we spend time with it and think about it. How might we see something of Christ in a jar of Branston Pickle?

Does anyone know what is in Branston Pickle? Branston Pickle is made from a variety of diced vegetables, including swede, carrots, onions and cauliflower pickled in a sauce made from vinegar, tomato, apple and spices. Reflecting on this aspect of its manufacture can lead us to give thanks to God for the wide variety of vegetables he has made and for those farmers who grow them.

Does anyone know where the recipe for Branston Pickle was created? We can give thanks, too, for the human creativity – another gift from God – that resulted in the recipe for Branston Pickle, which was first made in 1922 in the village of Branston near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, by Crosse & Blackwell.

For those who like it, Branston Pickle enhances certain meals by adding zest and flavour. Giving thanks to God for tasty and nutritious meals is what we do when we say Grace. We can certainly do this in relation to enjoyment of Branston Pickle. A partly consumed jar, as this now is, is a reminder to us of the many occasions and people who have enjoyed this food to date. Each of them has received something good from God for which we can give thanks.

There’s a part-used jar of Branston Pickle in the art installation we currently have in church. Usually, we might simply toss a part-used jar of Branston Pickle way without a further thought, however, in this Season of Creation we are specifically thinking of how we can reuse waste items. Including everyday items like this jar in this installation provides us with the opportunity to stop, to look, to think and to pray about humble, everyday items. If we are open to that possibility, there is much for which we can be thankful as a result of contemplating such an object.

Jesus encouraged us to be like salt in our everyday lives (Matthew 5.13). Salt is an ordinary, everyday object which is used sparingly to flavour and preserve food. A little salt has a significant effect. Just like salt, Branston Pickle enhances and flavours meals. Perhaps, if he were teaching today, Jesus might have taken a jar of Branston Pickle as his illustration to encourage us to be people that provide zest and flavour to the lives of others and to our community.

Today’s New Testament reading from Philippians encourages to look for good in everything around us. To pay attention to the things we see and to contemplate them. In this way, we can have a Harvest Festival every day of the year by celebrating the good things we see around us and remembering that they are all good gifts from God for which we should give thanks.

Just as we have done with this jar of Branston Pickle, why not go through your cupboards or rooms at home on a regular basis to reflect on what you can see of God in the everyday objects you have around you. If you do then you will be putting today’s reading into practice and will see the ordinary things around you in new ways as a result. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Peter Mayer - Everything Is Holy Now.

Seen and Unseen: Interview: Alastair Gordon on the artist’s attention

My latest article for Seen and Unseen is an interview with Alastair Gordon on the artist’s attention which explores why the overlooked and everyday capture the creative gaze:

"Looking at the overlooked is central to my artistic practice. I feel a resonance with artists of the past who have focused on the everyday moments that might otherwise go unobserved. Most often, it’s the mundane objects that have become so familiar that they almost become invisible.

Focusing on details—colours, shapes, emotions, and often overlooked objects—allows me to connect with something greater. It feels like speaking in tongues; the act of creation transcends words and expresses something less tangible. At times, the meaning isn’t clear, and I need to wait for it to be revealed.”

For more on Alastair Gordon see my Artlyst interview with him here. 

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.

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Van Morrison - Hymns To The Silence.

Church Times - Art review: Portia Zvavahera: Zvakazarurwa (Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge)

My latest exhibition review for Church Times which is on Portia Zvavahera: Zvakazarurwa at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge:

'THE paintings in the exhibition “Portia Zvavahera: Zvakazarurwa”, at Kettle’s Yard, in Cambridge, are about the power of prayer. While it has become possible more recently in the mainstream art world to make a case for the level of attention involved in creating or viewing art as equating to the experience of contemplative prayer, it is very unusual to find prayer as the subject of contemporary art or for series of paintings to reveal how prayer changes the lives of those who pray. Nevertheless, that is what these paintings do.'

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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Bruce Springsteen - The Power Of Prayer.

Church Times: Art review: In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World (Fitzrovia Chapel, London W1)

My latest exhibition review for Church Times is on In Attendance: Paying Attention in a Fragile World at Fitzrovia Chapel:

'It draws on the chapel’s heritage as a place of sanctuary and reflection by encouraging visitors to explore attention not as rigid focus, but as a receptive and dynamic engagement with the world, inspired by the philosophy of Simone Weil.

Weil wrote: “Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love.” Ellen McGrath Smith has noted that invoking “the spiritual writing of Simone Weil”, including that assertion, broadens the possibility for poetry, as it also does for art, as prayer, regardless of content, since all such acts are acts of “acute mindfulness”. David Miller finds an earlier source for such ideas in Nicolas Malebranche, who said that attention “is the natural prayer of the soul”.

Weil, he suggests, echoed this, consciously or not, in her similar assertion.'

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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Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now.

Signs of the kingdom now and nearby

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

In our Gospel reading (Luke 21. 25-36), Jesus talks about signs that the kingdom of God is near which are not always seen or noticed.

There is a condition called presbyopia that relates to this. Presbyopia is when your eyes gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close. It is a normal part of aging. In fact, the term “presbyopia” comes from a Greek word which means “old eye.” You may start to notice presbyopia shortly after age 40. You will probably find that you hold reading materials farther away in order to see them clearly.

What happens is that your clear lens sits inside the eye behind your coloured iris. It changes shape to focus light onto the retina so you can see. When you are young, the lens is soft and flexible, easily changing shape. This lets you focus on objects both close-up and far away. After age 40, the lens becomes more rigid. It cannot change shape as easily. This makes it harder to read, thread a needle, or do other close-up tasks.

There is no way to stop or reverse the normal aging process that causes presbyopia. However, presbyopia can be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery.

This condition means that we see things close up better when we see with the eyes of a child. Jesus spoke about our needing to become like little children in order to see the kingdom of God. A Catholic nun who was also an artist called Sister Corita Kent has described the way in which children look and learn:

“Ask [a] child to come from the front of the house to the back and closely observe her small journey. It will be full of pauses, circling, touching and picking up in order to smell, shake, taste, rub, and scrape. The child’s eyes won’t leave the ground, and every piece of paper, every scrap, every object along the path will be a new discovery.

It does not matter that his is all familiar territory – the same house, the same rug and chair. To the child, the journey of this particular day, with its special light and sound, has never been made before. So the child treats the situation with the open curiosity and attention that it deserves.

The child is quite right.”

The central premise of this parable — that the kingdom is near, now — is a promise that the church needs to here regularly. Watch for the signs, Jesus says, and you will see that your redemption is drawing near, and indeed is already near.

"The Greek word here is engizo, a verb which expresses the immanence, the “coming nearness” of someone or something." So, here, "in this unusual parable and its visualization of this vital New Testament idea of “nearness,” we find the imperative of the gospel, its life-giving assurance — the Kingdom is not far off; it is not waiting; it is not an undiscovered country; it is right here in Jesus, the Son of Man, and in his proclamation. This is the good news: the kingdom of heaven has come near."

So, what is it that we’re missing, what is it that is close by, near to us, that we’re overlooking? Luke has already answered that question for us near the beginning of his Gospel. In Luke 4, we read of Jesus going to the synagogue in Nazareth, being given the scroll, reading words from Isaiah, then sitting down and saying ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’

The words he read are his manifesto and the signs that the kingdom of God is near:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

So whenever and wherever we see good news brought to the poor, release proclaimed for captive, recovery of sight for those who are blind and freedom brought to those who are oppressed then we are seeing the kingdom of God coming near.

That is what we are to look out for. That is what can often be seen nearby but which is missed when we, as the Church so often has done, look for the coming kingdom in the far distant future instead of the here and now.

'The kingdom is directly related to Jesus himself. The king is present with us, so the kingdom is near.' 'In Jesus, God was beginning to reign on earth in a new way, in fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. Under God’s sovereign authority, righteousness will triumph over injustice and multifaceted peace will fill the earth.

Through Christ, you and I can live today under the reign of God today, however incompletely. When we seek God’s agenda for our lives, when we live for his purposes and glory, when we bow before him in worship, we are experiencing the kingdom of God, in anticipation of that day when all the earth will flourish under the glorious reign of God.'

'God's kingdom is all around you. There's nowhere you go that God doesn't reign. You either choose to recognize the truthfulness of that and live accordingly, or you choose to live in rebellion, rejecting the truth. If you choose the latter, you will find that your life doesn't go quite the way God intended. We're meant to recognize that the reign of God is all around us and to live accordingly.'

As we have seen, 'the knowledge that God's kingdom is all around us is not meant to lead us to ignore the world, saying, "None of the problems in the world really matter, because I live in the kingdom of God." Instead, it's meant to compel us to try to help this world look more like the kingdom of God. We live in rebellion, and the world lives in rebellion, so we see a lot of things in our world that are broken and reflective of our brokenness. But we pray: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."' In teaching us to pray this prayer, Jesus is encouraging us to see with the eyes of a child and to see what is nearby and close up, his kingdom in our lives and our world.

This is our Advent task to look with the eyes of a child for the kingdom of God nearby now, remembering that advent means arrival and that the incarnation involved God moving into our neighbourhood as a child.

So, we pray: Grant us, Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it: a world where the weak are protected, and none go hungry or poor; a world where the riches of creation are shared, and everyone can enjoy them; a world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect; a world where peace is built with justice, and justice is guided by love. Give us the inspiration and courage to build it, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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The Innocence Mission - Cloud To Cloud. 

ArtWay: Tears of Gold: “The invisible light that radiates from the other” – Jonathan Evens interviews Hannah Rose Thomas

My latest interview for ArtWay is with British artist Hannah Rose Thomas, who is also an author, human rights activist and a UNESCO PhD Scholar at the University of Glasgow:

"I have come to perceive portrait painting as a gift of attention, a way for the subjects to feel ‘seen’ and heard, that they may perhaps have never experienced before. ‘What is indispensable for this task,’ Weil asserts, ‘is a passionate interest in human beings, whoever they may be, and in their minds and souls; the ability to place oneself in their position and to recognize by signs thoughts which go unexpressed; a certain intuitive sense of history in process of being enacted; and the faculty of expressing in writing delicate shades of meaning and complex relationships.’ The time-consuming early Renaissance egg tempera and oil painting methods, and gilding that I use are how I seek to attend to, and honour the stories I have heard. The time taken with the women whom I have painted, listening to their stories and cultivating relationship through the art workshops, is extended through the time spent painting their portraits."

See also my Artlyst interview with Hannah here, a Church Times review here, a HeartEdge workshop involving Hannah here, and posts about Hannah's exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook here.

My visual meditations for ArtWay include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Jake Flood, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, Gwen John, Lakwena Maciver, S. Billie Mandle, Giacomo Manzù, Sidney Nolan, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Nicola Ravenscroft, Albert Servaes, Henry Shelton, Anna Sikorska, Alan Stewart, Jan Toorop, Andrew Vessey, Edmund de Waal and Sane Wadu.

My Church of the Month reports include: All Saints Parish Church, Tudeley, Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsingham, Coventry Cathedral, Église de Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du Léman, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,Romont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, St Michael and All Angels Berwick and St Paul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Henri Matisse.

Blogs for ArtWay include: Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions; Ervin Bossanyi: A vision for unity and harmony; Georges Rouault and André Girard: Crucifixion and Resurrection, Penitence and Life Anew; Photographing Religious Practice; Spirituality and/in Modern Art; and The Spirituality of the Artist-Clown.

Interviews for ArtWay include: Matthew Askey, Sophie Hacker, Peter Koenig, David Miller and Belinda Scarlett. I also interviewed ArtWay founder Marleen Hengelaar Rookmaaker for Artlyst.

I have reviewed: Art and the Church: A Fractious Embrace, Kempe: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe and Jazz, Blues, and Spirituals.

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

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Tim Hughes - We Won't Stay Silent.

Church Times - Book review: The Spiritual Adventure of Henri Matisse: Vence’s Chapel of the Rosary by Charles Miller

My latest book review for Church Times is on The Spiritual Adventure of Henri Matisse: Vence’s Chapel of the Rosary by Charles Miller:

'the author explores the deep overlap between the attrait (attention) that artists pay to their subject and the attrait in contemplative prayer. For Matisse, such attention involved intuition and intellect, contemplation and communion, light and glory, combined with a monk-like detachment.'

For more on Matisse's Chapel, click here for an ArtWay article I wrote following my visit in 2012.

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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T Bone Burnett - Waiting For You (Visualizer) ft. Lucius

Seen and Unseen - How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview

My latest article for Seen & Unseen is 'How to look at our world: Aaron Rosen interview', exploring themes from his book 'What Would Jesus See: Ways of Looking at a Disorienting World':

'In the book, Aaron applies Jesus's unique ways of seeing the world to key challenges facing society today and, as he does so, utilises a fascinating breadth of examples drawn from his varied experience. These include art (such as the example of Chagall), current events (where he looks at transgender issues, among others), and popular culture (including #LogInYourEye). His invitation to his readers is to use their own imaginations to explore with him how Jesus saw, what he saw, and why that is important for us today. Among the aspects he examines are Jesus's eye for spectacle, his strategies for attentiveness, and his tools for discerning truth amid the flurry of false appearances.'

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 tenth article for Seen & Unseen was 'Theresa Lola's poetical hope' about the death-haunted yet lyrical, joyful and moving poet for a new generation.

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Bruce Cockburn - Shipwrecked At The Stable Door.

Hannah Rose Thomas: Tears of Gold

Last night I was at Exhibition Launch for 'Tears of Gold' at Garden Court Chambers. This exhibition by the artist, author, and human rights activist Hannah Rose Thomas features portraits of Yazidi women who escaped ISIS captivity, Rohingya women who fled violence in Myanmar, and Nigerian women who survived Boko Haram and Fulani oppression. Hannah’s most recent portraits depict survivors of the re-education camps in Xinjiang, China, and of conflicts in Afghanistan, Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

With these artworks, along with the associated publication Tears of Gold, Thomas bears witness—painting by painting, relationship by relationship—to the singular stories shared by each individual, and by extension the trauma and recovery experienced by their communities.

This body of work not only serves as a reminder to remain concerned about the ongoing persecution of people around the world based on their backgrounds and beliefs, but also reflects on the complexities and limits of empathy as we look to pursue justice more compassionately.

Hannah Rose Thomas demonstrates the potential of caring and creative practices that take time to listen, learn, and focus a prayer-like attention on the suffering of others and in the process reveal a sense of interrelatedness, common vulnerability, and shared humanity that allows for healing and hope.

Hannah Rose Thomas is a British artist and an UNESCO PhD Scholar at the University of Glasgow. She has previously organized art projects for Syrian refugees in Jordan; Yazidi women who escaped ISIS captivity in Iraqi Kurdistan; Rohingya refugees in Bangladeshi camps and Nigerian women survivors of Boko Haram. Her paintings of displaced women are a testament to their strength and dignity. These have been exhibited at prestigious places including the UK Houses of Parliament, European Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Lambeth Palace, Westminster Abbey, the International Peace Institute in New York and The Saatchi Gallery.

Her exhibition Tears of Gold was featured in the virtual exhibition for the UN’s Official 75th Anniversary, “The Future is Unwritten: Artists for Tomorrow.” Hannah was selected for the Forbes 30 Under 30 2019 Art & Culture; shortlisted for the Women of the Future Award 2020 and selected for British Vogue Future Visionaries 2022. Hannah’s debut art book Tears of Gold: Portraits of Yazidi, Rohingya and Nigerian Women was published in 2024, with a foreword by HM King Charles III.

The book also presents Thomas' stunning portrait paintings of Yazidi women who escaped ISIS captivity, Rohingya women who fled violence in Myanmar, and Nigerian women who survived Boko Haram violence, alongside their own words, stories, and self-portraits. A final chapter features portraits and stories of Afghan, Ukrainian, Uyghur, and Palestinian women.

These portraits, depicting women from three continents and three religions, are a visual testimony not only of war and injustice but also of humanity and resilience. Many of the women have suffered sexual violence; all have been persecuted and forcibly displaced on account of their faith or ethnicity.

Hannah Rose Thomas met these women in Iraqi Kurdistan, Bangladeshi refugee camps, and Northern Nigeria while organizing art projects to teach women how to paint their self-portraits as a way to reclaim their personhood and self-worth. She gives women their own voice both by creating a safe space for them to share their stories and by using her impressive connections to make sure their stories are heard in places of influence in the Global North.

Thomas uses techniques of traditional sacred art – early Renaissance tempera and oil painting and gold leaf – to convey the sacred value of each of these women in spite of all that they have suffered. This symbolic restoration of dignity is especially important considering the stigma surrounding sexual violence. Hannah’s work attests to the power of the arts as a vehicle for healing, remembering, inclusion, and dialogue.

Long after the news cameras have moved on to the next conflict, this book shines a spotlight on the ongoing work of healing and restoration in some of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities around the world.

Hannah's essay from the book can be read here. My interview with Hannah for Artlyst can be read here. My Church Times review of her UN75 exhibition is here. Hannah exhibited at St Stephen Walbrook in 2017 and posts about that exhibition are here and here. Hannah also participated in a HeartEdge workshop on 'Art and Social Change' which can be viewed here.

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Tim Hughes - We Won't Stay Silent.

Paying attention: Consider the lilies

Here's the sermon that I shared at St Mary’s Runwell this morning for their Harvest Festival:

In our reading today we heard Jesus tell us that we should look at the flowers of the field. Stop and notice. In his painting called Consider the Lilies, Stanley Spencer depicts Jesus as mountainous in comparison with the daisies (not lilies) that he contemplates. Archbishop Stephen Cottrell has noted that this Jesus is playful, "huge and humble", godlike. Mark Oakley writes that ‘Whereas lilies call for attention, in church or posh hallways, daisies are overlooked, or considered problematic in our neat lawns. Jesus relishes their beauty, and, at the same time, challenges the sad fact about human beings that "when it comes to the present moment, we're not present".’ 

Cottrell then cleverly refers us to the words of Nadine Stair: ‘If I had my life to live over . . . I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been. . . I would do more walking and looking. . . I would pick more daisies.’

Simon Small writes that we find it difficult to do this because: ‘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: ‘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 to us through his teaching on worry and anxiety as found in today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 6. 24 -34). When we are preoccupied with what might happen in the future, we are not living fully in the present and may well misunderstand or misinterpret what is actually going on. Jesus encourages us to live fully in the present because, as Simon Small says, that is where we encounter God.

When we genuinely encounter God in the here and now, we know that his love and forgiveness surround us and that his Spirit fills us. As Jesus prayed in John 17, he is in us and we are in him. When we know this in our hearts in the here and now, we can relax because whatever happens to us, we are accepted, forgiven, loved and gifted by the God who created all things and who will bring all things to their rightful end. We are held in the palm of his hands and, therefore, as Julian of Norwich put it, “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”.

Jesus says that the more we live in the present and the more we encounter God’s love in the here and now, the less we will be anxious or worried. Prayer is able to help us do both things and therefore helps us to reduce our sense of anxiety or worry. Not because we have listed all our worries to God and believe that he will solve them all for us, but instead because, through prayer, we encounter more of God’s love and, as a result, trust that he will be with us whatever comes our way.

Harvest provides a wonderful opportunity for us to do this in relation to the natural world around us including the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Harvest provides an ‘opportunity to reflect and give thanks for all the good things in our lives, especially the way in which the earth produces food for us to eat, to give thanks for all those who work to produce food and drink for us to enjoy, to say sorry for the times we are not grateful, that we don’t notice God’s work in the world, that we don’t look after the things God has given us.’ ‘We live in a different time from our ancestors where the harvest and bringing the harvest in would have dominated everyone’s lives’ but today we probably hardly notice it. What we can do, however, is pay attention to what is around us, whether in our gardens and parks or in our homes and town.

Pope Francis has written on the connection between care for our common home and paying attention in his encyclical Laudato Si. There, he wrote: ‘Those who enjoy more and live better each moment are those who have given up dipping here and there, always on the look-out for what they do not have. They experience what it means to appreciate each person and each thing, learning familiarity with the simplest things and how to enjoy them. So they are able to shed their unsatisfied needs, reducing their obsessiveness and weariness. Even living on little they can live a lot, above all when they cultivate other pleasures and find satisfaction in fraternal encounters, in service, in developing their gifts, in music and art, in contact with nature and in prayer.’ (Laudato Si 223)

He continues, saying, ‘No one can cultivate a sober and satisfying life without being at peace with him or herself…. Inner peace is closely related to care for ecology and for the common good because, lived out authentically, it is reflected in a balanced lifestyle together with a capacity for wonder which takes us to a deeper understanding of life. Nature is filled with words of love, but how can we listen to them amid constant noise, interminable and nerve-wracking distractions, or the cult of appearances.’ (Laudato Si 225)

He concludes, drawing on today’s Gospel reading, that: ‘We are speaking of an attitude of heart, one which approaches life with serene attentiveness, which is capable of being fully present to someone…which accepts each moment as a gift from God to be lived to the full. Jesus taught us this attitude when he invited us to contemplate the lilies of the field and the birds of the air…. He was completely present to everyone and to everything and in this way he showed us the way to overcome that unhealthy anxiety which makes us superficial, aggressive and compulsive consumers.’ (Laudato Si 226)

Pope Francis quotes Patriarch Bartholomew as saying that we should look for solutions to the climate emergency in a change of humanity: ‘He asks us to replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, an asceticism which “entails learning to give, and not simply to give up. It is a way of loving, of moving gradually away from what I want to what God’s world needs. It is liberation from fear, greed and compulsion”. Bartholomew says that, ‘As Christians, we are also called “to accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and our neighbours on a global scale. It is our humble conviction that the divine and the human meet in the slightest detail in the seamless garment of God’s creation, in the last speck of dust of our planet”.’ 

Such an attitude begins with our looking closely, attentively, at the world around us as Jesus encourages us to do in today’s Gospel reading and as Stanley Spencer shows him doing in ‘Consider the Lilies’. This Harvest, may we increasingly do the same.

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Barclay James Harvest - Hymn.