A voice reaches out to something beyond itself that cannot answer it

Mary Szybist's Incarnadine explores 'the relationships between poetry and prayer ... to explicate an encounter between the human and “the other”—something outside of human experience, be it nature or, in this case, God.'

In an interview with the Paris Review she said:

'I have thought about the connections between poetry and prayer for a long time, and sometimes I am even tempted to believe that they are similar engagements. When I was young, I reached a point where I found myself unable to pray. I was devastated by it. I missed being able to say words in my head that I believed could be heard by a being, a consciousness outside me. That is when I turned to poetry.

I have always been attracted to apostrophe, perhaps because of its resemblance to prayer. A voice reaches out to something beyond itself that cannot answer it. I find that moving in part because it enacts what is true of all address and communication on some level—it cannot fully be heard, understood, or answered. Still, some kinds of articulations can get us closer to such connections—connections between very different consciousnesses—and I think the linguistic ranges in poetry can enable that.'

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Iona - Wave After Wave.

The Book of Strange New Things

Michel Faber's The Book of Strange New Things is a novel with themes of communication, love and language across distance and cultures and within faith and doubt. The story unfolds against a background of apocalyptic societal collapse through a combination of climate change and food shortages. As a result, the novel shares themes with Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Walter M. Miller, Jr.'s A Canticle For Leibowitz.

Sophia Waugh summarises effectively: 'Peter, ex-junkie, loving husband, cat-lover, sets off on a journey. The novel opens with his farewell to his wife, and we gather that he will be gone a while and that he might be in danger. It is not immediately revealed that he is a missionary, and when we do realise this, it comes as a surprise to learn that his mission is not in the far reaches of some Amazonian jungle, but in outer space. We are in a future in which Nasa no longer exists, but a major space programme does. Peter is being sent to a planet named Oasis, where he will be not so much a pastor to the crew stationed out there, but a missionary for its inhabitants, the Oasans.'

Hannah McGill writes that the novel 'is as much about the minor failures of communication that can erode marital intimacy as it is about contacting other beings, and as much about the existential terror inherent in putative parenthood as it is about travel to far-off worlds. As the once-inseparable Peter and Beatrice, now worlds apart, struggle to comprehend one another’s day-to-day lives, Faber lets a devastating possibility shuffle to the fore: every relationship is long-distance, and every person a strange new planet. The methods whereby we try to minimise difference, meanwhile, are themselves unstable – language most palpably so.'

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Lou Reed - Satellite Of Love.

Anglican Communion life impeded by insufficient communicators

Improving the way in which the Anglican Communion communicates with the wider world might be thought the least of its problems but an inability to effectively communicate its good news story and stories is an endemic problem for the 21st century Church. Therefore, it is interesting to see recognition of the problem within the Anglican Communion:

Anglican Communion Working Group: “More communicators needed to sustain the vital circulation of information and dialogue”

By ACNS staff

The Anglican Communion faces a shortage of qualified communicators, according to an international Working Group on communications. The group—consisting of communications professionals from five continents—concluded that the Communion life was at risk of being detrimentally affected by some Provinces’ inability to source and share their news and stories widely.

“The narrative of the Body of Christ is very powerful,” said group member Revd Dr Joshva Raja “and currently the Anglican Communion is not properly equipped to share that narrative.”

Dr Raja, originally from the Church of South India, explained that an informal survey had revealed that only a third of Provinces have full-time communications staff.

"In many cases the job of telling the story of the Church is left to busy Provincial Secretaries, unqualified volunteers or, in some cases, the bishop or Primate," he said. "How can the world hear about the best of our church life if we do not hire people with adequate time and/or the skills to source and share the stories of our part in God’s mission?"

During its recent three-day meeting in London, the Anglican Communion Communications Working Group, identified that Strategic Communications—that is, communicating proactively as well as reactively—is now, more than ever, a vital ministry of the church.

“The world has changed massively in the past decade,” said the Anglican Communion’s Director for Communication Jan Butter. “The Internet and mobile phone technology is challenging the way the Anglican Communion can and should engage in God’s mission: sermons now reach global audiences; evangelism is happening via Google’s Search Engine; church notices reach Anglicans in remote areas via text messages.

“Increasing access to Social Media also means there is greater, often instant, dialogue between everyone; church communication is no longer simply ‘top down’. The Anglican Communion needs to do all it can now to seize these new opportunities to work together to share God’s Good News.”

The group—that also included members from the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Hong Kong, Southern Africa, the US, England and Mexico—reflected on the effective communication that is taking place around the Anglican Communion. Examples include communication via text message (SMS), Facebook and Twitter, printed material, websites, video, radio and television.

However, it was clear that there is still a way to go before all Anglican Communion Provinces are equally able to share news and information domestically and intra-Provincially. An imbalance in the availability of resources, technology and training means that only a few Provinces prioritise communications as a life-giving ministry of the Church.

“The group has made several recommendations to strengthen Anglican Communion communications,” said Bishop Anthony Poggo of the Episcopal Church of Sudan.

These include conducting a Communion-wide audit to identify gaps in Province’s communications systems and structures; strengthening the Anglican Communion website and News Service; and providing training in communications for both communicators and clergy.

“A key recommendation, however, is that every Province should have at least one paid, qualified Communications Director,” he said. “We know this will be a challenge for many Provinces, but we are committed to finding ways of making this happen.”

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Athlete - Half Light.