Seen and Unseen: The journey Bob Dylan biopics fail to capture

My latest article for Seen and Unseen is entitled 'The journey Bob Dylan biopics fail to capture'. In it I argue that the best of Dylan’s work is a contemporary Pilgrim, Dante or Rimbaud on a compassionate journey:

"Throughout Dylan’s career, he writes songs about people travelling through life in the face of apocalyptic storms seeking some form of relief or salvation or entry to heaven. So, what we have in the best of Dylan’s work is a contemporary Pilgrim, Dante or Rimbaud on a compassionate journey, undertaken in the eye of the Apocalypse, to stand with the damned at the heart of the darkness that is twentieth century (and then twenty-first century) culture.”

For more on Bob Dylan see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. See also my co-authored book The Secret Chord which has been described as an impassioned study of the role of music in cultural life written through the prism of Christian belief. For more of my writings on music click here.

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

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Bob Dylan - Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.

Travelling Well Together

Here's my sermon from this morning's joint service at St Mary's Runwell:

There's a very old joke about a child in Sunday School. A Sunday-school teacher asks the class of young children, "What is little and gray, eats nuts, and has a big bushy tail?" After a moment one child replies, "I know the answer's probably supposed to be Jesus, but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me."

Talking recently with our youth discussion group about the Bible, we were saying essentially that, that Jesus is both the way in to the Bible and what the Bible is all about. It's all about Jesus, as the Sunday school child had grasped.

That's what we get here in these parables from Jesus (John 10. 1-10). Jesus is both the gate to the sheep fold and the shepherd who brings the sheep in and out. It's all about Jesus, whether it's about beginning the Christian life as we join the flock and enter the fold or living the Christian life, as we go in and out of the sheep fold with Jesus in order to find pasture.

These parables give us picture of a part of the Christian life; that part that is about being together as a flock, receiving sustenance during the day when we are away from the fold and protection during the night when we are in the fold.

It's all about Jesus because he is the one who leads us to sustenance and who protects us with his body from evil. It's all about Jesus because Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the way we can come to see what God is actually like and feed on him by becoming like him, as well as the one who, by laying down his own life, enables us to find forgiveness and freedom from sin.

The point, in these parables, is that we travel well together; that we remain together and that we travel in and out of the sheep fold together.

Bishop Guli, the Bishop of Chelmsford, spent time at the beginning of her ministry in the Diocese travelling around the Diocese listening to people in it. As a result of her listening exercise, we have a document called Travelling Well Together, a document that is being given out today and also on Sunday 21st May, the day of our APCM, as it, as its title indicates, suggests ways or values for travelling well together as churches, parishes, a diocese, and as the pilgrim people of God.

The values are: Awareness of grace – as God always provides the resources required for the mission of the church to continue; Valuing the small, the vulnerable and the marginal - our calling is not to strain after worldly success, influence and power but to be a faithful and gentle presence and trust that God will use our efforts in ways we may never fully understand; Focusing outward - always called to look to the needs of those beyond the Church; Sustaining healthy rhythms - invited to live life in all its fulness; Kindness, mutual respect, gentleness and humility - virtues which are often underestimated and undervalued; Generously collaborative – a willingness to work well with others in a spirit of open honesty and transparency; Faithful, creative, courageous and open to the unexpected and surprising – faithful to the traditions we have received, whilst at the same time being open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who continues to lead us into all truth. These are values that are all about Jesus, as he provides the template as well as the means for coming together, staying together and travelling well together.

We need to be focused on Jesus and on shared values at this time as we approach the APCM and the point that I have been with you for a year. We can look back on a year of development, a year in which seeds have been sown, some of which have already sprouted.

Our connections to the communities of Wickford and Runwell have grown, our profile in the wider community has developed, new initiatives like Unveiled, Quiet Days and the Parent and Toddler Group have helped in bringing that about. Some new people have joined, our youth discussion group has begun and we are preparing to run enquirers courses and wellbeing groups.

So, there are encouragements, but we are also at a critical time, a time when, rather than staying together and travelling well together, we could begin to pull apart and allow our differences as people and churches to pull us apart. The reality is that there are differences as well as commonalities in the way that we are as churches in our team and if we focus on the differences - one does this, while the other does that, or one has this, while the other has that - then we will pull in different directions and will pull ourselves apart.

The answer to it is to look to Jesus, rather than at ourselves. In Jesus, we see how God is one, although three; how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each different persons with different roles, yet are constantly communicating with one another, constantly sharing love, and therefore constantly communicating and sharing love with us too.

The values that are shared in Travelling Well Together are the values of Jesus, which are the values of the Trinity, of God. They are what we need in order to be together as a flock, to travel in and out of the sheep fold together to find sustenance and to be protected.

To be in that place and to travel in that way is to look at Jesus, rather than ourselves, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, rather than going our own way, and to feed on Jesus, rather than finding our own sustenance. It's all about Jesus, as the Sunday School child had come to realise. If we want to travel well together as a team and a parish, then we need to do the same, and reading and absorbing the values in this document will help us do that together. Amen.

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Cat Stevens - Peace Train.

Alys Tomlinson & Markéta Luskacová: Ex Voto & Pilgrims

My latest review for Church Times compares and contrasts Alys Tomlinson's Ex-Voto photographic series on the theme of Pilgrimage with the Bohemia-born British-based photographer Markéta Luskacová’s documentary series Pilgrims, currently on show at Tate Britain.

Mike Trow, chair of judges for the Sony World Photography Awards 2018, says that Ex-Voto is a sensitive illustration of the “idea of pilgrimage as a journey of discovery and sacrifice to a greater power” through “quiet images, beautifully produced, with a calm, spiritual feel that is at odds with so much of our frenetic lives”.

'Luskacová wanted to record the pilgrims’ way of life, because she thought that it would not survive for much longer. Tomlinson’s fascination with contemporary pilgrimage and the warmth of reception for her images reveal the enduring strength of pilgrimage as a human endeavour that has not been lost in the period from 1967 to 2018. Tomlinson’s images reveal the endurance of faith in the 21st century.'

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Norah Jones - Sunrise.