International Times: Letting go of the hatred that poisons our world

My latest review for International Times is on Joseph Arthur's recent gig in London:

'Highlights from a stellar set included ‘No Weapon’, based on the freedom that is found through forgiveness – ‘faith is hard but the only solution in a world full of spiritual pollution’; ‘Nobody’s War’ – ‘Nobody here wants your war’ and ‘More money, more death, more greed, makes the children bleed’; as well as the raucous singing of a Ho’oponopono mantra together with the crowd during the encore – ‘I love you, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, And thank you’.'

For more on Joseph Arthur see here.

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: Threads of LIfe and Heart to Heart, 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 '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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Joseph Arthur - In The Sun.

Count your blessings

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

“When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

Chris Fenner writes: “Sometimes in the Christian faith, the simplest tenets are the most memorable and enduring. The hymn “Count Your Blessings” was first published in a collection called Songs for Young People (1897), published for the Methodist Book Concern (the publishing arm of the Methodist Episcopal Church), and edited by E.O. Excell, a prolific hymnal editor and compiler. True to its intent as a song for youth, its message is simple and clear: The best way to fight discouragement is to look for the blessings of life.

Little is known about the circumstances of the composition of this hymn, other than what is known about the authors. E.O. Excell (1851–1921), the composer, ran a publishing business based out of Chicago, with a specialty for Sunday School materials. In 1897, he was also working in conjunction with revivalist Sam P. Jones (1847–1906) and toured with him across the United States and elsewhere. Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856–1922), the lyricist, was an ordained minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church and at the time was in the mercantile business with his father in Lumberton, New Jersey, as Johnson Oatman & Son. Oatman had started writing songs in 1892.

Biographer J.H. Hall later reported: But it remained for Prof. E.O. Excell to bring out in 1897 what, in the opinion of most critics, is said to be Mr. Oatman’s masterpiece. “Count Your Blessings,” like “No, Not One,” has gone all over the world. Like a beam of sunlight it has brightened up the dark places of earth. Perhaps no American hymn was ever received with such enthusiasm in England as “Count Your Blessings.” A London daily, in giving an account of a meeting presided over by Gypsy Smith, said, “Mr. Smith announced a hymn. ‘Let us sing “Count Your Blessings.”’ Said he, ‘Down in South London the men sing it, the boys whistle it, and the women rock their babies to sleep to the tune.’” [J.H. Hall, “Johnson Oatman Jr.” Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914), p. 358.]"

"Growing up, Oatman realized that he would never be a great singer or preacher, but he eventually discovered his passion: hymn writing. He became a prolific writer and wrote over 5000 hymns throughout his lifetime. Most hymnals published today have at least one of his songs. Instead of being discouraged by his lack of musical oratory skills, Oatman found hope in his ability to write." "Perhaps the reason this song has been so universally included in hymnals is that it reminds discouraged Christians of the grace they have been given. It is often easy to take a negative view of life, but when we remember the things we have been given, we cannot deny that we are blessed."

That is also what the opening verses of Psalm 111 are designed to achieve (Psalm 111.1-5). They are headed up ‘Praise for God’s Wonderful Works’. The works of the Lord are great, full of honour and majesty, with his righteousness enduring forever. He is gracious and merciful, his deeds are wonderful as he provides food for those who fear him and is ever mindful of his covenant with us. As a result, we should study his works with delight and thanks and praise to Him with our whole hearts when we gather together, like this, in the company of the upright, in the congregation. Psalm 111 essentially says study the wonderful works of God so you can count your blessings and give God the praise and thanks that are due to Him.

Our readings today give us more reasons to be thankful through the summary of our faith that St Paul shares with Timothy (1 Timothy 3.16). Paul says that “the mystery of our religion is great: He [Jesus] was revealed in flesh, vindicated in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.” Paul shares the surprising revelation of Jesus as God in the world in order that Timothy and all those reading this letter give thanks to God for what we have received in and through Jesus. That is another way of or reason for counting our blessings.

By contrast, in our Gospel reading (Luke 7.31-35), Jesus speaks about people who complain whatever they receive. Jesus said that, of all those who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist, yet the people of which he speaks in today’s reading said he had a demon as he ate no bread and drank no wine. Of Jesus, God’s Son, their promised Messiah, they said he was “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” These were cynics who were so attuned to criticism of others that they could not recognise a blessing when two were standing right before their eyes.

We are called to be those who recognise and count their blessings, especially when we gather together for worship as we are doing today.

“When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.”

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Guy Penrod - Count Your Blessings.

Farewells and thank you's at St Martin's

Last Sunday, St Martin-in-the-Fields said thank you to Catherine Duce and I, before Catherine starts her maternity leave and I move to become Team Rector in Wickford and Runwell. All the speeches are available to read online, click here for mine and here for Catherine's.

I began my speech by saying: "Tell about a time you had a really good experience of church. Tell about a time you made a difference to the wider church. Tell about a time you felt your gifts and ideas were understood and appreciated. Tell about the time you spent seven years at St Martin-in-the-Fields."

Below is a photo with my leaving gifts, two prints by artist Kelly Latimore. Kelly Latimore wants Iconography to be a creative process, meditation, and practice that brings about new self knowledge for the viewer and himself. He asks the question, "Who are the saints that are among us here and now?"

He writes: "I feel the need for new images. In some icons I wish to embrace the traditional forms and image but for many icons the image needs re-shaping, re-imagining, and re-wondering.There are icons here that people may find theologically unsound and wrong, or for others, helpful and inspiring. I think both reactions are important. My hope is that these icons do what all art can potentially do, which is, to create more dialogue."








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St Martin-in-the-Fields - Morning Song.

Midnight Mass by Candlelight

Come and join us at St Stephen Walbrook for... 

  

The Midnight Mass by Candlelight 

Christmas Eve at 11.30pm

with the Choir of St Stephen Walbrook and Joe Sentance on the organ

All welcome! Followed by mince pies and hot drinks

Best wishes for a blessed Christmas and New Year

with much thanks for all your support, involvement and interest 

in St Stephen Walbrook over the past year

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Hector Berlioz - The Shepherd's Farewell.

Combining business with humanity, without neglecting either

On Thursday I had the opportunity to visit the Rothschild Archive and learnt about the ethos which underpins this famous company's success.

The success of the Rothschild family business owes much to the solidity of the original partnership of the five sons of Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who developed businesses in five European capitals: Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vienna and Naples. Working in close harmony, the family rose to prominence in a number of business sectors including bullion, government bonds, railway and mining finance.

Mayer Amschel believed that forming a partnership would sustain a strong family business into the future, a belief that proved to be correct. The agreement ensured that the reputation that Mayer Amschel had built up for himself, through a lifetime of innovative trading, could be passed on to the next generation. By remaining true to the principles and rules of the partnership and by staying in close communication, the brothers went on to create a business that has remained at the forefront of global finance.

The formal structure of the partnership agreement survived into the twentieth century, though the family business subsequently adopted more sophisticated corporate structures. Profit sharing was built into the agreement. Mayer Amschel intended that his sons should share out the profits of the partnership, ensuring that the brothers were committed to the well-being of each other, and the partnership as a whole.

This ethos is demonstrated by a letter of thanks sent by Sir Siegmund George Warburg after spending time in 1926, as a young man, at New Court, under the tutelage of Lionel de Rothschild and his brother Anthony. His time at the London house obviously made an impression, as his gracious thank-you letter shows:

"At the moment of leaving London I wish to tell you how grateful I am to you for the time I was allowed to spend at New Court which I consider a great honour. You provided me with many opportunities to learn. I learnt quite a lot of details of business-machinery. But I learnt something also which will be far more important to me in my future life. This is the fine tradition of New Court which combines business with humanity, without neglecting either. To learn such a combination is particularly valuable to somebody from the continent where so often humanity is killed by business."

Warburg was later to become a senior City figure who firmly believed that financial integration of Europe was an essential step in the development of the European economy. He managed the firm he created, S.G. Warburg & Co. until the 1970s. S.G. Warburg & Co. was later acquired by UBS AG, creating UBS Warburg, which then became UBS AG.

Despite the depredations of time and occasional bouts of over-enthusiastic destruction, a high proportion of the records of N M Rothschild & Sons have survived across nearly two centuries of continuing business, in good physical condition and carefully preserved order, looked after by generations of clerks in the Archives Department of the London Bank.

In 1999, the Board of Directors of N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, under the Chairmanship of Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, formally gifted the contents of the Archive Department to the newly established Rothschild Archive Trust. The Trustees of The Rothschild Archive Trust administer the Archive as an independent charitable trust in purpose-built premises made available for the purpose within the offices of the London business.

In 2011, the Rothschild Archive moved into new premises at New Court in the City of London. The latest building to stand on the New Court site was designed by OMA, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, headed by the eminent Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. OMA’s vision for the fourth version of New Court was inspired by the idea of ‘heritage in the City’ The Reading Room is a key feature of the dramatic modern glass and steel design.

The Reading Room bookcases and furniture were designed, crafted, and installed by the prestigious North Yorkshire company, Robert Thompson’s Craftsmen Ltd, also known as ‘The Mouseman of Kilburn’.Thompson’s use only the best quality sustainable oak and skill to create the finest pieces.The bookcases alone used 19 English oaks, took 5,500 hours to produce, and over 1,000 hours to install, and all the pieces in the Reading Room feature Thompson's trade mark mouse motif.

The Archive now houses, alongside the records of the London banking house (which themselves include often detailed correspondence from the continental houses in Frankfurt, Paris, Vienna and Naples), records of the different branches of the businesses in England, France, Germany, Italy and Austria. The Archive is also responsible for a large collection of papers of the French banking business, held on deposit with the Archives Nataionales du Monde du Travail, Roubaix, France. The Archive also holds collections of private papers of members of the English, French and Austrian Rothschild family.

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Mathilde de Rothschild - Where lilac blows.

Love is the gift

‘God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.’ (John 3. 16)

God so loved the world that he gave. What did he give and how do we unwrap his gifts?

He gave us the world in which we live, including the life that we enjoy now and the life that we will enjoy into eternity. One of the ways in which we unwrap those gifts is by means of appreciation. In the last session of our Lyfe Course we were encouraged to try and take a break over lunch to get outside and enjoy God’s creation and also to count our blessings by beginning a list of all the things we’re grateful to God for including all areas of our lives - family, work, sport, food, sleep etc.

God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us. We unwrap the gift of Jesus as we admit to our need for salvation and change. We receive Jesus through the gift of his Spirit, who enables us to change by focusing our thoughts and lives on Jesus. At every moment of every day we can ask ourselves ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ and allow the Spirit to answer that question by guiding our actions and words.

To support us in living as followers of Christ we have been given the gifts of the Bible (with its story of God’s dealings with the world he created and of Jesus’ sacrifice of himself for that same world), prayer (which brings us into conversation with God), the Church (the group of people locally who are seeking to go deeper into God and, together, to reveal God to their local community), and the Gifts of the Spirit (talents and abilities given, not personal benefit, but for the benefit of others).

These are among God’s greatest gifts to us for which we should be truly grateful. We are used to the idea of saying grace (thank you) before enjoying the food we eat. In the same way, we could say grace before reading the Bible, conversing with God in prayer, coming to church, and using the gifts of the Spirit which have been given to us.

Lewis Hyde writes that ‘a gift that cannot be given away ceases to be a gift’ and ‘the spirit of a gift is kept alive by its constant donation.’ Leo Buscaglia said, 'Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.’ St Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12 that ‘the Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.’ He follows his chapter on the gifts of the Spirit by sharing, in 1 Corinthians 13, the best way of all; that of love. God so loved the world that he gave; as God’s children and followers of Jesus, we too are to love the world by giving.

God is love. Love is gift.
God so loved that he gave;
gave life, bringing the world into being.
Life is gift. The world is gift.
God so loved that he gave;
gave his one and only Son.
Of his own free will the Son
gave up all he had
and walked the path of obedience
all the way to death -
his death on the cross -
that we might have the gift of life.
Life is gift and giving.
Life without giving
cannot be living.
God so loved that he gave.
Love is unmerited gift,
to be given freely, willingly,
without expectation.
We do not love to be loved;
we love to love.
Love is the gift.
God so loved that he gave.
Love grows by giving.
The love we give away
is the only love we keep.
God so loved that he gave.

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Bruce Springsteen - O Mary Don't You Weep.

Arts Centre Group: Cliff Richard statement

In the light of the current allegations against Cliff Richard, the Chair of the Arts Centre Group has made the following statement:

'We would like to express our thanks to Sir Cliff Richard, founder member and Patron of Arts Centre Group. We know Cliff to be a man of integrity and honour, truth and faith who sought throughout the height of his career to be guided by and accountable to men of wisdom and strong faith.

We wish you to know Cliff that we appreciate you and are praying for the Lord to guide you and sustain you. We thank you that your efforts have been fundamental in the setting up, development and longevity of our 43 year old organisation.

Without Sir Cliff, Arts Centre Group would not be what it is today, an ever evolving Group with members who are both Christians and professional artists.

This scripture is what the Lord led me to in relation to this situation - 1 Peter 3: 14 - 17.'

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David Grant - Keep It Together.

Route Masters

The husband of one of our church members at St John's Seven Kings, Tom Mckerr, has been driving the number 25 for the past two years and features in the BBC2 documentary Route Masters. He said that at first he did not want to be included on the documentary and it was only when he gave the film crew a lift home he ended up being included. He said often when people cannot pay, or do not want to, they become abusive. “I have been threatened and spat at many times, with threats to beat me up and stab me. I’ve been sworn at in a number of languages but it’s just a minority. “It’s nice when the public are leaving the bus and say ‘thank you driver’,” he added. “It makes you feel good when they acknowledge you.”

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Athlete - Flying Over Bus Stops.