Culture Articles
After hard times
Patience comes first in that dark night; slowly, peace rises in the inward mind, then all the world around exhibits what there is, quiet and profound, disclosing itself as an offering; the soul appreciates what is offered.
Swift
The best would be the gift to heal; And what exchange could yield that gift? But hope compels the mind to kneel And then in silence turn the wheel; With each rotation short and swift The best would be the gift to heal.
Outgrowing Dawkins: God for grown-ups, by Rupert Shortt
I have a feeling that neither atheists nor the irreligious (nor the indifferent) will really feel the need to read this book. They’ve made up their minds, as Rupert Shortt indicates in a chapter entitled ‘A dialogue of the deaf’. But it’s important for the religiously inclined to...
To my sisters and brothers
As a child I was taught that the Russians and the Ukrainians had a long history of persecuting the Jews. My ancestors were refugees from Lithuania, My heart bleeds for the people of Ukraine and their supporters in Russia. And for the peoples of Palestine and Israel. For the persecuted...
Armistice
On the high field, battle-green and bracken-amber, three blanketed horses graze in radio-silence and doubting light.
Loving Earth: Some starting points for Earthcare – an alphabet book from the Quaker Arts Network
The Quaker Arts Network, which hopefully is familiar to many readers, has a soul child: The Loving Earth Project. It comprises a series of fabric panels on an ecological theme, and everyone is invited to be part of it. I would personally describe it as creative campaign, using textile art...
We Speak Crisis Here, by Violet White
This small pamphlet of poems is remarkable. I commend it to any Friend who feels deeply the wounds we witness and experience in the world. White speaks from the heart of the intense suffering in our world, and of unbearable and unthinkable atrocities. She lays them before us in poetic...
The chrysalis
One hot afternoon in France, exhausted and longing for shade, I perched upon a wayside pile of logs, gingerly… for fear of snakes…
Think again, Priti
Priti Patel, Priti Patel your Police and Crime Bill will take us to hell, draconian powers never end well – for pity’s sake, Priti, we have to rebel!
Play favourites: John Lampen revisits Shakespeare’s Henry VI
Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy was a big success in its time, but is seldom played today. The plays look boring on paper. Huge lists of characters have names that sound like county councils; long speeches are given in plodding end-stopped verse; indistinguishable battles recur. But past productions have shown...