Arts Articles
An alternative Christmas
Christmas is, when a child is born, any child, anywhere – bringing with it, if only for a single moment, that spark of heavenly glory, as a reminder and a promise, that all can be made new.
Enemy aliens
How often do you have the chance of ridding someone you know of a demon that has bound her family for 100 years? My Friday Meeting friend, sometime in 2015, began telling me of her German grandfather, Rudolf, who had been interned as an enemy alien in Alexandra Palace, alongside 3,000 others, from 1914...
Bombs and friendship
You were warned what would happen if you invaded Iraq but you left us facing a predictable fate with bombs. We needed friendship, not an attack.
Winter walking
Walking in solitude, Heartbeat heavy, pulse, The steady rustle of wind In the sorrowful trees Bent to the growing Demands of the elements.
Thoughts on committees
Oh what a pity, another committee has messed it up again And safeguarding measures that give me no pleasure are driving me insane. Whatever I do – in a moment or two – we’re back in square one again. Every time a plan is tried, it goes straight down the drain.
The Candle
It is dark outside and, I am on my own. Preparations are in hand: The room is tidied, curtains drawn and the phones silenced. The white candle, living in an old box under the stairs, is brought out, dusted, lit and placed on the floor. Other lights are extinguished. All...
Earthly limits
Dear Lord, thank You For the light of day For three birds flying across the sky For grey and white clouds
Maggie Glover: Painter of honest portraits
Through her art, the late Margaret Glover interpreted and celebrated a lifelong commitment to peace. This exhibition includes some newly acquired pieces, and leads you to become aware of the considerable historical and political experience of her witness and engagement with the peace movement during her lifetime.
The Quakers
I didn’t join the Quakers; After Mass I attended their Sunday service. ‘Isn’t Mass enough for you?’ I understood Colleen’s question.
Making darkness visible
Setting the world to rights over plates of pasta, Emma, Pat and I decided that it would be a very good idea if someone found a cure for depression. I nearly said that there was a cure, but I didn’t, because it seems to me (having struggled with the...