Arts Articles
Spring
Winter drags on: Grey day pursued by Grey day. The sun Appears, winks a bleary eye, Surveys his pale cold kingdom And disappears once more Behind the draperies of cloud.
Cry of the Earth
Last summer we put on Cry of the Earth in Leiden, Netherlands. I would like to share, with British Friends, memories of a wonderful performance. The music was by Tony Biggin and the libretto by Alec Davison. You are so blessed to have these two men with you, who make...
Ploughing
The farmer tells us Old Punch is due for retirement now, and that he’ll spend the rest of his happy days grazing contentedly in peaceful pastures.
Etty at Jesus Lane
On 8 February 2014 the American actress Susan Stein performed her one-woman play Etty at Jesus Lane Meeting House in Cambridge, sponsored by Cambridgeshire Area Meeting. It was a great success. More than forty Friends and non-Friends paid rapt attention as Susan delivered her powerful performance of Etty’s words, based entirely...
The Beast of Paradise
Thou, beast: my leaven, Thou, soft-footed lion, Thou, graceful green lizard, Thou, perfect fly:
Pilgrimage
Somehow, this is not footfall. The tired glance is missing, and the peculiar ache of distance. Jerusalem, Medjugorje, Croagh Patrick – a list of names. Dust, horizons, remembering.
John ap John
Have you ever heard of John ap John, Of Coed Cristionydd not far from Ruabon? Son of a modest arable farmer, More solid than John and a great deal calmer, John now thought it was time to move on.
Thought for the Week: Piano
Like having a piano in the house We all need someone on whom to practise Love. Arpeggios of passion, chords of content, Persistent scales of care, with sharps or flats. Not necessarily the great concerto Of long-established wedded partnership –
L’Amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle (Dante)
The Love that moves the sun and the other stars And shows me, too, that those deep-seated scars Of separation, loss and hopelessness And wondering who I really am Can lead me to a deeper sense of holiness.
Quaker Meeting
Facing shafts of light without, within a brighter place we begin, to whisper then to shout fractures of the outer core dropping of the daily mask, conversations deep and raw… are offered to thee, yet…