Arts Articles
We are the weather…
We are the weather That rolls across the face of God… Who sighs in the sea Breathes in the wood Claps His hands across the mountain Weeps in the sky.
Culture and conscience
There was a minor furore last year when the Poetry Book Society, which organises Britain’s most prestigious poetry award, the T S Eliot Prize, lost Arts Council funding and a hedge fund firm called Aurum stepped in to save it. The organisers of the prize were relieved but two...
Quilted greetings
From flags to tapestries – fabric has often been used to communicate messages by using words and symbols. This quilt, stitched by British Friends, has been made to send loving greetings to all Quakers attending the World Conference of Friends 2012.
A bird meditation
Why did you come? Why did you come here? I came because nothing is asked of me here, but to just sit. Just sit quietly in silence.
Policeman, Stoke Newington
Standing close up to a policeman, I can get a free look at his uniform, its unrevealing midnight matt cloth and silvery buttons, its clever gussets, and places for his walkie talkie, yes, his walkie-talkie tucked under his tunic. Serious tailoring.
The Heron
The heron fishes in the tide With cans and crisp bags at his side I watched him fishing in the place where tide and river interface Midst mud and oil and salt and slime Patiently he takes his time
Settling
Not quite silence but on the other hand the ambient sounds diminish –
Departure
I am part of what once was But might be so again. Did we love once? Were we one? Two hearts with but a single rhythm?
Practising the Presence
There is a chamber of the mind prepared for me. When I am ready, willing to surrender. When I am quiet, I may enter there To find a place of stillness, a place already occupied By the light of the welcoming Presence.
Climb up to the moor
Judith Bromley paints as a way to discover, explore and express the relationship between her inner being and everything around her. She says: ‘For me, the process of drawing and painting is a meditative experience.’ Through this book, Judith’s painting and writing has also become a powerful ministry, creating...