“It’s some thing connected to meaning. An oblique waking up. Or a guilty secret. An automatic self disgust. There are whole sets of impulses that have pushed me. Chemically induced ones. Natural body exuberances and later self-inflicted. I just can’t capture anything about this in words. It’s about meaning. A really joyful sitting with, walking …
Category archives: religion
pushy puritans
I was at a Church of England service today. Two services in fact, the first a “traditional” service culminating in communion, the second a “family” service. Both had a sermon at their heart. The readings for the day upon which the sermons reflected were taken from Isaiah 40, 1-11 and from Mark 1, 1-8. The …
what i said to the true believer
In discussion with a true believer I asserted that there is no more shame associated with the Western tradition than with others. That indeed this analytical mindset was one that enables the person to understand the viewpoint of another yet maintain their sense of being within that analytical framework. Other frames, other traditions but not …
101
I am a Quaker, a member of the Religious Society of Friends. I was at meeting for worship in Sheffield this morning and heard R, a prominent Quaker I’d say, speak about her love of passage 1.01 from Advices and Queries. Here it is: As Friends we commit ourselves to a way of worship which …
clergy and heritage
Today I walked in to Sheffield Cathedral where extensive work has been done to remodel the entry and the interior of the nave. I was walking around and I could hear somebody reading from the Bible and was surprised to see that although there was no visible congregation other than one two people sitting reflectively …
our friends the iconoclasts
Fascinating programme on Beyond Belief about new developments in Mecca and Medina. I was talking the other day with my friends Afif and Nawal and we were looking at pictures of Mecca. They were showing me pictures of the crowds of pilgrims around the Kabba and in the background you could see incredibly tall skyscrapers …
Heritage
So heritage shows emerged as a property transaction. And it remains effectively a property transaction today. Heritage is mapped by ‘heritopography’, the sets of lines of communication or cultural understanding which allow the outsider to feel in place where ever they are provided they have a guidebook all mobile device. The British tourist standing on …
History
We have all obsession with history in the Western world from whence I emerge. A compulsive interest in the past and an ability to produce that past as historical record and to consume such records. There are psycho analytical events taking place. This fascination with the past and is perhaps linked into the continual need …
Holy languages
Arabic is a wholly language. Language in which the angel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed. The holy language of the Koran is one whose themselves and consonants in and of themselves have some materiality and thus impact on the lives of those around. This idea of language carrying on certain magical properties reminded me of the …
St Paul as a prophet
Christianity has this unfortunate obsession with the figure of Jesus Christ. In turn has been a constant struggle within Christianity to return to the original figure of Christ as a way of combating a form of legalese religiosity which installs itself. Every movement like this faces the issue that the actual content of the Gospels, …