Quartz
Have you been to visit the high cross at Ruthwell yet? It is one of several crosses which were raised in the area between Whithorn and Bamburgh at the hight of Anglian power. This cross is particularly famous because it has words from a poem called “The Dream of the Rood” engraved on it. The […]
I used to publish “online pilgrimages” rather than digital way to access physical locations, these were journeys through cyberspace. They are a bit like “mixtapes” from the cassette tape era. People would spend ages recording songs from the radio, or compiling selections of tunes that represented a mood or communicated with each other. So here […]
What do the letters stand for? If you root around the website you will find an explanation of what the abreviation means. However, those three letters also stand for years of meeting together to study scripture, praying together, sharing cake and coffee. We each bring something with us from the varied backgrounds we have, and […]
A picture, or a poem, is the death of possibility. A great and terrifying cloud of potential, collapses. The dead scales of art are experienced, while the artist struggles to shed skin. To hold a cloud of unknowing in tension, and sense the moment of rain. All are able, Some have skill, Make the time.
Do you remember when John Bell came to talk with us at St Johns? We had to change venue to down the street so that there would be enough seats for everyone to fit in. Follow the link to watch him chatting with Ricky Ross about a wide range of topics which affect the whole […]
The other Wordsmith Crafts project is Cluaran. While Quartz explores the spiritual heritage, using the arts to help people learn #SensingSpirituality, Cluaran concentrates material culture and history. These two are, of course, closely linked. Recently, summerhill community centre held a mediaeval feast. This was an all age event, led by the young people who have […]
This week much of Scotland will be awash in the discarded plastic left over from a commercialised Halloween. How many of us are wrapped in misinformation about the roots and current experience of this Holy time? This article discusses the history of the festival we have inherited, and some of the misinformation surrounding it. https://www.premierunbelievable.com/articles/was-halloween-originally-a-christian-festival/16648.article […]
I was asked where the space for public lamenting in church gathering can be found. I’m not sure. Perhaps this post is in someways a lament in itself. Laments are both an expression of grief and longing. An exploration of loss coupled with a hope that things could – should – better. There are psalms […]
Yesterday was the autumn equinox. Day and night balance each other. It is celebrated in many ways. Some of these are flourishings from Christendom, some look for earlier roots and others might just be instinctive urges to drink something special and warming. At the contemporary service in St John’s we built a machine. The processes […]
When words run out. Can we pray in colours? If God is Love, and we are Loves children, then when we are caught up in moments of immersion in beauty and the experience of Love are we praying? The sunset over an ocean. A moment of noticing the character of light on the leaves of […]