the sensation of life
Anxiety, holding Magnifying Glass. Studio Shot Anxiety can be one of the most debilitating and overwhelming feelings. The older I get, the more I notice my anxieties; and I fancy writing a set of thoughts about how to deal with anxiety. I can think of 11 ways of dealing with anxiety and I am going … Continue reading 11 Ways of Dealing with Anxiety:
1. Breathe
I have been listening to the pray-as-you-go podcast. On Tuesday the reading was the sixth day from the creation story in Genesis where 'man' (does this mean each person or humanity en masse?) is created in the 'image and likeness of God.' It is a shocking thought. When pushing through the clot of humanity on … Continue reading The Sixth Day
Prayer is simple, but not easy. Prayer is simple because, like God, it is right under our noses. It is not easy because we are not simple. When we want to pray, where do we start? When we sit down to pray our mind shoots off in a hundred different directions, worrying about what we … Continue reading Where to start?
Yesterday, I found myself arriving 'into' (as they like to say these days) London Gatwick on a flight from Gibraltar. Everything had gone smoothly up to that point and I was looking forward to a quick exit from the terminal and a speedy journey home. No such luck! The terminal was packed with people who … Continue reading Travelling
right and left front and back centre and circumference crown to pelvic floor to toe this body breathing i am alive i have arrived there is nowhere else
I have taken to reading the Daily Office outdoors in the early morning and evening, walking the side-streets around where I live. In the unlikely case that you should be interested, I use a version of the Office called Celebrating Daily Prayer compiled by David Stancliffe, until recently Bishop of Salisbury: "a pocket version of … Continue reading Walking the Office
There is a skill that is common to several spiritual practices: Buddhist mindfulness meditation, Focusing, the Application of the Senses from the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, the contemplative approach of the Cloud of Unknowing and the Practice of the Presence of God. I call this 'feeling into this body'. I think it confers several benefits: … Continue reading Feeling into this body
The books, the theology, the churches, the schools, the education: they cannot seem to convey the sense of wonder that gave rise to the ideas about God, the ideas we call Physics or Evolution or Geography, etc. The people who wrote the first books, who dreamt up to first ideas were seized with wonder, wonder … Continue reading What happened to a sense of wonder…? (Van Morrison)
My father was an accomplished, big-hearted man, naturally able and rounded in his abilities, with a good mind and skilful hands: woodwork, plumbing, painting and decorating, car maintenance, printing, bookkeeping, cooking, modern ‘O’-level maths, a smattering of Spanish, green bowling, a good bass voice and sense of harmony, and a graceful, graceful dancer. In his … Continue reading Funeral Tribute
My father died yesterday, Easter Sunday. This picture was taken the day before. He was in a nursing home. One of the carers took his order for supper at 4.30pm and he was found dead at 5pm. He was 82, has not been in good health for a few years, and has had a particularly … Continue reading Michael Maddock, RIP