Category: Uncategorized

Doing what you didn’t think you could…

When I studied Art at Grammar School there was a general agreement amongst my teachers that I lacked the talent to become even a modest artist. There was much evidence to substantiate this view. With disappointment I accepted this judgement on my ability, or rather lack of it! It has kept me away from paint brush, water colours, oil, canvas etc ever since. Thankfully I did discover that I had a deep appreciation of art thanks to one of my teachers. He opened up within me the enjoyment of art in its many forms. However, I have never felt confident in my practical skills in this area.

That changed slightly last Saturday.

I was encouraged to join a Craft morning at my church. It was advertised as a fun morning where creative juices flowed and we needed no previous experience. There was also a variety of things we could try. My Vicar was leading a group who, under her tutoring made felt animals, mainly sheep! Another table was devoted to what is called Creative Doodling, which is described as the act of drawing simple or complex designs, patterns, or scribbles without a specific goal in mind, often for relaxation, focus, or creative expression, rather than as a planned artwork. That sounded attractive.
Other possibilities were craft work making place mats and other objects; making striking animals such a cat with it’s tail held high and a very convincing Giraffe; and also a table where, using oil, acrylic or water-colour paints, it was possible to create a painting.
This was clearly my nemesis to be avoided.
Perversely, I joined this table, led by my friend Paul who is an accomplished artist. He encouraged me to have a little dabble. So I did, using the medium of water-colour!

On a blank sheet of art paper, I attempted a group of trees which were not very like real trees. Then inspiration came to me. I took up a pencil and drew what I hoped was some resemblance of Tarn Hows in the Lake District. It’s a beautiful spot and I was probably inspired by photos sent to me by my friend Gill who lives near the Tarn. (Many of her photographs and reflections appear on this blog).

Very soon, hills looking rather like pyramids and water and more trees appeared. I accidentally dipped my brush in a cup of coffee and discovered it was a perfect medium to absorb paint and also brought its own texture to bear. I Found a stick of charcoal and managed to dot a kind of shoreline. The result can be seen in the photograph above.

But that was not the real result.

I arrived at the Craft morning in a poor emotional state. I had been to my dearest friend Anne’s funeral in the North East and spent time with her family who are very dear to me. I was full of memories and they mixed together in sadness, joy, tears and loss but also wrapped in the solace of faith.
Spending a morning reflecting and painting was just what I needed.
Without intention on my part, I found a quietness to my inner turmoil and a kind of healing. Becoming absorbed in something different can bring a new perspective for our lives and a new value. We often get embroiled in the sheer slog of daily living in a world which increasingly devalues the beauty and the joy of our humanity. So much is about pressure, getting through the day, dealing with the demands of others and generally a loss of discovering who we truly are inside. Our souls get submerged in the sheer effort of a kind of living which actually can be self-destructive.

When I picked up the paintbrush on Saturday I wasn’t sure why but two things emerged.
One was that I was doing something that I didn’t think I could and that I had been told I couldn’t. I certainly didn’t produce a great piece of art but it was my first ever watercolour.
There was a lady there who had been an art teacher and she came up to me at the end and said, ‘I give you an ‘A’ for that’. She had no idea just how much that meant to me and how many ghosts of the past she put to rest!

The other thing which emerged is that for various reasons some of us put low limitations on what we can do and on who we are. Discovering that we can do something new can raise us up. After all, we were created by God to become the best person we can be and when we accept that God never limits our development as a human being made in His likeness, we can soar!
Other people may try to limit us but God lifts us up and awakens his Creative spirit within us. When we accept that, nothing can stop us!

The day after the craft morning we sang John Bell’s hymn about the Holy Spirit. All 4 verses celebrate the Spirit of creativity, full of movement, joy, action. The third verse particularly moved me because it seems to describe what I experienced the day before.

She dances in fire, startling her spectators,
waking tongues of ecstasy where dumbness reigned;
she weans and inspires all those whose hearts are open,
nor can she be captured, silenced or restrained.

[Mr G. 8th September 2025]

St. Aidan, meeting God in others.

Lindisfarne : The Cross on Cuddy’s Isle .

Piers Northam ponders on the mission of St. Aidan

St Aidan of Lindisfarne, whom the church remembers today, modelled humility. He was active in Northumbria in the 7th Century. Aidan was of Irish descent and was a monk at the monastery on Iona. Oswald, who became king of Northumbria in 634, wanted to bring Christianity to his people and the Venerable Bede tells us that he contacted the monastic community on Iona and they sent a bishop called Corman to bring the good news to Oswald’s people. But Corman didn’t go down well – he was haughty and harsh, and thought the Northumbrians were too stubborn and stupid to be converted. On his return to Iona, Aidan criticized the way that he had gone about things: “Shouldn’t you have been a little gentler and more patient brother?” Aidan is reported to have asked and, before he knew it, he was being sent off to have a go himself.

So what was it that differed in Aidan’s approach? Well, first, he was aware that if he was going to bring a lasting Christian faith to this part of the country he was going to have to have a long-term strategy. So his first move was to set up his little monastery on the island of Lindisfarne and in it a school that took in local Northumbrian boys. In doing so, he was valuing the people of Northumbria rather than assuming that they were stupid and stubborn. He was noticing, valuing and nurturing their potential, because they were to be the very foundation of this local church.

His next move was to begin to learn the language of the local people so that he could go out into the lanes and farms talking to people and telling them the Gospel stories in a language they could understand. You have to remember that Aidan would have spoken Old Irish and the Northumbrians Old English – two languages that had no linguistic ties – so this was no mean feat. Thankfully, King Oswald came to his rescue being bilingual. If you think about it, that’s the exact opposite of a colonial approach, where you take your own culture and impose it on another society and culture – again, Aidan saw the value in what was there and approached the task with humility.

In those times, people were in the habit of carrying knives – and not just to cut their meat up – allegiances were fiercely local; foreigners and outsiders generally mistrusted and Aidan, of course, was one such outsider. Yet Aidan and his followers refused to tuck a knife in their belt – a risky strategy, but a courageous one, for it showed that they were essentially defenceless and meant that they were reliant on people to help them – trusting them to do so. And, of course, we see the parallels between that and the gospel account of Jesus sending the disciples out in pairs. Whereas Corman, Aidan’s predecessor had ridden around the farms and villages of the area on horseback, gathering people together, preaching to them and then aiming at mass conversions, Aidan’s methods were far more humble: he literally walked thousands of miles, tramping the lanes and pathways, and getting into conversation with those he met. His was a patient approach: aiming to kindle a curiosity in his listeners so that in time they were drawn into the way of Christ and would ask to be baptised. His methods did not hinge on mass conversions which had little to back them up, but rather on personal, long-lasting relationships that led to a real desire to learn more about Christ. He was not talking down to people from the back of a horse, rather, he was encountering them face-to-face – eye-to-eye – on a level: treating them as equals – all valued, beloved and precious to God.

Needless to say, Aidan’s approach found far greater success than Corman’s and Christianity took hold and became deeply rooted in the North East of England. His humility and the way that he approached and valued people was effective in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.

[Extract from a sermon by Piers Northam, preached on St. Aidan’s Day, Sunday 31st August 2025]

On Friendship

*Christ our Li*berator. artist: *John Dugdale*

For Anne

My friend Anne died recently and as I prepare myself for her funeral I begin to think about the nature of our Friendship.

We were friends for almost 50 years. There are people who have been your friend for most of your life. These are the precious few who have shaped your life from within. Some seem to have been sent into your life to enliven, brighten and accept you without judgement. Sometimes, of course, they lovingly correct you! These are the friends with whom you share the deep gift of love in a harmony which somehow fulfils what it means to be truly human. There is a one-ness in which delight flourishes and also where honesty and truth play a part which is invaluable and open and kindly meant.
This feels to me to be a gift of God who is, of course the ‘friend’ who reflects all friendship.
It’s as if God shares His DNA in a very special way.
Amongst such friends there is a deepness of spirit through which they share in your very being and indeed, it is their love and friendship which makes that ‘being’ wonderfully unique.
They are not a ‘part’ of your life. They are an ingredient which makes your life complete and fulfilled. They are, in fact, God’s pure gift to you through whom He reveals you as you truly are.

In such a friendship the divine and human spark together and brings to birth the Godly specialness which makes you and your friend truly icons of the Incarnation. They share in that pilgrimage which leads you both closer to the nature of God, who out of sheer love was born in human form and likeness. Jesus, born in our midst, spoke profoundly of the nature of friendship as a sign of God’s care, love, and acceptance and of His desire that our lives become imitations of His. True friendship is when people can look into each other’s eyes and immediately see a reflection of God mirrored in the soul.

My dear friend, Anne, was and is such a person. I thank God for her love for me and for others who have been changed, loved and accepted by her, in God’s holy Name.

Mr. G.
30th August 2025

Jesus said, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15)

Gentle Simplicity shining forth

*St John Baptiste Vianney. Statue in Eglise Sainte Trinité – FALAISE : Normandy*

One of my special saints is St. John Vianney, known more often as the Curé D’Ars. He was a faithful parish priest in the village of Ars, France, for many years. He was almost not ordained because he couldn’t pass exams but his Bishop saw beyond that into his soul and he ordained him. For the rest of his life and ministry he devoted himself to helping people to move that one more step towards God. After his death he was acclaimed a saint and is regarded as the Patron Saint of Parish Priests. Every priest should aim to have a ministry like his.
However, he wasn’t just concerned with the spiritual journey of individual Christians. He had a yearning for the journey of the Christian Church to be a holy one—one which embraced others and built up a community of faith based on praying together.He said: Private Prayer is like straw scattered here and there. If you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames, but gather these straws into a bundle and light them and you get a mighty fire rising like a column in the sky..”

Here is a reflective poem by Piers Northam, inspired by the statue of the Curé d’Ars in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Falaise, Normandy. It is also inspired by his forthcoming ordination to the priesthood on September 27th.

[Mr G. 26 Aug 2025]