I met Brian and his wife through our seatree buisiness and immediately liked him. I also sensed a deep resonance with much of his work and the concerns and direction of much of my own writing. I tend to use spiritual language, whereas he uses economic language and concepts, but there is not a lot of difference between the two. Both deal with complex uncertainties, at best steered towards goodness by love.
Brian kindly offered us some work for our advent proost project, but we seem to have had an upload failure. When I finally got to listen to them, they seemed to relavant that I wanted to share them anyway…
Happy Christmas everyone. My year has been full of this little boy, my grandson. To watch the wide world through his eyes has been nothing less than joy.
Thankyou to so many people, near and far, for your friendship and companionship this year. For Rob, by co-conspirator in the Proost thing, for those friends who come to small islands with me, to the Iona Community folk, to Andy, Karl and Steve, all just out of hospital after operations/illness, to my lovely family and everyone who – even by accident – has dipped into this blog.
To old friends and new ones.
May you find meaning and moments of simple joy as this Christmas unfolds.
Every year I try to write a poem that takes me into a new Christmas. This year has been harder than most. What can be said about here, now?
When we who seek to honour the call towards a different kind of kingdom-making. We invite you to join us around the table groaning with good things.
There will be a time for protest, for cries of justice, for silence, for lament – but tomorrow, we feast together.
So tonight, our waiting is almost over.
How will you mark your Christmas eve? For many, it is the gathering in of family, the return home, the pumping up of air beds. Some will take themselves to church or chapel later, but many will not.
Some will be alone. I wish it were not so, but communality is not a gift for everyone.
Gathered or not, I offer you, this Christ-mass, this simple reminder.
We participate in the practive of Immanuel.
As our last offer of this advent season, we offer you another poetry podcast – particularly for those of you who have space today that you need to deepen.
This is a recording Chris did a couple of days ago with two poets – Ali Matthew and Mark Berry. It was an exploration of Christmas through poetry and the discussion went places that you might not immediately expect.
Today we go over the Atlantic and join ‘The Many’ on their longest night vigil. It is a longer piece, but perhaps you need this right now- a longer pause of lament and longing.
The Many is a collective of diverse creatives whose work ‘The Opening’ was published by Proost back in 2016.
If you are in that place where you feel the tenderness of this season keenly, you are not alone. We stand together, seeking together the place of justice and peace, where we all find our belonging.
Your woundedness is a blessing on the place where you are.
We are now firmly at that point, close enough to Christmas, when we can immerse ourselves in the nativity, and Steve Page does this brilliantly. In this poem he grapples with the real Christmas…
As the days approach Christmas, it seems to get busier for many of us. a rush of preparations and obligations, all aimed towards an uncertain climax. Today we have a lovely jewel of a poem from Hannah Caroe, written during a very different Christmas…
Following the tradition of calling in favours from family, Chris asked his son Will to record himself singing this re-written version of everyone’s old favourite carol ‘In the bleak midwinter’… Will (who is a trad music player in various bands) had sung this version previously and does a simply stunning version here, somehow more powerful in its stark urban simplicity.
He recorded it on his phone inside a Glasgow tenement flat which he and his girlfriend Rachel are in the middle of renovating. It has no kitchen or bathroom, but it does have a piano.
The words are below…
Bleak midwinter
.
What can I give him, wealthy as I am?
Does he need an i-phone or a well-aged Parma ham?
Should I bring him trainers, a pair of brand-new jeans?
Or Halo for the X-box (whatever the hell that means)
.
In a tower block in Camden, a woman breaks her heart
Her credit score is hopeless, her marriage fell apart
Her cupboards all lie empty, her clothes are wafer thin
Her kids can thank the food bank for turkey from a tin
.
If I were a kind man, I would bring good cheer
I would house the homeless, if for only once a year
I’d buy my cards from Oxfam, for virtue is no sin
I’d send some Christmas pudding to poor old Tiny Tim
.
In the bleak midwinter, frosty winds still moan
And Mr Wilson’s waited ages to get the council on the phone
He’s worried cos his boiler has given up the ghost
And since Mabel got dementia, she feels cold more than most
.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part
I’d sell that gold and incense and invest it for a start
In gilt-edged annuities and solid pension schemes
For without good fiscal planning, what can ever be redeemed?
.
In a lock-up by the roadside a bastard-child is born
To another teenage mother whose future looks forlorn
A host of heavenly angels up high in star-strewn sky
Today we have a poetry reading for you – with a difference. This one features a conversation with the poet who wrote the poem back on day 7, and then some stunning poetry from an old friend…
From the show notes for this pod;
“This episode features two Australian poets- Talitha Fraser and Stevie Wills, and is the first of what we hope to be a more regular immersion in poetry, and the story behind the poems.
Stevie lives with cerebral palsy which has affected her speech patterns, so listen carefully, because hers is a voice worth listening to! She speaks movingly about her long powerful poem which tells Mary’s story. It is a stunning piece that she was keen to allow to stand on its own. We recommend checking out her website to see/hear more of her work!
Talitha is a long term Proost person, having been a key part of previous poetry collection curation. She is active within feminist spaces and activism for indiginous rights in her adopted city of Melborne, although she was born in NZ. You can find out more about Talitha and her other projects here;
The first is a brilliant vid by Joel Baker, made for a Grace service. Here is what Joel has to say;
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
When reading a few verses / passages for inspiration this one really struck out at me.
As we come to the end of the year we reflect; pulling together end of year playlists, highlights and lowlights, miles run, walked and cycled, goals and achievements. But one thing I haven’t particularly wanted to reflect on is what’s going on in the wider world. It’s pretty depressing.
Sometimes it feels as if we are walking in darkness and could really do with seeing a light. This then was my visual response & exercise. By scraping various headlines from the past year or so, I tried to see if I could shine a light through the noise and give us something to hold onto as we move into 2025.
In this pod, we talk to Mark Kensett about his 40 year long career as a professional photographer and film maker. Mark has worked extensively in the West Bank and Gaza for different charities, and we wanted to hear about this work, and take the opportunity to reflect on the terrible events in the occupied terrorities.
It can be so hard to form a clear view. There is so much ‘information’ out there, along with counter-information that easily becomes tribal and sectarian. As the discussion was unfolding you can hear my attempts to resolve my own anger and sense of profound impotence and moral injury- fortunately Mark was able to bring clarity and grace to the conversation.
In the show notes we placed a lot of links which may be helpful as you seek to make your own journey into the complexity. Here they are;
this fragile tent 