MY WRITING LIFE
MARCH 2025
Me at Cawsands, Cornwall
WRITING
I finished my blog on the Church of Nicaea by 12th – or so I thought. As you know, I covered two topics: a Question of Truth, and Demons and Hell. But I then realised I needed to talk about what the early Christian thought when they talked about One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. A big topic! As I had already written 2,300 words, I realised that my three part series is now a four part series, ending with ‘Nicaea seen from the East’. Next part coming in April.
I worked quite hard on sorting out the appropriate illustrations for the historical section of ‘The Church has a Past – has it got a Future?’ Chris, my publisher, told me about Wikimedia Commons, which was a massive help, together with Deviantart. I finally sent them all off to Chris on 26th by wetransfer.
MARKETING
The month started with my being contacted by Vicki from Shine the Light. She contacted me via LinkedIn and offered to help me sort out my social media. I gladly accepted! We have spoken twice. At last I feel I am getting a grip on Facebook and Instagram. I have given up on X – too shouty.
For over three weeks I have been using Buffer, a scheduling app. I find it a great improvement on Meta who have blocked me anyway for being religious (!). As part of Lent, I am reading the daily section in my book ‘Journey through Lent with Jesus’ and then posting something on Facebook and Instagram via Buffer. It takes me half an hour a day and gives some backbone to my morning prayers.
I also have posted a couple of short interviews using my iPhone. It’s surprisingly easy.! I just need to do more of it, as well as posting something a bit more substantial on LinkedIn and Youtube. It is only because I wrote less this month that I was able to face my fears of social media and technology in general and make some progress.
Finally, today, 31st March, I am putting an ad on Eventbrite for a talk on ‘TheReal Story of Easter’, based on ‘Jesu the Troublemaker’. It will be on Tuesday 6th May at 6.30 at Sty Mary Abbot’s Kensington. Come if you can!
CHURCH
I continued my monthly peripatetic Sunday worship – St Augustine’s/HTB Queens Gate (twice), and St Cuthbert’s followed by St Mary Abbot’s (once). I also go each Monday to a delightful informal communion service at St Mary Abbots, with open discussion of the readings followed by tea and sandwiches.
On 23rd I preached at Holy Trinity South Kensington on Jesus talking about two recent tragedies and his warning story about the fig tree that was due for destruction. Difficult stuff, but actually easy to preach on because you only have to open a newspaper to see the relevance.
PERSONAL
I continue to do the exercises set by my physiotherapist and am now pretty well walking normally!
From 14th to 17th I joined Linda at Cawsands, Cornwall for the big family celebration for her Dad’s 90th birthday. This had actually happened on Christmas Eve – not a good date for celebrations! Altogether there were seventeen people and one baby assembled gathered in three amazing apartments in the iconic Cornish fishing village, just over the water from Plymouth. On Saturday we all sat down at the restaurant below where two of the three apartments were. The week before the weather threatened to be grey and drizzly, but instead, as my Mum would have said, “The sun has got his hat on, he’s coming out to play!”
This last week has been an anxious time for Linda and me because Peter, our son, got a massive infection and spent several days in hospital not able to eat or drink. He is now back at his home and on the road to recovery.
FILMS, TV ETC.
Only one outstanding film this month, ‘Santosh’. About a young Indian police widow. So accurate about India. As one of the characters says near the end, “Some people you don’t touch. Some people you can’t touch.”
Three good TV shows. The Agatha Christie series ‘Towards Zero’ was great for us because it was partly set in the Burgh Island Hotel at Bigbury-on-Sea, an iconic Devon holiday place for us,
Two outstanding TV shows. One was Ralph Fiennes’ brutal portrayal of ‘Coriolanus’ by Shakespeare. It was shot in Serbia and showed what that civil war was like.
The other was a marvellous production of Dylan Thomas’ ‘Under `Milk Wood’. It had an amazing cast of Welsh actors – Michael Sheen, Charlotte Church, Bryn Terfel and Tom Jones as blind Captain Cat. It was filmed remotely in many places from Los Angeles to Laugharne. I can watch it again and again. Do try to get it on catch-up.
WEDNESDAY SAINTS
This month we celebrated the following:
- Ash Wednesday
- St Patrick
- Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who wrote the Book of Common Prayer and was burnt at the stake as a heretic.
- Harriet Monsell, who was widowed cat the age of 30 in 1852. She went on to work at a House of Mercy for prostitutes and unwed mothers, and then founded the Order of St John the Baptist. She was particularly noted for her sense of humour.
0 Comments