MY WRITING LIFE

AUGUST 2024

Listening to the Main Stage from the Jesus Arms

 WRITING

In July I had posted a blog on ‘Sex and Society’. My friend David said I had rather left love out, so I wrote a blog specifically on ‘Love, Actually!’  As part of my research I rewatched the film, Love Actually – great fun.  I also discovered a verse in the Bible describing the actual process of falling in love.  “When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”  (1 Samuel 18.1). Interesting!

Years ago I met someone from Darton, Longman and Todd (DLT) who said I could send him some extracts of my book ‘The Church has a Past — has it got a Future?’ With other information. So I spent a lot of time in July preparing a submission, only to find that my contact was no longer with DLT.  It made me re-think .  I reckon there are significant advantages to staying with Filament and Amazon, not least because I could publish the third section ‘Being Credible in the Post-Modern World’ as a stand-alone book.  The whole book is 75,000 words, of which the last and most controversial section is 33,000.     I will do more work on this whole book next month.  Or do you think I should try a traditional publisher like DLT?

WEBSITES

It is four month since Elliott of Monkeynuts sent me two 15 minute videos of his interviews with me about two of my books which are out on Audible.  At last I faced the fear and managed to upload the interviews onto YouTube, the first stage of getting them onto the home page of my two websites.  So now they are on my websites, and people can order my audio books direct from them. Do have a look at bibleinbrief.org, I am  thrilled with the result!

I am also making changes to my websites, particularly revandybooks.org, making it cleaner and easier to navigate.  Well, not me precisely, rather my excellent website administrator Emma.

OUT & ABOUT

No holidays this month, but Linda and I have been out and about.  We went to an exhibition of Elton John’s photo collection at the V&A.  (Fridays have a late opening up to 10.00), and then to Tate Britain.  See this very moving photo portrait of Marilyn Monroe from the V&A exhibition. 

I wanted to go on retreat in August, but my normal monastery was full.  So I spent a couple of days at Salisbury Cathedral, salisburycathedral.org.uk staying on the Cathedral Close in the excellent Sarum College, formerly Salisbury Theological College.  They had a stand at Greenbelt, where I talked to Susie who runs the short courses programme; I hope to give a couple of talks there about Jesus the Troublemaker.

On Sunday 18th I went with my long-time friend John to the regular monthly session at Wimbledon.  John plays the flute and tin whistle and I sang three songs, including the very sad one, ‘The Death of Queen Jane’.

And of course, the Proms. https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms Over nine days I heard the following:

• Richard Strauss’ ‘Alpine Symphony’;
• The amazing National Youth Orchestra – all 160 – play Mahler’s 1st Symphony and the extraordinary ‘Three, Four, and…’ – it is coming to BBC4;
• Britten’s War Requiem;
• Beethoven Symphony 7 – conducted from memory;
• Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream complete with Oberon, Titiania and a large chorus of fairies;
• J S Bach’s St John’s Passion – wonderful and more hopeful than St Matthew’s Passion;
• At 10.15 pm Tuareg musicians from Mali – the venue was absolutely packed (see photo);
• Stravinsky, Steve Reich and Elgar;
• Beethoven’s Archduke Trio with Emmanuel Ax and Yo-Yo Ma

GREENBELT

Linda and I had a wonderful Greenbelt Festival, see  greenbelt.org.uk. We stayed in an apartment eight miles away – really comfortable.  Friday was dry, Saturday rainy, and Sunday dry again.  Altogether we had a wonderful three days with talks, music and one-person plays.  Outstanding was the play about Henri Nouwen ‘The Beloved Son’, discussions in the Methodist tent Hope and Anchor, and Taizé worship.  

Surprises did not end at Greenbelt.  On Bank Holiday Monday we discovered a vibrant local Christian community at the small village of Titchmarsh.  A blog is coming.

Here are the quotes that I took away fromGreenbelt:

From ‘Just worship ’ by Stef Benstead – Old Testament on responsibility for the poor. Her reply to my question on Jesus’ attitude:  “Money is dangerous.”

from Andrew Rumsey, singer/song-writer and bishop, Greenbelter for 40 years: “Greenbelt gave me a vision of how music, faith and creativity could combine.”

Panel discussion on ‘The religion we need next’.“ I don’t think any religious institution has ever organised itself into rejuvenation.” Jill Slade, Unitarian.

“Religion is strange again and will not willingly return to its enclosures.” David Benjamin Blower

“Religion is a place where we admit that we don’t control everything.”  Brian Eno

Discussion at Methodist tent ‘Hope and Anchor’ Student discussion from SCM

• Stop one-way communication.
• Create real communities
• The value of intergenerational communities – our own liberation theology
• Our sexuality should fully embody our spirituality.
• God help us with Faith Constructs

• “God never gives up on any of us.”
• “God is present and active in every moment of our lives.”

God help us with Gender Constructs

• Sex is a biological construct.
• Gender is a social construct, but no less real.
• Sophie Grace Chappell, Philosophy professor and trans woman.
• Amos Trust on ‘What’s next for Gaza’

• “At the start of the conflict children were saying, ‘I hope we can go back to school soon.’  Now they are saying, ‘I just want us to die together.’”
• 40,000 killed
• 100,000 injured
• 2 million facing famine.

Which ones resonate with you?  Drop me an email at aoroland@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAY SAINTS 

The weekly reflection and prayer on a saint of the week continued every Wednesday at 10.00 a.m.  It lasts half an hour, followed by half an hour coffee and chat – on Zoom.  Last month we remembered 

• John Mason Neale, d,1866,  who translated many hymns from the early Fathers;
• Maximilian Kolbe, d. 1941, who sacrificed his life to save a fellow inmate at Auschwitz;
• Bernard of Clairvaux, d. 1153, who inspired a great monastic revival in the 12th century;
• Augustine of Hippo, d. 430, the greatest Western theologian.

If you would like to join us one Wednesday, drop me an email and I will send you the link.

Sunday quiet communion with the Northumbria Community