The GAB 01.03.25
Learning, listening, and the transcendent beauty of art.
It may be cliche; but I can smell spring in the air. The light shines earlier through my bedroom curtains each morning, the blackbirds are busy in my back garden—beaks crammed full with leaves and twigs in an early Spring nesting frenzy.
I’m anticipating fresh blooms on the trees. I’m ready for lingering in quiet moments outdoors…sipping hot tea in the garden…watching next doors large lumbering tree branches swaying lazily in the breeze. But thank God for Winter. Winter is a gift. I treasure even more the nuances of early Spring in the aftermath of Winter.
As Lauryn Hill sang in Everything is Everything:
‘Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually’
A warm welcome to all new (and long term) subscribers. May this collection of good and beautiful resources put an extra ‘Spring’ in your step!
Podcasts
Karen Stiller on reclaiming a life of holiness.
Christopher Ash on how Jesus is both the singer and the subject of the Psalms.
Art
This gospel image (seen above) and art reflection on Christian Art.
Fr Patrick van der Vorst of @christianart joins legendary composer Sir James MacMillan in front of one of Scotland’s most iconic paintings, The Monarch of The Glen by Edwin Landseer, to explore the story behind this masterpiece.
Poetry
‘All these years later, poetry has come to play a significant part in my walk with God, which is why I set out at the start of 2024 to meet as many poets as I could and to spend an hour with each one—not to pepper them with questions, but to have a conversation that would lead us both further up and further in.
You might be asking, “Why interview poets?” To which I answer that I believe the best poets practice seeing what most of us overlook or take for granted. They know how to honor the particularities of human existence, thereby opening our eyes to see ourselves, God, and all of His creation with greater clarity and appreciation—an appreciation that leads from praise to greater praise. Poets draw us to attention. They help us sit up and take note, leading us to the heart of things and beyond the heart of things.
In other words, I believe poets can help us become more human—as God intended.’
Amanda Nowlin’s moving poem on how some things are better left wild.
INSPIRED BY LOVE AND ANGER ( John L. Bell b.1949 and Graham Maule b. 1958)
Inspired by love and anger, disturbed by need and pain,
Informed of God's own bias, we ask him once again:
"How long must some folk suffer? How long can few folk mind?
How long dare vain self-interest turn prayer and pity blind?"
From those forever victims of heartless human greed,
Their cruel plight composes a litany of need:
"Where are the fruits of justice? Where are the signs of peace?
When is the day when prisoners and dreams find their release?"
From those forever shackled to what their wealth can buy,
The fear of lost advantage provoke the bitter cry:
"Don't query our position! Don't criticise our wealth!
Don't mention those exploited by politics and stealth!"
To God, who through the prophets proclaimed a different age,
We offer earth's indifference, its agony and rage:
"When will the wronged be righted? When will the kingdom come?
When will the world be generous to all instead of some?"
God asks, "Who will go for me? Who will extend my reach?
And who, when few will listen, will prophesy and preach?
And who, when few bid welcome, will offer all they know?
And who, when few dare follow, will walk the road I show?"
Amused in someone's kitchen, asleep in someone's boat,
Attuned to what the ancients exposed, proclaimed and wrote,
A saviour without safety, a tradesman without tools
Has come to tip the balance with fishermen and fools.
Articles
- ’s musings on God as a Writer.
‘Each gripping novel I finish builds my anticipation for the beautiful ending I know God is authoring right now—this very second in this world. I squeeze my children close and tell them that like every great writer, our Lord is doing a thing far greater than we could have dreamed. His beautiful ending will come, and I promise them it’s worth it.’
Meredith Beatty on Reading Revelation Aloud.
‘Last summer I took a day to get away and fast and pray and part of that time I devoted to reading the whole book of Revelation aloud. Granted, this is probably not the way John meant it to be read aloud – one person, by themselves and to themselves. But this is the only book of the Bible that proclaims a blessing on those who read it, and read it aloud. Because of the length of the book and the intensity of the language, I had been intimidated to do it. I didn’t want any distractions or feelings of self-consciousness. But now was the perfect time.’
Christopher A. Hall on the Psalms: Our Prayer Mentor.
‘There are, for instance, some people who really know how to pray and are worth imitating. King David comes to mind. A principal reason the ancient church prayed the Psalms again and again — some early monastic communities prayed all 150 Psalms each day — was the firm belief that through the repetition of the Psalms our character — our disposition toward God and our neighbor — is honed and healed. As we pray the Psalms, the dispositions of the psalmist become our own.’
Luke Wollan on true learning looking like pain, not self-confirmation.
‘As I walked through my daily classes and busy schedule, I began to realize that learning was having an unexpected effect on me. It was not only deepening the grooves in my brain, but it was bringing me into a deeper understanding of who I was; how small I was.
The more I wrote down, studied, and pondered, the smaller I felt. Learning made me confident, but only in the feeling that I knew nothing.’
Steve Midgley on ways of listening.
‘Listening, Proverbs tell us, is a matter of wisdom. For ‘to answer before listening—that is folly and shame’ (Proverbs 18:13). If we are going to speak truth specifically and incisively into a person’s life, we must know which truths we are going to choose. There are so many biblical truths to pick from; so many words from the Lord we could declare. Listening is what helps us decide which it is we are going to speak. Listening also helps us decide when and how we will speak that truth. Is this a situation for urgent words of warning or gentle words of encouragement. Only listening will help us decide.’
‘Today, I am 30 years and 1 day old. I haven’t cried a single tear. And I haven’t fought them back either. My day has been filled with genuine smiles and laughter and (dare I say it?) some joy too. It feels a lot like the calm after the storm, but we know storms always come again. Maybe it’s more like a screaming babe finally falling asleep on his mother’s chest—a calm of exhaustion, but also comfort. I know I’m not out of the pit yet, and even when I am, it’s possible that another season will bring me sliding down here once again.’
Theodore Brun on dispatches from the battlefield of imagination.
‘That night, perhaps unlike CS Lewis, I was not quite “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” But I was certainly the most bewildered. ‘What have I let myself in for?’ I wondered as I walked away from that church on a dark, wet January night. I was certain that in crossing that threshold I had entered a new world. Even if it was true, as I believed – or as I now knew - I sensed that it was dangerous too. There was a wildness to what I had just witnessed that was both thrilling and disconcerting. And yet, after that encounter, I could no more have turned away from what I had discovered than stop the world turning. As the mathematician Blaise Pascal discovered in his own ‘night of fire’ – “certitude, certitude!” is a very precious gift, and one worth holding on to.’
‘Beauty still shows itself in a multitude of ways. The flowers from a friend on the mantelpiece. That new Bon Iver song. The person that held the door for me this morning. The taste of the Pho Bo I had for lunch. That feeling when your playlist hits just the right song at just the right time and it starts feeling like a soundtrack to a movie about your life. Holding hands. The little notifications on my phone screen of well-wishes from friends. The scarf that brought that little extra warmth on my walk.’
The Last Word
‘At the pulpit stands a pastor who prays for peace and mercy. And I, like so many, am tired, wondering how I’ll make it through another week. But together we hear of God's faithfulness. Together we sing of love and hope. Together we receive the body and blood of Christ. Together we remember Jesus is not dead, but alive.’
‘He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.’
(Ecclesiastes 3:11-14 NIV)
Grace and peace to you and yours,
Ishah Xx
Ishah—thank you so much for your kind inclusion of my work And what wonderful writing to be mentioned alongside! 🤍