Aled Jones and Francis Drake
I had the great pleasure this morning of talking to Aled Jones on the Radio. I’m happy to find that he is as charming in real life as he seems in the public eye. We chatted about this and that, and then I got to say a few words about faith. This is (approximately) what I said:
We need certain things to survive – food, shelter, warmth. But we need something more than this to flourish as human beings – we need a dream, a sense of purpose. Of course, our dreams need to shift as we get closer to them – if your dream has already come true, it’s time to get a new one!
I think that this is mostly what we mean when we speak of God. To catch a glimpse of God is to know that there is something bigger than ourselves – something, or someone, beyond the horizon.
Sir Francis Drake, the first person to circumnavigate the globe, once prayed for bigger dreams. This is part of his prayer:
Disturb us, Lord,
when we are too well pleased with ourselves;
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little;
When we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly –
to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
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Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
In an increasingly secularised society few people have a good working knowledge of the Bible. Yet a great deal of our culture is built on stories or ideas that come from the Bible. Literature, art, music, language and even the fabric of our society - such as our justice system - are built on Christian concepts and biblical references. The Writing on the Wall provides a fascinating introduction to the Bible's best-known, and most influential, stories. Each chapter gives some background to the text of the Bible, and shows how the stories have become enmeshed in Western culture. Adam and Eve, the ten plagues of Egypt, The Prodigal Son and Mary Magdalene all feature - along with how the Bible has influenced everyone from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and Caravaggio to Banksy. 
Giving It Up explores the Lenten idea of 'giving up', taking it beyond the traditional idea of simply abstaining from something, and suggesting instead that what we need to give up is our existing ideas about God. With a daily readings for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it follows the heroes of the Bible who had to give up their own too-small ideas about God.
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Indeed so!
Hi, you don’t know me and I’m sorry for intruding, but I’ve just stumbled across your journal and I wanted to let you know how much it touched me. I was doing a search for a picture of the Five Sisters Windows for a speech I have to give in class (thanks for that post, by the way, and I hope you don’t mind if I borrow your picture of the windows), but then I found myself reading more of you blog. I just wanted to let you know that your words are very peaceful and refreshing. I greatly enjoyed your quotes and stories. You have a very calming way of writing. Thank you.
thanks Roger.
Dawn, it’s so nice to know that something is “hitting the spot”! The York windows are indeed wonderful, and the day I spent there last year a treasured memory.
this is a beautiful quote that has reduced me to tears for days now – the kind of tears we need to cry
Maggi, I have also come across your blog today. I have read some very beautiful stuff on here – thank you. Yesterday I read some notes by the late Kyle Lake on living in the moment, funny to then stumble across this today. I think God is talking to me about this.