Celebrating the genius of Turner, E6
SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2012
Sixpence: Inspired by CS Lewis By Amaris Cole
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ixpence None the Richer are an American rock/pop band best know for their hit song Kiss Me, which was a worldwide success. After a short break, the band is back and preparing for a gig later this month in London. We caught up with lead singer Leigh Nash to talk about 20 years of Sixpence None the Richer
How did the band begin? I grew up in a small town in Texas and my partner also grew up in that town. We are about five years apart, he was going to a church that I was going to and he heard me sing and liked my voice. He had just written a few songs and wanted to see how they sounded… The band’s name originates from a CS Lewis book, how does faith influence the band? It influences everything – the way we write songs, our values. It informs every part of our lives and it’s the subject matter that we sing about. So you met at church and played at festivals such as Greenbelt, but you’ve also had hits in the mainstream charts – was your aim to break into secular music or stay on the Christian scene? We didn’t have a goal. We didn’t know whether we were going to be a Christian band or a mainstream band. Because we got more popular we could do more – we just went where people wanted to hear us. The band started almost 20 years ago and seen many band members change, what had been your greatest achievement so far? Our greatest achievement so far is still being a band! The most fun part was from the beginning right the way up until
now I’ve got to travel and play with my best friends – that was the best part. ‘Kiss Me’ was released 13 years ago but people still remember you best for that track – do you wish people would stop asking you about it? No! I’m grateful that the song did so well and it was such a success. It was a great song. After a short break-up, you reunited a few years ago – what can fans expect from the reunion? It still very much sounds like the band – but perhaps a more mature sound. You finally released a Christmas album after you got back together – was it fun making that? Yes, I have very fond memories of that. We recorded that in the summer though, which was strange. I love Christmas and try to put something out every couple of years. Do you like playing in the United Kingdom? Very much, we haven’t played in London for a very long time but we enjoy it. You’ve travelled a lot through your career -- where was your favourite place to perform? We like Italy, Spain – London of course! But we had a great
time one year in Bologna when everything was going on, so we really like it there. So you still travel a lot? Do you tour just like you did 20 years ago? When we started we just used to get in the car and drive, and when I’m doing my solo work now I still do the same. We still don’t travel like bigtime people do! We did at one point, but now we just pack up the van and go. What are you planning for the show? Well we’re not setting anything on fire or anything, but we are going to have a good time and play songs off the new record, as well as some old work. So you’re still performing the classics? Yes, absolutely. What have you music influences been? We used to listen Crowded House and The La’s. Now we just all listen to our own thing – I’m a big fan of Leonard Cohen and I love his new work. Are the rumours of a new album in July correct? Yes that’s right, we’re working on a new album this year. What are your plans for the future? Just pushing the album and hoping people enjoy it! You can see Sixpence None the Richer on 28 April at Islington O2 Academy.
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ANDREW CAREY E2 • RUTH GLEDHILL E3 • ARTS & MEDIA E6 • BOOKS E7 • CATHERINE FOX E8 • JANEY LEE GRACE E8
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April 22, 2012
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Andrew Carey: View from the Pew
Free speech threat I
ncreasingly the importance of free speech as an absolute value in a democratic society is going by the board. Equalities and hate speech legislation have created a monster that seeks to shut down legitimate debate. The police can be knocking at your door if you say something that another person might find offensive. While we can all agree that freedom of speech is limited by incitement to violence and the dangerous effects of shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre, are we really so sensitive that we have to limit speech on the basis of whether it causes offence? We have two examples in the past week of attempts to silence dissonant voices. Firstly, there was the clamour over Dr Glyn Harrison’s place on the Crown Nominations Commission. A story in The Guardian (‘Archbishop panel member believes gay peo-
ple can “change” sexual desire’, 8 April 2012) reveals that so-called ‘liberal’ Anglicans are claiming that it is inappropriate for him to play a part in selecting the next Archbishop of Canterbury because he believes, quite reasonably, that some gay people can be helped by counselling if they are experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction. Colin Coward, Director of the pro-gay group, Changing Attitude, said somewhat ludicrously that “the church is trying to give equal weight to those against homosexuality as those who are for it”. He added that this was “insane” and claimed that the “presence of somebody like Glynn Harrison on the Commission really is unacceptable.” What is really insane is the idea that pro-gay views, which are a recent unproven innovation, have earned the same status as tradition-
Mixed reviews
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ishop Tom Wright had a mixed Easter. The Times Literary Supplement printed a review of his book Simply Jesus by AN Wilson found Wright’s tone ‘hectoring’ and denounced his description of the world after the Resurrection being ‘under new management’ as ‘chilling’. Rather oddly Wilson thought the whole enterprise of trying to write about the historical Jesus ‘methodologically unsound’ while reproving Wright for not making more use of Richard Bauckham’s thesis that the gospels rely on eyewitness reports. Perhaps Wilson was in a bad mood after Richard Evans slammed his own brief life of Hitler in a very dismissive review. All the same, Wilson was an odd choice as reviewer given the unsubstantial nature of his own work on New Testament subjects. Wright came in for much better treatment in the Easter issue of ‘Time’, where his views on Heaven were reported at length by veteran reporter Joe Meacham in what was the magazine’s lead article. Sadly, Wright didn’t make the cover. The article was illustrated by a man with a pair of binoculars presumably looking for heaven.
al and orthodox views of homosexuality in any forum within the Church of England. Worse still, in last week’s Church Times, Giles Fraser hints at a campaign to get at Dr Harrison another way through the professional body, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, of which he is a Fellow. Fraser suggests that Harrison’s views represent only that of a minority in the Church of England and suggests they are at variance with his professional codes. I have no doubt at all that liberal Anglicans have or are writing to the Royal College to instigate an investigation into his views. They’ll try and get their man by fair means or foul. The second chilling example is the banning of ‘ex-gay’ bus adverts in London, by Mayor Boris Johnson. The
adverts sponsored by Core Issues Trust and Anglican Mainstream stated: “Not gay! Ex-gay, post-gay and proud. Get over it?” Whether they were wise or effective is another matter, but they were merely seeking to address Stonewall’s recent gay marriage campaign ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’. Boris Johnson ironically argued that modern British society was intolerant of intolerance and described the adverts as ‘offensive’. The facts are plain. Free speech is an increasingly limited value in modern Britain. Yet it is astonishing that there is so little outcry over the limitations to free speech that have been introduced in recent years. Are modern Britons really so happy in being told what to do and say by Big Brother?
Another entry for Room 101 To continue the Orwellian Theme, I have introduced a regular slot inviting readers to throw things they find particular irksome about modern church life into Room 101. Like the BBC television series, I’ll be the judge of whether your complaints deserve to be consigned to that torture place/committee room of Orwell’s imagination. The Rev Peter Bromiley writes from Salisbury Diocese that the “all-too common practice of clergy (especially hierarchical overseers) to preach ad-infinitum about God, without ever mentioning Jesus” deserves its place in Room 101. The most recent and egregious example of this was the Presiding Bishop of the USA’s Easter Message, which failed to mention Jesus even once. Instead, Katharine Jefferts-Schori presented a modern gospel of the Millennium Development Goals. No wonder her Church is dying on its feet. Peter Bromiley describes this trend as ‘Godianity’ rather than ‘Christianity’. He is too kind to it. Nevertheless, I’ve thrown it into Room 101.
Fight down under
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hat is it about Australian Catholic bishops and Richard Dawkins? Archbishop Mark Coleridge, just translated from Canberra to Brisbane, embarrassed himself when he was caught out plagiarising Terry Eagleton for a review of ‘The God Delusion’. Now Cardinal George Pell has come off very much the worst in a live television debate with Dawkins. The abrasive bruiser is known as ‘Pell Pot’ but he managed to score only a few hits on Dawkins. Dawkins got angry when people laughed at him for saying that although the world came from nothing it was ‘complex nothing’, but Pell dug himself into a hole with his comments on ‘the poor little Jewish people, they were just shepherds’. He kept digging and later had to apologise to Australia’s Jews. In typical Pell style he just brushed off a correction when he wrongly claimed humans were descended from Neanderthals. It was much more of a scrap than the Dawkins-Williams dialogue and was easier for the media to find items to comment upon but it didn’t really advance the cause of the gospel. Out of 1 million views, 20,000 voted to say that religious belief does not make the world a better place by 74% to 26%.
. .. y r e l l a G g n i r e p s i h The W London Hustings
More of the same
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ccording to the press release sent out by the Evangelical Alliance, Tuesday’s London mayor election hustings at St James, Piccadilly, was designed to give Christians a chance to challenge the candidates about the big controversies making the headlines. Actually most of the campaign so far has been concerned with the two big egos of Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson so it was probably appropriate that the spotlight fell on these two candidates with the Lib Dem and Green candidates there very much as also-rans. What a pity that the Christian organisers followed the lead of the BBC and excluded the only independent candidate, Siobhan Benita, a former civil servant who has secured the support of Sir Gus O’Donnell and been dubbed the ‘Borgen candidate’ by the Evening Standard (after the character in the Danish TV drama). Benita is talking about the big controversies. She is the only candidate, for example, prepared to take on the nimbys of Barnes and Richmond and make the case for a third runway at Heathrow. The EA claim the four candidates invited come from the parties most people voted for in 2008 but could it be that Boris and Ken declined to share a platform with Siobhan?
fter electing Gene Robinson, the first bishop of the Episcopal Church to live openly in a same-sex relationship, the Diocese of New Hampshire could elect another openly gay man to become the 10th bishop of the diocese. One of the three men nominated for an election on 19 May to elect a bishop coadjutor who will take over as diocesan is the Rev William Warwick who, according to the ‘Living Church’, wrote about ‘the love and unswerving support of my husband, Dr Don Schiermer, now a physician at Exeter Hospital’. The same issue of the ‘Living Church’ carries an excellent article on the Anglican Covenant by Mark Chapman of Ripon College, Cuddesdon. Chapman has no doubts about whether people who are in committed same-sex relationships should be eligible to be elected bishops and he regards this as an issue on which there can be legitimate diversity. But he also recognises that the local needs to be related to the universal: “Catholicity cannot be limited purely to one’s own context.” While disliking the name, he commends the Covenant as an example of ‘tepid constitutionalism’, recognising that without the trust and readiness to listen and learn from each other the Covenant requires the Communion will mutate into a loose federation of Churches and the national Church idea will triumph in Anglicanism.
April 22, 2012
Ruth Gledhill View from Fleet Street
Easter revival F
or some weeks in the run-up to Easter I was battling mild depression. I’ve never been clinically depressed but this time I think I came close. Having a father who attempted and brother who committed suicide has always made me aware of what true depression can lead to. I know how fortunate I’ve been to be blessed with an innate optimism, even if it did once cause Richard Dawkins to describe me as “earnestly naive�. The depressed feelings were brought on, I believe, by a combination of financial pressures, high workload and the investigations around phone hacking and the fall-out at News International. A number of senior church men have made discreet enquiries to me of how I obtained my scoop ten years ago revealing the choice of Dr Rowan Williams to be Archbishop of Canterbury. The answer is hard work, and yes, using the telephone, but in legitimate, not illegitimate ways. However, in this new environment where even picking up the telephone to ask someone a question can itself seem a questionable activity if the person on the other end has a public role of any kind, if simply making a phone call might be deemed to be inducing a person to commit malfeasance if they are holders of a public office, it has been a little difficult at times to know how to “be�. Among other things, I have missed repeated deadlines for this column, for which I apologise! It was in this mood that I went to Stainer’s Crucifixion at The Chapel Royal in Hampton Court on Good Friday. For the first time ever, in my 52 years, I was in the right mood for the day. I have profound reservations about some of the Prayer Book content around this season, because of the way it has been used to fuel anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, I did feel downcast in keeping with the liturgy and continued to exist in a form of barely-sentient mental limbo until evensong on Easter Day when suddenly, somehow, the depression lifted, during the course of the service. I am not claiming any particular religious experience here, but the fact is, that is what happened. Unfortunately this was not quite in time to rescue my performance on the BBC’s paper review on Broadcasting House on Easter Day. Live on air, I think I made a record three errors in one sentence, struggling to get my malfunctioning head around the Archbishop’s Easter sermon on the downgrading of RE and what this “downgrading� actually consisted of. My errors were spelled out in full for me by an incredulous and angry top atheist in an email sent within seconds of the broadcast ending. I read it, with mounting despair, in the green room and wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. Luckily, by the time I had to write the story for the paper itself, my brain was working again. I console myself with thinking that it could have been so much worse. At least I am still alive and, joy of joys, no longer depressed.
What the Blogs Say
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he British Religion in Numbers blog (BRIN) quotes Faithful Citizens, a new report by Demos which found: “Religious citizens in the UK are more likely to be civically engaged and politically active than their non-religious counterparts. They are also more likely to hold progressive political values on a number of important political and economic questions at the heart of twenty-first century policy. Despite the trend of decreasing religiosity in the UK, religion remains important to a broad range of active and engaged citizens – and so it must to politicians.� BRIN observes: “Much is made of the fact that, in the UK, a majority (56 per cent) of both exclusivists and pluralists placed themselves on the left/centre left side of the political spectrum (without stressing that even more, 65 per cent, of seculars did so). On his own blog, the Bishop of Huntingdon, the Rt Rev David Thomson, comments on the report: “In the United States, the Republican party and the religious right have become increas-
ingly interdependent, but a similar trend has not occurred on this side of the Atlantic.� The Cranmer’s Curate blog reads: “Any Christian with a sense of moral duty to secular society should be profoundly concerned about London Mayor Boris Johnson’s decision to censor the gay conversion advertising campaign by Core Issues Trust and Anglican Mainstream. The two-week ‘Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!’ campaign on London buses was due to start next week. It would have provided an alternative view to homosexual campaign group Stonewall’s ‘Some people are gay. Get over it’ adverts. “Mr Johnson’s stated reason for banning the adverts is extraordinary for a democratic politician standing in a free election: ‘London is one of the most tolerant cities in the world and intolerant of intolerance. It is clearly offensive to suggest being gay is an illness someone recovers from and I am not prepared to have that suggestion driven around London on our buses.’ It is truly frightening that Mr Johnson is not prepared to leave Londoners themselves to make up their own
A sense of shame... A
s a young teenager, I spent every free hour at our local racing stables, riding out horses, running them at speed and sometimes going as stable girl to Uttoxeter and other race courses to lead my charges around the ring before they headed for the jumps. My favourite horse was a bay mare called Tatty. I identified with her anger. She had clearly had a miserable life and I was determined to turn it round. Every time I entered her stable, she would bare her teeth then turn her back to me and lash out with both hind legs. When I think now of this well-shod, feisty fine-boned thoroughbred cornering me and repeatedly splintering the wood on either side of my head, and sometimes catching my thighs and chest, in her stable as I tried to feed, calm and groom her, I am amazed. Was I stupid or brave? No child would be allowed anywhere near that horse in today’s world. Eventually I won her over though. She stopped kicking me and let me stroke her and blow in her nostrils without trying to bite my nose off. I often wonder what had happened to Tatty to turn her into that monster. And goodness she was fast. She put everything into her running. So much so that, at the races one day, she “broke down�. In other words, her tendons went. The treatment for that in those days was “firing�. Hot pokers would be applied to a horse’s legs to hasten the healing. What agony it must have been. In a few months, her legs were better. She raced again, ran her heart out, and broke down again. Then she disappeared. I guess she became the glue on our envelopes. I am thinking about her this week because at the weekend we watched the Grand National. As a now hard-hearted ex-stable girl, I watched horse after horse go down at the fences with detached coolness. I felt nothing but interest in the outcome. Would there be any left standing? It was with a shock of shame that I realised our son was sobbing. “Turn it off,� he begged. “This should be banned. It’s animal cruelty. They should call the RSPCA.� How many people, like me, cried when we watched War Horse but cheered when we watched the National? Poor Tatty. Poor, dead horses.
Heralding a super summer On a more cheery note, St George’s Day is coming and The Chapel Royal is singing for Richmond-upon-Thames Mayor Cllr Clare Head at her St George’s Day banquet. It is a glorious way to herald this incredible summer, with the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee. We have tickets for table tennis and Roman-Greco Wrestling. I’ll try and find a religious angle on both of those to write about here, as they happen!
minds on the question of gay conversion.� One contributor writes: “This advert was not only offensive and divisive, but most importantly, potentially damaging to vulnerable gay and lesbian youth.� Another responds: “The ad was planned by A Mainstream in sure & certain knowledge that sooner rather than later it would be banned ... giving the usual suspects another opportunity - really well-publicized this time around to rush around yelling ‘Persecution!’. Great timing to fire up the home base for the Gafcon meeting, by the way.� The Ugley Vicar blog argues for lay ministry: “I have long been of the opinion that the Reformation generally fell short when it came to reforming the Church’s ministry. In my heart of hearts, I am persuaded that in this regard the Church is indeed still ‘but halfly reformed’. “It is simply not the case that ‘clergy-led, bad; lay-led, good’. On the contrary, lay-led is often subject to abuse and domineering personalities. That there is some control over this in the episcopal system has long seemed to me one of the key arguments in its favour. Purist ‘congregationalism’ is, I think, a bad thing, and before taking steps in the direction I am suggesting, is one of the things
Ruth Gledhill Religion Correspondent, The Times that should also be discussed. Yet it does seem to me that we need to break the spiritual-monopolistic tendency of Anglican clericalism and to empower the whole people of God.�
One contributor writes: “Why is it that not many readers are skilled preachers? One of the few things readers are licensed to do which are not permitted regularly to laity is preaching.�
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April 22, 2012
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Dealing with dementia
iving with dementia. It is something one in five people over the age of 85 is going to have to do, and their loved ones with them. It can be a devastating condition, as many people’s powers of expression and communication are affected. But at MHA, the national Christian-led charity providing accommodation for 15,000 older people, we prefer to focus on the word living. One of MHA’s fundamental principles is to respect everyone as an individual. We know that someone with dementia still retains his or her unique personality and life history, and we look for ways to enable him or her to keep expressing them – non-verbally, if necessary. We employ alternative treatments such as reflexology and Music Therapy, which we have seen to bring demonstrable benefits to people living with dementia in our care homes. Our reflexologists – who are usually staff members, trained to a full official qualification in reflexology at MHA’s expense – are able to offer calming, one-to-one time with residents, providing gentle and reassuring human contact, without any need for words. In Music Therapy, residents are encouraged to express themselves through music, rhythm and song with the accompaniment of a qualified therapist. No previous musical experience or knowledge is required, but by improvising a rhythm or tune with professional assistance, people gain a creative and expressive outlet. Over 1,300 MHA residents have already benefited from our music therapy service, which would not be possible without our charitable income and the support of our many donors.
We also understand that when a person develops dementia, it also affects their relatives and friends. Losing the power to communicate easily with a loved one can be heartbreaking. For this reason, we have a booklet, Keeping in Touch, available free of charge to anyone who would like a copy, whether they have a connection to an MHA resident or not. Keeping in Touch explains a little about dementia and the behaviours it can cause. Perhaps most importantly, it outlines suggestions for unlocking the person within by prompting memories, encouraging self-expression and keeping as many communicative lines open as possible – keeping in touch. At MHA, we are dedicated to nurturing older people in body, mind and spirit. This means not only meeting any physical needs they have, but also providing plenty of opportunities for personal growth (which we know can continue at any age) and spiritual fulfilment. We know that spirituality means different things to different people, and that it can exist through religious worship or simply positive experiences such as creative endeavours, enjoying art, seeing animals or fostering fulfilling relationships. Every MHA care home or residential setting has a designated Chaplain to provide spiritual support and pastoral care. This can exist as worship services and prayer, or one-to-one discussions led by the individual to explore any matters close to the heart. Focusing on the individual, and all aspects of that individual – physical, mental and spiritual – is at the heart of our care at MHA. In this way, we promote fulfilled lives for everyone we serve.
d e an h ! t e n i ce om us la P C t et si vi ark
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Is it time you looked at how we can help you? Retirement housing for older Christians Fully equipped houses for missionary home leave Respite care Residential and dementia care Nursing care Information talks and seminars Publications
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April 22, 2012
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Caring for the whole person By Greg Watts
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e try to see each person as a precious individual, loved and representative of God’s human creation -- not a worn out part person of no use,� says Jeremy Lamb, chief executive of Field Lane, a Christian charity that provides residential care for older people. As we all live longer, there is a greater chance that, one day, we might not be able to remain living at home and have to find residential care. But finding a care home where you will be well looked after can be daunting. Media reports of poor standards and even abuse in some care homes only serve to increase anxiety, both for the older person and their family. Jeremy says there are several things that you should look for. “First impressions are very important. Smell: there should be no unpleasant smell. Are the residents enjoying their lives? Does the home support their wishes and encourage and enable interests? “Also, is there a sense of home? Do you feel confident in the manager and do you like the surroundings? Managers are expected to be walking the home, talking to residents and observing and advising the staff all the time. Good leadership and support for managers, procedures that are followed, and an expectation that residents have a good and enjoyable life which they can influence however disabled they might be.� He adds that you should try and visit a care home more than once. That way, you are more likely to get a true picture of its standards. A former social responsibility adviser to the diocese of Canterbury, and a member
of St Mary of Charity parish in Faversham, Jeremy says the gospel values of love and justice shape the way Field Lane’s two care homes, in Reigate, Surrey, and Worthing, West Sussex, are run. Its home in Worthing, The Priory, specialises in caring for those with dementia. It is estimated that about one in every 20 people over the age of 65 has dementia, a brain disease that often starts with memory problems. Amongst other things, dementia makes communication and coping with simple daily tasks difficult. Manager Allena Edwards, a former nurse, understands the emotional roller coaster of caring for someone with dementia and how difficult it is for a family to decide to place a relative in residential care. “They worry about placing them in the right setting. Will they get the right level of care? Will they settle? Will they become more confused? We try not to influence someone’s decision but we do always listen and give advice where we can. “The families are generally involved right from the beginning, as it is usually them who make the first contact. They also have input when we start the care plan. We ask the families to give us a brief history of their person’s interests before they became ill. “Some families find it hard placing someone in care and feel guilty for a long time afterwards. Those families rarely visit and don’t keep in touch to find out how their relative is settling in and getting on. But we never judge, as we don’t always know the circumstances
‘Some families find it hard placing someone in care and feel guilty for a long time afterwards’
surrounding someone’s admission.� The Priory provides a range of activities for residents, including music sessions, art, aromatherapy and exercise. Staff take residents to local shops and restaurants, to church and for walks along the seafront. Unusually for care homes, staff turnover at The Priory is low. Most of the staff has worked there for a number of years. Deputy manager Julia Rowe joined 23 years ago. “Our philosophy here is anything goes. We are led by the people we care for. Their life doesn’t stop because they’ve come into care. We try to maintain their past hobbies and interests and make every day fun, fulfilled and worthwhile,� she says. Field Lane also advises and supports other organisations providing care to older people with dementia. Jacky Owen, its director of operational services, says the kind of issues it helps with include care planning; risk assessment; policies and procedures; budgeting and managing staff. It also provides help in meeting the requirements of any new legislation and those of the Care Quality Commission. “This enables any home to run smoothly leaving plenty of time for staff teams to spend with residents. Dementia is a complicated condition that affects everyone in different ways,� she says. “The condition also changes quickly, which requires a swift response to any changing need. This can be a challenge for any organisation.� She adds that with people living longer more of us will develop dementia, “The 5070 age group in 2012 will be the group needing care and support in 2022. “They and their families will be more assertive and have a very focussed view of the type of care they will want and how that is delivered and paid for.�
Spirituality “older people living with dementia also need meaning and purpose in their lives�
One person’s sense of security and tranquillity can come from the wonder of a rainbow, while another’s well-being is increased by listening to music. Caring for over 15,000 older people in a variety of settings throughout the UK, MHA offers unique person-centred care for both physical and spiritual well being Available on request: s +EEPING IN 4OUCH BOOKLET n a guide to help you communicate with people living with dementia s -USIC 4HERAPY BROCHURE a free service for residents in MHA dementia care homes s 7ORSHIP 2ESOURCES n for use in your church, house group or midweek meeting – to consider ways in which older people are included in the life of your church
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April 22, 2012
Turner Inspired in the Light of Claude
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pon his death JMW Turner, England’s greatest and most innovative artist, gave the nation some 300 paintings and 20,000 watercolours and drawings: most of this unique bequest is now housed at the dedicated Clore Gallery at Tate Britain. However, in accord with the artist’s wishes, two of his major works - Dido building Carthage and Sun rising through Vapour - are permanently on show at the National Gallery, beside two famous pictures by Claude Lorraine, Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba and Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca. Their deliberate juxtaposition (Room 15) both symbolises and instantly proclaims Turner’s huge debt to the towering French master of light and landscape. This debt is sensitively explored in Turner Inspired in the light of Claude (National Gallery until June 5), showcasing 44 Turner paintings in visual dialogue with 13 masterpieces by Claude, comprehensively revealing his rich influence.
Claude Lorraine (1600-82), pre-eminent landscape artist of the 17th century, spent most of his life in Rome working for illustrious patrons. His early Mannerism evolved into stress on harmonious tonal values, sensitivity to atmosphere and the suffusion of Classical pastoral vistas with mellow yet often dramatic light. His Europewide influence on landscape art was especially significant for England: his serene Arcadian visions were prized by English collectors; his sweeping rural vistas and antique ruins became reality as 18th-century landscape gardeners refashioned grand estates; his use of light enthralled many English artists — supremely Turner, whose Italian
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tours enabled him to study both Claude’s works and the sunlit Roman landscape which inspired them. (His Regulus, shown in Rome in 1828, is an astonishing sundrenched fantasy re-working of Claude’s Seaport with Villa Medici.) Turner’s evocation of light and air, and interplay of light and water, splendidly evident in the above work, are keynote Claude-inspired themes throughout the exhibition. The 1799 watercolour of Caernarvon Castle, early essay in both elements, adopts Claude’s triangular foreground to far distance perspective which came to typify many Turner works, echoes his shimmering light -- but modifies his precise rendering of architecture with a quasi-impressionism. Re-creations were not always successful: the blurred colours and weak light of Turner’s Narcissus and Echo (1804) hardly honour the soft greenery and gentle sunlight of Claude’s Landscape with Narcissus and Echo (1644). However, Rocky Bay with Figures (1830), its planes of colour merging coast and seascape around huge rock-arch, is truly radical tribute to Claude’s antique vision Seacoast with Perseus (1674). Early 19th-century works show Turner striving to reconcile veneration of Claude’s idealised Classical pastoral scenes with distinctive aspects of the English landscape - not least changeable weather! In Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Night (1835), its ships recalling Dutch marine painting rather than Claude’s celebrated harbours, the darkening sky may portend storms. Yet the finely balanced composition and majestic glowing beauty of Claude’s seaports, as wonderfully appealing now as in Turner’s time, inspired his finest imagined landscapes such as Dido Building Carthage (1815). Capturing sunlight on nature and architecture was a central preoccupation for Claude and Turner alike — yet by 1840s representation became shadowy as Turner’s sunshine abounded, merging land, sea and sky (eg his Venice watercolours). Such radical leap from Claude to pre-Impressionism is already beautifully hinted in the dreamy tones of Modern Rome -- Campo Vaccino (1839), Turner’s Forum vision in worthy homage to Claude’s mellow Roman Forum (1636). This exhibition offers a richly satisfying visual dialogue between two of Europe’s greatest painters. Brian Cooper Turner Inspired in the Light of Claude is at National Galler y until June 5 2012. Admission £12 ; range of Concessions.
DVD PICK Milton Jones – The Lion Whisperer (Pozzitive Television)
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y now, Radio 4 and Mock the Week star Milton Jones needs little introduction, and neither does his unique brand of absurd one-liners. Half the fun is guessing where his jokes are going to go and the other half is finding out how wrong you were, as his punchlines teleport from some parallel universe: “I have my own private jet... the rest of the Jacuzzi belongs to my Mum.” Jones’ inimitable style is unchanged for this latest release, but he has several ways of adding variety. Regulars know how many grandfathers Jones has (“My other grandfather can’t do what he used to, bless him,” he laments, adding the punchline: “bomb the Japanese”) and Jones plays one of them here. His aged perspective on life is a subtle twist, as he wheels on a shopping trolley of props (making great play
with an old person’s idea of a mobile phone). He also uses this slot to bring out a ‘little book of time’, setting off a slew of superb jokes based around dates. Another section sees Jones use 35mm slides to link a section of travel jokes. After lauding the benefits of new technology, he wheels on an overhead projector for a slot that contains some of the best wit of the show. There are some tasty running gags, such as the one about having shampoo thrown at him (“…turned out it was real poo”) but his audience interaction here is not as sharp as it has been. DVD repeat plays inevitably blunt some of the impact (the hilarious use of his car’s sunroof depends a lot on the element of surprise), but plenty of material still works, especially the OHP section and running gags. This 68-minute noextras disc is a fine record of outrageously creative wordplay, surreal wit and some grin-allover-your-face visual gags. Derek Walker
April 22, 2012
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An insight into the theology and ministry of Archbishop Williams Christ the Stranger, Benjamin Myers Continuum, pb, £14.99
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o one who wants to understand Rowan Williams not only as a theologian but also as a church leader should miss this book. It is both an account of his theology and also an intellectual biography. It is no sense authorised but it is interesting to note from the preface that Williams himself read a draft of the book. Wittgenstein, TS Eliot, Donald Mackinnon, Gillian Rose, Hegel, Augustine, and Orthodox theology come across as the most significant influences on Williams’ thinking. Myers does justice to the Welsh background but argues (quoting Rupert Shortt) that even today, as Archbishop of Canterbury, Williams is best understood as essentially ‘Orthodox in Anglican form’. This is probably true but there are other, Anglican, influences, that could have been mentioned: the years teaching at Mirfield and the continuing relationship with the Community, JN Figgis (Williams bought all his books second-hand as a young lecturer at the College of the Resurrection), Austin Farrer (Williams called him the greatest Anglican theologian of the 20th century), and even the neoThomist, EL Mascall. Donald Allchin (at whose funeral Williams preached) deserves more than a single footnote. Myers appears to have examined everything Williams has written and scouring his footnotes will
make many readers wish that an enterprising publisher could persuade Williams to collect his occasional papers, sermons and addresses in book form. I would dearly love to read a lecture published in Wales in 1994 on ‘Mission and Christology’. For those familiar with Williams’ work there are few surprises here but Myers is very good at tracing the development of Williams’ thought. He sees three main stages: the early years when Williams was particularly influenced by Wittgenstein; the middle period when, under the influence of Gilliam Rose, Hegel became significant; and the years as a bishop and archbishop when attention focussed on the nature of human desire and whether human beings are capable of love or are forever trapped in selfish fantasy. Although not mentioned a great deal, Myers perceptively comments that original sin is an important element in Williams’ theology. “The problem of fantasy,” Myers writes, “leads him to envisage Christian faith as one enormous pattern of asceticism and kenosis.” We are told that “devotion to Christ as ascetic renunciation of fantasy: that is the theology of Rowan Williams”. Williams can be hard to read because he is always alert to the difficulty of talking about God and of the strangeness of Christ. As Myers points out, the Archbishop is all too aware of the fact that Christ remains a stranger even to those familiar with the peculiar language games of church and academy. It is from the lives of the saints that we really learn to speak of God. Summarising Williams’ views, Myers
writes that “if we really want to get to know God, then we will have to go to those hidden places where God is most deeply at work: to the church’s hidden history, the history of its saints, its mystics, its people of prayer”. Although Myers is right to draw the link here with Orthodoxy, the importance of the witness of holy lives was also much stressed by Austin Farrer. For the most part Myers confines himself to exposition rather than criticism. He does not refer to Robert Jensen’s charge that Williams is too reluctant to accept closure although he does make the point that Williams is no post-modernist. But he offers an interesting criticism at the end of his book when he suggests Williams has a tendency to find in other writers what he wants to find in them and to align them too quickly to his own position. In some ways this contradicts what Myers has to say early on in his book about Williams’ attentiveness. Myers has almost nothing to say about the disagreements that have rocked the Anglican Communion during the time Williams has been Archbishop of Canterbury or about Williams’ intervention in public debate (except for his address on Sharia law). But what his book does do is to trace Williams’ theological development and set out the main themes in his work in concise and accurate way. It is easy to see how Williams’ style as an archbishop has been shaped by his belief that we find the truth when we engage in the hard work of sustaining relations with those with whom we disagree. This is a short book of only 140 pages, but it is one that will repay careful reading and re-reading. Paul Richardson
Tracing the history and the impact of the Church’s Lectionaries Making the Most of the Lectionar y, Tom O’Loughlin SPCK, pb, £12.99
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he Roman Lectionary compiled 40 years ago and the Anglican Lectionaries following it are among the quieter liturgical revolutions but O’Loughlin turns up the volume. He begins by asking: “Why do we read the Scriptures at the Eucharist?”, observing the earliest Biblical accounts of the Eucharist contains no such readings. He notes and dissects the common answers to this question, such as presenting worship in a one-sidedly didactic manner, or crudely conflating the Bible with the revealing God to whom it bears witness. He makes the common but still valuable observation that Christ himself wrote no book. Most piercingly, he critiques the consumerist notion of
Scripture as inspiration, “easy” readings needed to uplift the congregation after a hectic week. Rather the reading of Scripture aloud in church is itself an act of remembrance, the church that the Lectionary serves being “the community of the memory of Jesus as Lord and Christ”. He follows this theme of remembrance in his chapter defending Old Testament Readings as part of our salvation history. Detailing a three-year Lectionary is not easy but O’Loughlin helps the reader with numerous tables and no less than seven appendices. He balances the need to focus on the details of the Lectionary, such as the structure and arrangement, with broader questions such as why there should be a Lectionary at all. In this matter he argues briskly against the dangers of letting congregations make up the readings as they go along in a manner that does not take his opponents seriously. Are liturgical committees really
more trustworthy than anyone else? Whilst supportive of the Lectionary, offering more Scripture than its predecessors, he has reservations. Some, such as his criticism of non-inclusive language in the Roman Lectionary are understandable: his unqualified condemnation of typology is not. He ends with a plea to rid the Lectionary of this typology though otherwise refreshingly wary of yet more changes. Even though Paul and Christ deigned to use it, the Lectionary, following Historical-Critical scholarship, should not. Typology cannot be rejected, any more than one can categorically deny that there was a literal Sermon on the Mount as this book does. O’Loughlin’s use of Biblical scholarship is useful at points, as when he discusses the relationship between the New Testament with the Septuagint, but not always. But by the standards of liturgical theology, this is not a polemical work. Whatever its faults, this is a much-needed book on an under-studied subject. Christopher Villiers
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April 22, 2012
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Catherine Fox
A novel view of the week
Multiple choices I
am knee-deep in paint charts and interior design magazines at the moment. As all clergy families know, décor in church housing is an ingenious affair. It branches out organically from one fixed point, because there is always something you have to work creatively with. It may be that vicarage classic, the exploding cabbage carpet. It may be the jolly sunflower tiles in the kitchen, or the avocado bathroom suite. Whatever it is that you dislike but can’t afford to replace (or persuade the diocesan housing officer to replace), it becomes your starting point. If the stair carpet is orange, then certain things are ruled out. Like mauve walls. Or accepting the job in the first place. Curiously, I find it much more difficult to come up with a decorating scheme if I’m given a free rein. Designing a new bathroom from scratch, for example. Never in my life did I expect to be called upon to give an opinion on sanitary ware. The range is so overwhelming I feel like swooning opon my chaise longue (adds chaise longue to shopping list). Bravely, I leaf through a catalogue. There’s the Contemporary Collection, ranging from the Karla Suite at the bottom end (insert own toilet-humour
joke of choice here) through to classier Modo Suite at the top end. Then comes the Italian Collection. Aha, here’s the one for me: ‘Evo’. A classic bathroom suite for low church clergy families. There doesn’t seem to be an equivalent called ‘Spike’, sadly. Next we come to the Coach House Collection, where the basins have upstands, and the loos have luxury wooden seats. These are suites for people who have servants to pull the chain for them. Alas, even cathedral deans no longer have that level of administrative assistance these days. Even choosing a loo is not straightforward. Once I’ve selected a style I then need to assess the competing merits of ‘Wall hung’, ‘standard’ and ‘back to wall’ WCs. But there’s a small silver lining. Finally I get the opportunity to study what, for the average female, is the sanitary ware Item of Mystery: the urinal. I learn that there is a choice between ‘exposed’ and ‘concealed’ — perhaps catering for both introverts and extroverts? — and that there’s a difference between top and back ‘inlet spreaders’. Well, this is all very interesting. As a mother of (erstwhile) small boys, I had never appreciated there was a problem with spreading. But let me end on a cheerful note: I’m
pleased to see that there is now such a thing as a ‘soft-close seat’. This ought to deal with any lingering Jaws-type fears that may seize hold of the mind when approaching an unknown loo. What, that had never occurred to you? It will from now on. And don’t get me started on Excalibur’s Return.
Inspirational writing...
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his week I will be off in the wilds of Shropshire teaching creative writing to group of secondary school children. They are Key Stage Something. (I have never mastered this new education stuff with its Y7 and Key Stage 2 malarky. Maybe if I sit tight the present government will abolish it along with the NHS.) One of my strategies to help my students produce new and interesting writing will be to impose constraints on them. As we’ve already seen, inheriting a bright orange stair carpet forces us to be creative in our approach to décor. This might mean embracing the whole retro 70s look that is so fashionable at the moment; it means lying on the floor, drumming your heels and screaming ‘Either the carpet goes or I do!’ Whichever route you go down it’s true to say that without the orange carpet you might never have been inspired to such creative brilliance. A beige carpet may be inoffensive, but it is not inspirational. When it comes to writing, a lot of people feel they have a book or a story in them, but have no idea where to begin. Creative writing exercises are designed to act like that orange carpet, and galvanise your brain into seeking solutions — in this case to the problem of the blank page. I could try walking into my class in Shropshire and saying, ‘Your task for the next half hour is to write a short story.’ The response would probably be a room full of blank faces and the clunk of foreheads hitting the desk in despair. But if I said ‘You task is to write a short story which must include an orange carpet, a baboon and a paperclip,’ then my students would have something to go at. I could make it even easier, funnily enough, by giving them a limit of 300 words. This is a principle preachers are familiar with: it’s far simpler to be given a topic or passage to preach from than to be told ‘Oh, choose whatever you like.’ It’s odd how constraints end up being liberating. There are times when our most dearly cherished dreams are thwarted, but looking back we can see that this was the turning point that took us along another path altogether, up steeper hills maybe, but with even better views.
Close Encounters — Anniversaries
Lichfield has been the setting for two very different anniversaries this past week. On 11th we commemorated the death of Edward Wightman, last person to be burnt at the stake for heresy in this country. A short service was held in the market square where he was executed, and the prayer of committal was said, which would have been denied him 400 years ago. Then last weekend saw Lichfield’s own Titanic memorial, in Beacon Park, where the statue of Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic, stands. On Saturday night 1,500 tea lights were lit, and a distress flare set off. On Sunday afternoon a service was held to remember those who died.
Janey Lee Grace Live Healthy! Live Happy!
Bee Prepared I
ts official, our bees are in decline. The Daily Mail last week declared that the demise of Britain’s bees could cost us £1.8billion a year. It’s hard to imagine a life without bees but it’s not just their gentle buzz on a spring day: bees are an absolutely crucial part of the food chain as they pollinate fruit and vegetables. Friends of the Earth has launched a campaign saying that unless the decline is halted, UK farmers will have to rely on hand pollination, which will send food prices rocketing. In some parts of the world bees have already been wiped out by intensive farming, pesticide, habitat changes and electromagnetic frequencies, and those economies are now suffering greatly because hand pollination is such a huge drain on resources. All types of bees are affected, it’s thought that bumblebees are in slower decline but according to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust the UK has 24 species: two of which have become extinct and a further six are designated priority species needing conservation action. Allison Day founded the Bees Action Network, a charity that is urg-
ing community action to correct the lack of forage and habitat for bees. They have a ‘Daisy Chain Campaign’, which supports and helps communities who grow their own fruit and vegetables and who would like to have bee-lines of bee-loving nectar rich wildflowers and cottage garden plants running through their allotments or neighbourhoods. True companion planting from which humans and insect pollinators benefit! Individuals can also play their part, by planting trees in the garden like ivy, holly, hazel and willow. Herbs like marjoram, thyme and chives, which can be grown in a window box, are also good as they provide food for bees all year round, and flowers like crocuses, snowdrop, primrose and foxgloves. The Bees Action Network offers a few suggestions for us all to do our bit, especially gardeners. • Cut the chemicals – think before you spray. Is there something more natural or organic you can use? • Increase habitat – put up solitary bee and beneficial insect houses. • Increase forage – plant bee-loving nectar-rich plants and wildflowers. • Create a natural garden – make your garden a haven for beneficial wildlife. Save vegetable peelings and garden waste and use the resulting compost, together with good, honest manure (if necessary) on your garden! Eventually you will have soil teeming with all the elements needed to support the growing of healthy plants. On my ‘Janey Loves’ blog at www.janeyleegrace.com I recommend several companies that offer wonderful 100 per cent natural products that come courtesy of bees. ‘Beeplenish’ is an excellent beeswax polish with no chemicals added, ‘Unbeelievable health’ offer excellent Propolis supplements and of course there are many wonderful honeys, I especially like the raw wild honey from ‘Tiana’. ‘ Abees’ is a lovely new skincare company who use honey as a key ingredient and the French organic skincare pioneers ‘Melvita’ have installed bee hives and a wild flowering garden on the top of their Covent Garden store, so they’re doing their bit to help replenish the pollination so that they can continue to produce their wonderful honeys, oils and skincare.