Music – image into ikon

feeling blue

(all images by Kate Kennington Steer) I put on some music, trying to catch a mood, but the invented rhythms do nothing. So I listen instead to the cackle and spit of the fire, the roar and hiss of the rain, the howl and whip of the wind and ah, yes, there it is. ‘MoodContinue reading “feeling blue”

day 16

[Art is] contemplative because [it] ignites memories of the awe and wonder that we tend to discard after childhood. . . . When we decide to live in our heads only, we become isolated from the God who is closer than our next breath. To subject everything to rational analysis reduces the awe to ashes.Continue reading “day 16”

psalms for passiontide: Palm Sunday (Psalm 118.1-2,19-24)

Is this a psalm for a victory parade or a protest march? I can hear the cheerleaders encouraging the onlookers lining the route to join in with the passing refrain: ‘God’s steadfast love endures for ever’. I can hear the warm up act encouraging the marchers’ chants before they set off: “let me hear youContinue reading “psalms for passiontide: Palm Sunday (Psalm 118.1-2,19-24)”

Christmas Day 2019

May all the blessings of the One who is Light and Dark in our dark and our light, be on you, this day and for evermore. Amen. Word whose breath is the world-circling atmosphere, Word that utters the world that turns the wind, Word that articulates the bird that speeds upon the air, Continue reading “Christmas Day 2019”

advent apertures 2019: Christmas Eve

I have learned that fences are for climbing to see if the grass really is greener on the other side; and that if I leave the house at night, and stretch high on the top of my tiptoes I might touch the quivering stars, play with the bright young moon. I have learned thatContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: Christmas Eve”

advent apertures 2019: Sunday 4

Joy Unspeakable is not silent, it moans, hums, and bends to the rhythm of a dancing universe. It is a fractal of transcendent hope, a hologram of God’s heart, a black hole of unknowing. For our free African ancestors, joy unspeakable is drum talk that invites the spirits to dance with us, and tell tallContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: Sunday 4”