Dedication in Hereford Cathedral of 'Ascension' for the SAS

'Ascension' by John Maine RA

A service was held in Hereford Cathedral on 17th October 2017 to dedicate a window and sculpture installed in honour of the SAS. The service was attended by the Duke of Cambridge who read from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. The Regimental Sergeant-Major read the SAS's poem from the epilogue of The Golden Journey to Samarkand by James Elroy Flecker

We are the Pilgrims, Master; we shall go
Always a little further; it may be
Beyond the last blue mountain barred with snow,
Across that angry or that glimmering sea...

After the traditional hymns, the company sang a stirring rendition of Lili Marlene.

Turner - Painting With Light

I have always loved Turner's paintings from afar but an exhibition of a few lovely pictures from the Tate at the Winchester Discovery Centre has made me understand why he is among the greatest artists of all time. And on 13th October, Nicola Moorby (formerly of the Tate) gave an absolutely fascinating lecture of the techniques Turner used to achieve his fabulous effects in light, some of which no one has been able to recreate since.

   

Favourite Writings - Big Wolf and Little Wolf

 I hadn't come across this marvellous little book by Nadine Brun-Cosme until Maria Popova wrote about it in her weekly Brain Pickings post. It reminded me immediately of the Story of the Fox from Le Petit Prince, which I have always loved. In it, the Fox tells the Little Prince how to make friends.

"You must be very patient" replied the fox. "First, you will sit down at a little distance from me - like that - in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstanding. But you will sit a little closer to me every day..."

The next day the little prince came back. "It would have been better to come back at the same hour" said the fox. "If, for example, you came at four o'clock in the afternoon, then at three o'clock I shall begin to to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o'clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you... 

Big Wolf, Little Wolf has much the same advice and 
That evening for the first time Big Wolf didn’t eat.
That night for the first time Big Wolf didn’t sleep.
He waited.
For the first time he said to himself that a little one, indeed a very little one, had taken up space in his heart
A lot of space.

For the whole book, click here

Favorite Writings - Friendship

I value friendship more highly than love, of which it is a part, perhaps the greatest part. It is free of the tiresome jealousies and overheated humours of love and does not need constant validation. David Whyte writes beautifully about it: 

Friendship is a mirror to presence and a testament to forgiveness. Friendship not only helps us see ourselves through another’s eyes, but can be sustained over the years only with someone who has repeatedly forgiven us for our trespasses as we must find it in ourselves to forgive them in turn. A friend knows our difficulties and shadows and remains in sight, a companion to our vulnerabilities more than our triumphs, when we are under the strange illusion that we do not need them. An undercurrent of real friendship is a blessing exactly because its elemental form is rediscovered again and again through understanding and mercy. All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die.

The dynamic of friendship is almost always underestimated as a constant force in human life: a diminishing circle of friends is the first terrible diagnostic of a life in deep trouble: of overwork, of too much emphasis on a professional identity, of forgetting who will be there when our armored personalities run into the inevitable natural disasters and vulnerabilities found in even the most average existence. But no matter the medicinal virtues of being a true friend or sustaining a long close relationship with another, the ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone.

David Whyte

John O'Donoghue on Friendship

In the Celtic tradition, there is a beautiful understanding of love and friendship. One of the fascinating ideas here is the idea of soul-love; the old Gaelic term for this is anam cara. Anam is the Gaelic word for soul and cara is the word for friend. So anam cara in the Celtic world was the “soul friend.” In the early Celtic church, a person who acted as a teacher, companion, or spiritual guide was called an anam cara. It originally referred to someone to whom you confessed, revealing the hidden intimacies of your life. With the anam cara you could share your inner-most self, your mind and your heart. This friendship was an act of recognition and belonging. When you had an anam cara, your friendship cut across all convention, morality, and category. You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the “friend of your soul.” The Celtic understanding did not set limitations of space or time on the soul. There is no cage for the soul. The soul is a divine light that flows into you and into your Other. This art of belonging awakened and fostered a deep and special companionship.


See also Love Undetectable by Andrew Sullivan