Robert Graves is not modern. He’s better than that, and worse: an Edwardian born out of time, a war poet, and more known now for his potboiler series of Claudius novels that fed his household. He is now almost as unfashionable as his contemporary Eliot, but he’s an honest craftsman, though pagan. He despised fashion, […]
There are two parts to this. The first is that there is a prince of the air, who rejoices when we do what we will, and assuage our desires, neglecting our duty. For in that we do damage. It is not merely pleasure which he rules, but the skepticism and subtle pleasures we know are […]
The reason we went to Stewart Island was Ulva Island. This is a bird sanctuary, and it is wonderful. For most of the day, I was carrying a very long (150 -600mm) birding lens. Fatigue did not help with the shots. These were taken with the cellphone, but one. Following four hours there, we went […]
I’m dealing with a fair number of problems at work today. In between jobs, looking at what is going on. Locally, our system is coping, but it is the beginning of the storm, and we don’t know if we reacted fast enough to dodge it or not. As is often the case, the USA is […]
If last week was setting up the home office to get things working, this week is when the rubber hits the road. Anything that can be done from home will be done from home, and the process on returning from work will be that all clothing goes into the wash, lunch bag included. It appears […]
It’s not often you quote Nick Cave in the title of a lectionary post. But there is context. We lost, in NZ, the first person to COVID 19 yesterday (Sunday). Now, there are those who noted that we lose eighty odd people every day, but for the family of that woman the death is real, […]
I started the Sonnet sequence with the penitential sonnets of Anne Locke, then the Medications of Donne. Both these can be bleak: and most people think that reformed theology is dark, bleak and unremitting. They miss the spark of the divine. There is a comfort in knowing that your soul rests not in any act […]
All the certainties of the secular realm are falling into a vortex of skepticism, driven by the illogic of intersectionality and a (quite later) realization that the assumptions the Victorian scientists made when setting up their disciplines have little evidence. The politically correct don’t like neo-behavioural biology because it does not meet the needs of […]
Well, we are in lockdown and I have had the mandatory risk assessment about what duties I can do (which appears to be everything I normally do anyway). On Thursday, the first day of the lock down, we managed to get the work system up and running, and what work needed to be done, done. […]
I’m now taking a lot more time to get things done, and reading more slowly. Theology matters. We may be silenced — the rules over here are fairly draconian and hate speech regulation, akin to Aussie, is just around the corner — but there will be a restoration. The times after this will glorify God […]
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