Bringing Things To Life

And is it true? And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall?

Oh post-Anglican muddling, somewhere between the unpleasantly excessive certitudes of the God-botherers and the atheists. We have our quietly spiritual moments, and model them in the trappings and half-remembered rituals of the faith we were raised in; one populated by a blond, bearded Jesus and assortment of goodies and baddies, dresssed as for the Nativity play. And somewhere in the background, an urbane God, moving in a mysterious way, but almost certainly On Our Side. Even though we ruefully acknowledge, in quiet moments, that we have left undone that which we ought to have done, and done those things which we ought not to have done. Oh yes.

Reading Richard Beard's Lazarus Is Dead was like returning to the village I was brought up in, but now being included in the grown-up conversations, and finding that there was much more going on than I'd previously noticed. Lazarus and Jesus are childhood friends; the core narrative of the book describes the last year of Jesus' life, and the last year of Lazarus' first life, as it were. It examines the difficulties you face when your best friend turns out to be the son of God, and therefore either less or more than human; and how disruptive it can be to your life when you're just trying to get on with things and suddenly find yourself part of a divine plan. If that is what it is.

There are layers and layers going on here; the story is true to the biblical narrative, as far as that goes and as far as that is consistent; beyond that, there are historical records, and artistic and literary interpretations of a story that we thought we knew but (in my case at least) turn out not to know that well. And, of course, Richard's own telling of the story. Romans and Sanhedrin work hard at realpolitik to shape events in a manner favourably to them. Points are missed. Wrong is got, in a darkly comical way. Lazarus tries to make sense of it all. Does he succeed? Read the book, and maybe you'll find out.

The story is vividly told; the past is brought to life. And there's enough space in this book for any shade of belief or unbelief. I enjoyed it hugely. Go and do likewise.

up into cloud

up into cloud, originally uploaded by Dru Marland.

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta's onder way, and I kept an eye out for them flying by this morning. Take-off was delayed a little because it was a bit breezy and cloudy; but eventually a great flotilla skittered past the city. Here's a big one ascending into the low cloud....

resurrection

For the second time in my life, I was bimbling through the Blackdown Hills in a Moggy.

We were coming home from Devon, and the traffic on the M5 was heavy. And it was a good day for bimbling. So we headed eastward through Culmstock and Hemyock, along narrow lanes with high hedges that sometimes brushed the passenger window and set the aerial wobbling dangerously.

Beyond Churchinford, I saw a church tower among the trees, near a hilltop. It looked vaguely and unexpectedly Italianate, and very inviting. We pulled over. "I'm just going to detour up there," I told Katie, who had been doing a pretty good job at navigating by our tatty road atlas, for someone who loathes the job; "For who knows if we shall ever come this way again."

It was the church of St Mary's, at Buckland St Mary, and it was built in the 19th century. And I was glad we'd turned aside.

Most unexpected, and indeed startling, was this memorial to Madalena Louise Lance and her infant son, who both died shortly after his birth in 1839. The superscription reads In memory of one much beloved who departed this life clinging entirely to her Saviour as her only hope. And below her run the words I believe in the resurrection of the dead.

...I recall a former missionary telling us at school that Africans use wooden crosses on their graves to facilitate their picking them up and carrying them on Judgement Day. This very literal sense of a corporeal resurrection came to mind when I saw this monument; it reminded me of a time when my own faith was unshakeable and unquestioning...


Phil Draper (ChurchCrawler) adds: "The new 'Somerset North and Bristol' Pevsner is due out next month, and the South Somerset volume is also under revison for a new edition
The new information added... says this monument is unique in England, and is based on a similar theme at a church in Switzerland. Interestingly though there are two other memorials in Somerset where a man is shown climbing out of his coffin (Brent Knoll - in a panel below the main monument), and most famously at Rodney Stoke where the shrouded deceased is the main figure sitting up in his sarcophagus."

butterflies

butterflies, originally uploaded by Dru Marland.

Here's a bit of butterfly brightness.


Brimstone, Comma, Marbled White
Common Blue (M), Common Blue (F), Meadow Brown
Holly Blue (M), Holly Blue (F), Peacock
Speckled Wood, Orange Tip (F), Orange Tip (M)
Red Admiral, Small copper (M), Small Tortoiseshell

...the butterflies feature in The Bristol Downs: A Natural History Year. I thought it wold be nice to make a collage of them, so I have. Is this a collage? Oh, you know.