Aug. 10, 2020, 11:12 a.m.

The Vicar of Large Things

Snakes & Ladders

header


audiobook

Pawel Kuczynski, Audiobook


lego

Friends, if you’re like me, and I expect you are, you have often thought about the great variety of control consoles in LEGO vehicles of all descriptions: boats, starships, trucks, and so on. You have tried without success to grasp the complexity of the situation. But don’t worry! George Cave has you covered: “Piloting an ocean exploration ship or Martian research shuttle is serious business. Let’s hope the control panel is up to scratch. Two studs wide and angled at 45°, the ubiquitous ‘2x2 decorated slope’ is a LEGO minifigure’s interface to the world.”

lego2


I have absolutely fallen in love with the photography of Tony Cearns.

tctree

tcboat


Nick Cave: “The idea of lyrics ‘not coming’ is basically a category error. What we are talking about is not a period of ‘not coming’ but a period of ‘not arriving’. The lyrics are always coming. They are always pending. They are always on their way toward us. But often they must journey a great distance and over vast stretches of time to get there.”


The great Welsh poet R. S. Thomas (1913-2000) was for many many years a village parish priest. After his retirement he wrote a poem about his experience:

I was vicar of large things
in a small parish. Small-minded
I will not say, there were depths
in some of them I shrank back
from, wells that the word “God”
fell into and died away,
and for all I know is still
falling. Who goes for water
to such must prepare for a long
wait. Their eyes looked at me
and were the remains of flowers
on an old grave. I was there,
I felt, to blow on ashes
that were too long cold. Often,
when I thought they were about
to unbar to me, the draught
out of their empty places
came whistling so that I wrapped
myself in the heavier clothing
of my calling, speaking of light and love
in the thickening shadows of their kitchens.

Simple country people … but not so simple after all.

I think it would be a great life’s ambition to be a vicar of large things in a small parish.

Aberdaron


I wrote a post lamenting the fact that revolutionaries and scholars all write like HR departments.

And a short post, prompted by the terrible Beirut explosion, on the Texas City Disaster of 1947.


banner

You just read issue #90 of Snakes & Ladders. You can also browse the full archives of this newsletter.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via email
Brought to you by Buttondown, the easiest way to start and grow your newsletter.