Catherine Coldstream contemplates the sublime nature of music
‘The gift of music comes down to us like rain or dew or inspiration, as beauty, as gratuity. It softens the heart and inclines us to listen to and nurture that love that is beyond all loves, and to accord it the highest place in our lives.’
A conversation with Mark Vernon about the heritage and continuing influence of the famous psychotherapist
‘There’s always something in the divine presence that’s striving to be born. Trying to be open and receptive to what that might be matters even more than getting troubled by what is going wrong.’
Farah Ahamed explores the concept of sunn kaall (the primordial void) in the music and poetry of Islam, Hinduism and Christianity
‘Through singing, the human voice becomes an entry point into the underlying mysticism of nature and universal sound. Music as a way of searching for the divine.’
Andrew Watson contemplates the life and work of the famous Orkney poet who made a journey from childhood trauma to rediscovery of faith and meaning
‘Eden represents an integrated world in which meaning is not severed from experience and one’s place is secure.’
The distinguished poet James Harpur considers what makes places sacred and whether ‘sacredness’ requires an act of poetic imagination.
‘Craftsmen laboured to make things beautiful not just to please the mind but to raise the mind to God.’
Broadcaster Ian Skelly, co-author of the book Harmony, talks about a new film which explores the environmental philosophy and practical achievements of King Charles III
‘We think we are suffering an ecological crisis or an environmental crisis, but at the heart of it, we’re actually suffering a crisis of perception.’