Grady Chambers's Blog

Sinopia of Lorenzetti's "Annunciation" (1330s)

Derek Jarman in his Garden at Dungeness

Dehd - "Hard to Love"

William Taber, from Four Doors to Meeting for Worship

“Another kind of new perception in the Light is that a person may be led to explore old memories in a dramatically new way, seeing the protecting, guiding hand of God in what seemed an unconnected chain of circumstances, disappointments, disasters, relationships, and small successes. In a similar way, this special state of consciousness sometimes opens up a whole new understanding of cause and effect, or, we might say, it develops and reinforces a whole new range of spiritual common sense. The cumulative effect of these new perceptions is to bring a profound but subtle change in the way we relate to ourselves, to other people, animals, and all created things. Thus, the ultimate test of our response to the Inward Work of Christ lies not in the way we feel during the meeting for worship, but in the way we relate afterward to our fellow humans and to all things in God’s Creation.”

Rachel Ruysch - Still Life with Flowers and Fruits (1714)

From The Gospel of John

“…A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another;
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

John 13:34

From "The Cure" - John Cheever

“I took a train home, but I was too tired to go to Orpheo’s and then sit through a movie. I drove from the station to the house and put the car in the garage. From there I heard the telephone ringing, and I waited in the garden until the ringing had stopped. As soon as I stepped into the living room, I noticed on the wall some dirty handprints that had been made by the children before they went away. They were near the baseboard and I had to get down on my knees to kiss them.”

Roman Ring Showing Venus, Found in Brittany

Matchbox 20 - "Argue"

John Cheever, from "The Bus to St. James's"

“Lois Bruce, like a great many women in New York, spent a formidable amount of time shopping along Fifth Avenue. She read the advertisements in the newspapers more intently than her husband read the financial section. Shopping was her principal occupation. She would get up from a sickbed to go shopping. The atmosphere of the department stores had a restorative effect on her disposition. She would begin her afternoon at Altman’s—buy a pair of gloves on the first floor, and then travel up on the escalator and look at andirons. She would buy a purse and some face cream at Lord & Taylor’s, and price coffee tables, upholstery fabrics, and cocktail glasses. “Down?” she would ask the elevator operator when the doors rolled open, and if the operator said “Up,” Lois would board the car anyhow, deciding suddenly that whatever it was that she wanted might be in the furniture or the linen department. Should buy a pair of shoes and a slip at Saks, send her mother some napkins from Mosse’s, buy a bunch of cloth flowers at De Pinna’s, some hand lotion at Bonwit’s, and a dress at Bendel’s. By then, her feet and her head would be pleasantly tired, the porter at Tiffany’s would be taking in the flag, the lamps on the carriages by the Plaza would be lighted. She would buy a cake at Dean’s, her last stop, and walk home through the early dark like an honest workman, contented and weary.”