WHAT BRITAIN NEEDS

 I am on the mailing list of a number of worthwhile voices of sanity in our distressed and muddled polity. Before I left Facebook, I would have shared on that platform - now I can copy a mailing that strikes me as being particularly insightful and paste it as a blogpost. I hope this gets read widely:

Dear Rob,   Leading economists wrote to the Chancellor this week demanding a change of direction. Concerned that the government won’t invest enough in public services and infrastructure, the group of economists – including top civil servants and academics – wrote an open letter to Rachel Reeves in the Financial Times. They argue the government is prioritising reducing government borrowing – and

FRUITS OF THE MARAZION QUAKER LIBRARY (11) - PART TWO: HUGH MCGREGOR ROSS 'THIRTY ESSAYS ON THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS'

 Hugh McGregor Ross has an American counter-part, Professor Stevan Davies; these two scholars have studied the Gospel of Thomas and each, in similar ways, has opened the eyes of readers to the spiritual wisdom of the sayings of Jesus as recorded by Thomas. Stevan Davies writes in 'The Gospel of Thomas Annotated & Explained' (2002): 'The Gospel of Thomas presents a vision of all human beings as potential children of God within whom already, unbeknownst to them, the divine light is shining.' How wonderful it is that our founder, George Fox, arrived at the same conclusion through his mystical experiences leading to his truth-finding in1647: we are all children of the light. 

1647, in England and 1945, in Egypt, when the only surviving copy of the Gospel of Thomas emerged from the ground in an earthenware jar, are key years and places when humanity was blessed. 

The Light and the Truth - in the Sayings of Jesus recorded by Thomas these are to be found within us.

In the first part of this blogpost, I summarized some of the knowledge and ideas of Hugh McGregor Ross recorded in his 'Thirty Essays on the Gospel of Thomas' (1990). In this post, I share the rest of his wisdom.

• The Gospel of Thomas was branded as heretical by Hippolytus, bishop of Rome, in the early third century. Ross notes that the original meaning of the word 'heresy' was neither abusive nor complimentary - it means literally a choice, for example of principles. But Christians such as Paul in the first century and then Ignatius in the second century began to apply it to views they regarded as erroneous - not representing a proper understanding of Christian belief. They were intent on creating a church for everyone with a defined dogma of belief. Other religions offer a pathway to a deeper personal spirituality: the Jewish faith has Hasidism; Islam has Sufism; Hindus have the

MINE TO DIE GETS CLOSE TO ANOTHER PRINT RUN

 My original print run for Mine to Die was 200; it had been 300 for Dying to Know and that seemed excessive given the number of unsold copies. A pity because DTK is a good piece of writing with very important messages about our misgovernment during the pandemic, some interesting bits of autobiography, and great photographs. If you haven't got a copy yet for yourself or if you are looking for a present for someone else, please press this link for a way to purchase. So I limited MTD to 200 copies with the hope that maybe the fates would be kind and the book would sell well enough to warrant another print run. 

I am getting closer to fulfilling that hope as you will read below. First, though, here is an extract from an earlier blogpost I wrote in March this year, shortly after MTD's initial publication:

"I am circulating this blogpost around the forty or so people in my network. If any of you are interested in buying a copy of any of my Matador books, they are available from that publisher, or from me directly for a signed copy using my website or just email me, or from any bookshop. I avoid Amazon myself, if I can (I only get around £2.50 for each copy sold by them and their warehouse system is not good news for their workers). It would be much to my advantage if you referenced any of my Matador publications in conversation with friends and family, encouraging others to support a writer whose only ambition is to be read more widely." 

The rock drill the miners called 'The Widow Maker'. This image was taken by J.C. Burrows in 1904 and appears in MTD on p.30. The account of rock drilling developments is on pp.28-33.

If and when you have read Mine to Die, I would really appreciate it if you would leave a review on the Matador and Waterstones website. There are nine good reviews of Dying to Know on the Matador website and three on the Waterstones webpage. It all helps. I do have two reviews for MTD on the Amazon UK Books site and they needed verified purchases - so only if you must!

Thank you all for any part you can play in this exciting adventure which isn't just about me; those young Cornish miners and their families from the 19th and 20th centuries with their tales of bravery, strength, and suffering are the core of my story. MTD is my

FRUITS OF THE MARAZION QUAKER LIBRARY (10) - PART ONE: HUGH MCGREGOR ROSS (1990) 'THIRTY ESSAYS ON THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS'

 In 1987, Hugh McGregor Ross's work: The Gospel of Thomas, Newly presented to bring out the meaning, with Introductions, Paraphrases and Notes was published. It had been nine years in the making, during which time Ross, dissatisfied with the first English translation of this Gospel, had learnt the ancient Coptic language of the manuscript to gain a deeper understanding. These thirty essays on the Gospel of Thomas published in 1990 serve as a companion, three years in the writing, each one following an idea Ross felt compelled to tease out. I am in awe of this scholar who has made such an important contribution to Christian theology from a background of scientific and engineering excellence. This is a man who had joined a specialist computer company in the week of the very first commercial sale of a computer anywhere in the world - see this link here for my earlier blogpost on Hugh McGregor Ross, his scientific background, his achievements, and his Quaker faith centred on the teachings of Jesus. 

Some of the contents of the jar found in 1945 at Nag Hammadi

What follows is a summary of the key ideas in these essays:

• Where did the Gospel of Thomas come from? It was amongst a group of twelve volumes discovered in a jar in 1945 at a site near Nag Hammadi in Egypt, mid-way along the Nile. They were buried by the monks of a nearby monastery at a time of persecution. The Gospel begins with this statement: 

These are the hidden logia

 which the living Jesus spoke

 and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote.    

A logion is a saying, given by a master, that has both an outer and a deep inner meaning which provides great reward for one's life. The manuscript we have is the only known complete version - written very clearly in black ink on papyrus.

• In the early 4th century AD, Diocletian was unifying the rule of the Roman Empire and saw Christians and Jews as a threat so he persecuted these monotheists. Sections of the Christian

FRUITS OF THE MARZION QUAKER LIBRARY (9) - KATE THOMAS (2022) 'FALMOUTH AND THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE' AND THREE OTHER GEMS

 I discovered Kate Thomas's booklet on Monday this week in the course of labelling books on the shelves of our library. The full title is 'Collective Amnesia: Falmouth and the Transatlantic Slave Trade' and somehow this booklet and its subject matter had remained unknown to me. 

I shall make contact with Falmouth Quakers and seek more information and understanding about the campaign to raise awareness of the evident racism . One way forward is to move from prominence the wall monument to a slave trader in the Anglican church in Falmouth, adding detail beside it that reveals the truth about Thomas Corker's role in the slave trade. Online, I have found that the latest reference to such a campaign is in 2022; the Church of England hierarchy and bureaucracy, whilst in agreement that action needs to be taken, seem to be stalling further

BEATRIZ MILHAZES AT TATE ST IVES - A PORTUGUESE CELBRATION OF LIFE

 Around a month ago, Louise and I joined our friend Stephen Vranch to view the latest special exhibition at Tate St Ives featuring the work of Beatriz Milhazes. 2024 has been a rich year at our local Tate - in May, I published my blog post about the Tate exhibition focusing on the work of Outi Pieski that we had seen in March - see this link here. From Scandinavia to the north and Brazil to the south, the cultural reach of the Tate has been magnificent. We have had such a riot of colour and form to savour, as you saw with Outi Pieski and see again with Beatriz Milhazes. 

I love the insight in Milhazes' words, referenced in the Tate show:

My context has been surrounded by forests, mountains and coastal experiences; the development of a 'tropical' way of thinking. In St Ives it is very special for me to experience the same ocean as in Rio de Janeiro. Same water, different cultures, but in the end it is all about life.'

Her paintings and collages draw on a range of sources - from the natural and urban landscapes of Brazil to the histories of art and architecture. 

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1960, Milhazes rose to prominence in the 1980s as part of an 80s art movement that took a new direction away from the austere abstractions of previous decades. Artists within this new paradigm embraced painting as a medium for energy and expression. Milhazes has

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE - MEET ALAN NEWTON, A MARAZION QUAKER

 

Frank Musgrove, who was professor of sociology at the University of Manchester when I was there as a postgraduate student in 1976-77, had a memorable line that has resonated with me from that time to this. ‘The health of a society’, he said, ‘lies at its margins’.

 

Becoming and being a Quaker identifies the person who has taken that path as being different from the mainstream. Quakers live at the margins of society, seeking to change themselves and the world for the better. That’s why we can be a force for good. At our best, we are the health of a society.

 

All of which brings us to Alan Newton, clerk at the Marazion Meeting House, who has recently accepted clerking duties within Cornwall Area Meeting. When I first met Alan my judgement was that he was a good, kind man with a quick wit and accomplished in his role as a clerk. He seemed a modest man, confident in some ways but self-effacing. Now I know his story I can appreciate his character more deeply. Alan has lived a life at the margins in a fashion which I find inspirational. More people should know about his alternative take on how to live well, how to live the good life.

Living the good life in the home that Alan built - June 2024 - Alan Newton and Beryl Brookman, with a Friend, Louise Donovan, in silhouette between them, sharing a simple lunch  

Alan was born in 1958 in Hornsey in north London before it became gentrified and posh. When he was five years old, the family moved to Wimbledon into a house that had been inherited from an aunt. Their new home was in a middle-class street with bankers and city commuters as neighbours. Alan’s dad was