Seeker

Outside St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a memorial bust of John Donne sculpted by Nigel Boonham and unveiled in 2012. John Donne (1572 - 1631) was a Dean of St Paul's. He died on 31 March 1631 which is why the Church of England commemorates him today. John Donne is remembered as priest and poet. Inside St Paul's is a 17th century memorial statue of Donne , one of the few to survive the 1666 great fire of London.  Many years ago as an adolescent studying the English metaphysical poets I fell in love with Donne's poetry - his erotic love poetry and his religious poetry. Later I discovered other works by him including sermons and philosophical writings. Probably the best known of John Donne's words was not written as poetry but as part of a prose devotional meditation, although often quoted as poetry. I have been thinking of the quote below especially this week while feeling particularly sad following 29 March 2017 when Article 50 was triggered to sta...

I awoke this morning to the breaking news that Osama bin Laden has died as a result of a United States of America targeted security forces operation in Pakistan. The BBC were showing scenes of jubilation in front of the White House. This event has enormous symbolism world-wide. Exactly what the significance will be only future history will show. It feels like a landmark, but a landmark on the road to what? I'm wondering why I feel so uneasy, particularly about statements and reactions coming from the USA. I think my unease centres around 3 areas: JUSTICE Obama made a reference to justice having been done. To me, justice in relation to a crime involves apprehending the alleged criminal, giving them a fair trial, weighing the evidence followed by a judicial decision about guilt and punishment. In this case the alleged criminal, who may well have been guilty of being behind apalling murderous crimes, has now been killed, but without trial. So, is this justice? Or does this rei...