12th March ... hope against hope

Hi Blake/Morris comrades,

12th March ... hope against hope ... how to wake up from a dream ...

Last time we talked about beauty in the made world and shared objects that we found to be imbued with beauty.

Next time we investigate another phase of Morris’ life, that phase where he realised that his ambitions to enlighten the world were unrealistic and he quickly needed to come up with a plan B. Morris’ change of direction seemed to be away from producing items of great, and expensive, beauty, to one of getting the wealth needed to purchase quality out of the hands of the few and into the many.

Well I suppose we could discuss the relative failure of that dream as well.

But maybe it would be beneficial to take a step back from the nitty-gritty of stuff and think about the backdrop to the story. How do you cope when the world changes or one’s perception of the world changes?

As a way into the issues I suggest watching a lecture by Alastair McIntosh. He spoke about the importance of hope in the context of being a committed plastic recycler in the face of global consumerism. It’s not a particularly sparkling lecture but may provoke thought.

In times gone by we used to begin our evenings in the context of reflective prayer courtesy of The Northumbria Community’s Evening Prayer. I propose picking this up again this time around. If you would like to acclimatise to the words we’ll use then please see http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/index.php/pray-the-daily-office/evening-prayer Of course you may participate or not.

For more on Alastair McIntosh see http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/