Summer School

I've been attending some of the Guildford Diocesan Summer School sessions:

1. Who do you think you are? (Based on Ignatian Spirituality and the Spiritual Disciplines)
2. Explore your faith
3. Storytelling and Truth: From Milton to Philip Pullman
4. Murals of St Martin's Church, Blackheath

Session 3 was led by Dr Anthony Cane, Chancellor of Chichester Cathedral, and he offered us some very interesting thoughts and ideas along with a wealth of quotes from C S Lewis, Philip Pullman, John Milton and JR Tolkien. Are storytellers 'sub-creators', sharing the creative attribute of God? We heard a definition of a parable: 'Truth jumps through the window while the mind is opening the door'.
Today's session began with a visit to St Martin's Church, Blackheath (the smallest village in Surrey). After hearing an abridged history of the village, we turned our attention to the murals decorating the inside of the church. These were painted in the summers of 1894 and 1895 by Anna Lea Merritt, most famous for her portrait, "Love Locked Out".

The writing above the tomb (in the picture below) is Hebrew for Joseph's Place




Helpfully, the signpost proclaims: This Way, That Way, Somewhere Else. What more could you need to know!