tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post1250613083955635149..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: An Elegy Written for a Country Church by Julia JonesKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33133448539462993672016-08-12T11:50:23.583+01:002016-08-12T11:50:23.583+01:00It's even more frustrating than usual arriving...It's even more frustrating than usual arriving late at your post, because the others have used up most of the words that came to me. It's lovely, Julia. Thank you.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41929755951587096772016-08-11T22:07:01.376+01:002016-08-11T22:07:01.376+01:00But the beautiful prose was yours, Julia!But the beautiful prose was yours, Julia!Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-70692453461814754892016-08-10T23:32:40.679+01:002016-08-10T23:32:40.679+01:00Thank you all for such kind comments but actually,...Thank you all for such kind comments but actually, when I think about it, those unknown church builders did all the hard work, Thomas Gray provided the insight and Mum the inspiration.julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-39830124679696575592016-08-10T13:24:37.465+01:002016-08-10T13:24:37.465+01:00Oh so beautiful, Julia, and so moving and full of ...Oh so beautiful, Julia, and so moving and full of hope (or something...)Enid Richemonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17218197995089241666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-32827340642074456812016-08-10T11:21:18.149+01:002016-08-10T11:21:18.149+01:00Julia, that was absolutely wonderful. TJulia, that was absolutely wonderful. TDennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08003209263201885118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-11233392231630525372016-08-09T22:09:20.120+01:002016-08-09T22:09:20.120+01:00Beautiful, loving, and truthful. What more can we ...Beautiful, loving, and truthful. What more can we ask?Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020242863144175965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-31913656497424755302016-08-09T11:58:57.320+01:002016-08-09T11:58:57.320+01:00Beautiful, moving post, Julia. Thank you. Beautiful, moving post, Julia. Thank you. Ann Turnbullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484265041343702129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-29263632483788405622016-08-09T11:38:43.681+01:002016-08-09T11:38:43.681+01:00I'm without words, Julia. Just beautiful. Than...I'm without words, Julia. Just beautiful. Thank you so much for giving us this post.<br /><br /><i>'“Didn’t those children behave beautifully all the way through,” she commented on our last visit. “The ones in the pew in front of us. You’d hardly have known they were there.” In my perception the pew had been empty...'</i><br /><br />That gave me a little shiver. It reminded me of when my partner clearly heard music and singing in an old church while I heard nothing but the sheep and birds outside. Who's to say it was your mother's imagination? My partner was certain that he imagined nothing. He came up with all sorts of rational reasons why the musicians and singers he heard were nowhere to be found. 'They slipped out the other door as we came in,' was one.<br />Time is a slippery concept.Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-75107398053767705292016-08-09T10:47:41.615+01:002016-08-09T10:47:41.615+01:00Wonderful as ever Julia, it's heartening to kn...Wonderful as ever Julia, it's heartening to know your mother still has deep insight and is able to find anchorage in the familiar church atmosphere. The ritual of religion is outside time (in the sense of a forward moving narrative) and is often comforting to those with neurological conditions. I recall Oliver Sacks telling the story of a middle aged man with no memory after he was young, unable to form any new memories, through brain damage, but he could find focus and familiarity in church services - music can have a similar effect. Your mother is fortunate indeed to be cared for by people who care for her inner life as well as her outer one.Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-35783461214777420902016-08-09T10:29:44.321+01:002016-08-09T10:29:44.321+01:00I don't know much about Faith but my dad who l...I don't know much about Faith but my dad who lives in medium level dementia care goes to church four times a week (!) - it does him a world of good and the beneficial effects seem to last for hours each time: easier train of thought and forming of sentences and a generally more lively demeanour. An occasion of Grace or is it just the repetition of a lifelong habit? So don't spare the church visits! Special thanks are due to all the parishioners on his transport roster.Peter Dowdenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18315759613084758188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33359314683074787512016-08-09T09:49:18.893+01:002016-08-09T09:49:18.893+01:00Absolutely beautiful Julia. And brought back such ...Absolutely beautiful Julia. And brought back such memories. My mother had a similar faith I couldn't share - rooted in joy and beauty. It always filled me with regret that my logical approach made me an alien! Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-26895417391263313712016-08-09T09:49:06.972+01:002016-08-09T09:49:06.972+01:00Absolutely beautiful Julia. And brought back such ...Absolutely beautiful Julia. And brought back such memories. My mother had a similar faith I couldn't share - rooted in joy and beauty. It always filled me with regret that my logical approach made me an alien! Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-726111199024448302016-08-09T09:21:45.821+01:002016-08-09T09:21:45.821+01:00Thank you for this beautiful, elegaic post Julia. ...Thank you for this beautiful, elegaic post Julia. It brought tears, but the good sort.Sandra Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01761260568729338471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-69096008421186616712016-08-09T09:18:07.834+01:002016-08-09T09:18:07.834+01:00All that and more, Julia. Thank you as always.
Bu...All that and more, Julia. Thank you as always.<br /><br />But to show you I'm not going soft, here's my favourite bit:<br />When some doting relative exclaimed at the sweetness of my baby fingers the then Rector commented that they’d look very much better when I was older and they were curled around a gin-and-tonic.<br /><br />If we'd had a vicar like that in Pompey, maybe I'd have been a believer...Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-78294565793732453222016-08-09T06:17:31.498+01:002016-08-09T06:17:31.498+01:00Thank you, Julia for this sublime elegy, evoking s...Thank you, Julia for this sublime elegy, evoking so many memories and feelings, though I've never been to Ramsholt Church, you took me there, poetically, like William Carlos Williams' "Solitary Disciple" observing "the jasmine lightness of the moon" above the steeple.Umberto Tosihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04939504157464234443noreply@blogger.com