23 November 2025, New York On Sunday afternoon, with a couple of hours to fill between a very enjoyable lunch with the charming and always-erudite Chris White and a glorious Evensong at the St Thomas’s Fifth Avenue, I spent time at MoMA in West 53rd Street, New York’s world-leading museum of modern art. It’s the … Read more
15 October 2025, New York. “And one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages…” (Jacques in Shakespeare’s As You Like It Act 2, scene 7) I grew up idolising Annie Lennox, her life and mine a world apart save that we were both born in Aberdeen. Last night she launched … Read more
It’s a new soundtrackI could dance to this beat forevermoreThe lights are so brightBut they never blind meWelcome to New YorkIt’s been waiting for you (Taylor Swift – ‘Welcome to New York’) The word ‘nickname’, which I had assumed was a modern term, turns out to be from the Middle English phrase ‘an eke name’, … Read more
29 September 2025 San Francisco, California Why is it that when we step into certain places we feel happy and sense that we belong there, while stepping into other places leaves us feeling at best neutral and at worst downright scratchy or uncomfortable? What is it that makes a house into a home, and a … Read more
26-29 September 2025, New Camaldoli Hermitage, near Big Sur, California I think that Christian retreats are – essentially – of two sorts. There’s the ‘tidying up the garden’ sort, which usually involves a bit of spiritual dead-heading, perhaps some sweeping up, pruning and edging, and – if you’re lucky – some seasonal planting. These are … Read more
25 September 2025 at Hong Kong Airport, about to head East One of the earliest, greatest films ever made was ‘Around The World In 80 Days,’ based on Jules Verne’s novel of the same title, in which David Niven played Phileas Fogg. In 1956 it won the Oscar as that year’s best picture. Astonishingly, it … Read more
8 September 2025, in Lisbon, Portugal. Facing the sea… The iconic statue of Cristo Rei in Lisbon is unusual, different in one important respect from all the other statues. Standing tall over the Tagus River, his arms outstretched as if in blessing and protection, it dates – I discover – only from 1959. Seeing it only from … Read more
5, 6 & 7 September 2025, briefly back in London. It feels like I have been leaving on this sabbatical for weeks, for months even, and although it is all exciting, the work of leaving has felt pretty wearying. You could say that in the end it is just about packing a case and getting … Read more