An Introduction to The Manifold Letters.
These letters were produced as part of a brilliant project managed by the Rev. Robert and Sarah Van de Weyer. During the Covid-19 pandemic. Letters were written every day for two and a half years by both ordained and lay members of the congregation of St Clement's Church in Cambridge and distributed to others both in the congregation and people outwith St Clement's as Dearly Beloved letters. (DB letters). They dealt with manifold issues including psychological survival during the pandemic, personal stories and experiences of life, philosophy and theology, music, the beauty of creation, wildlife and secular and church politics, the mysteries of the Christian faith and the exigencies of the pursuit of a Christian life. Each letter was accompanied by a photograph all of which can be enlarged by clicking on them.
The Rt Rev. Rowan Williams was a contributor for six months whilst he worshiped and officiated at the St Clement's during his last months as Master of Magdalene College, just a stone's throw from St Clement's. He later published his letters as a book entitled Candles in the Dark, SPCK 96pp and described the diverse writers of the DB letters as "a brilliant constellation".
This author wrote a Dearly Beloved letter every two weeks or so and eighty-seven of these are presented above as The Manifold Letters.
The opinions and views expressed are mine and not those of St Clement's Church.
Paul Munton, Cambridge, England 16th November 2022.
Manifold Occasional Letters:
Subsequent letters which were not specifically written for St Clement's Church and were written once the Coivd-19 Pandemic had largely subsided, are now being added and follow in sequence from Dearly Beloved Letter No: 87 the foreword but are prefixed with the letters MO, so the first of the occasionals is MO No:88 and was appended on 27th April 2023.
Index of Titles and Indication of Content.
Letter No Title Content.
Thomas Tomkins – overcoming adversity, music at St John's College.
A Meditation on the Bird's Nest Orchid.
On Escaping Epidemics and Endemics.
On the Negative Halo Effect – the AstraZeneca Covid 19 vaccine.
On the Foundations of Religion – on being aware of the thoughts of others, evolution.
In Pursuit of Happiness – Ayn Rand, Aristotle, politics today.
On the Exigencies of A Zoom Funeral – dealing with the pandemic and grief on-line.
Was Dietrich Bonhoeffer right to conspire to kill Hitler?
On Founding Fathers – the psychology of large groups.
On The Law and The Spirit – racism and civil protest, the law.
A Meditation on the Question: “What is in A Box of Chocolates?”
Thoughts on Dancing Theologians -- Dante's Divine Comedy.
On War and Rumours of War – claims on Christianity by those lacking compassion.
On The Consequences of Racial Prejudice – the trials and tribulations of David Sellu, Surgeon.
On Deluded Polemic and Christianity – Richard Dawkins's move from science to polemic.
On Decline and Fall – London today.
On The Morality of the National Health Service.
Intimations of the Divine – music at St Johns' College, religious experience.
Memories of a Christmas Past – in the mountains of Oman.
Jesus College and the Rustat Memorial – slavery, racism and church law today.
On Dreaming the Lottery Numbers – an angel appears with the numbers...
On Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – the move from chivalric values to Christianity.
On the Trap of Patriarchy – feminist writings and biological reality.
On War – my parents war.
On Fear – in war and politics.
Why do we Humans Support Violent Men? – biology, evolution, politics and war.
On Female Dominance –
On Male Dominance –
The Gospel According to Male Dominance –
A Detective Story – why King's College Cambridge has no cross on the altar.
Wedding at Alet les Bains – An escape from restrictions during the Covid 19 epidemic.
On Beggars – moral questions about our relations with others, especially the poor.
On Rachel Weeping for Her Children – the persecution of the Jewish people.
On Crossing Life's Spiritual and Psychological Borders – from academic to Buddhist monk.
Five Haiku.
On Crossing the Final Border – wildlife left to its own devices during the epidemic.
On Street Parties, Garden Parties and The Garden of Eden – the tradition of male dominance over women in academia.
On Music and Lamentation – Jesus College singing Tallis's Lamentations of Jeremiah.
The Water of Life – Oman, Ezekiel and John the Divine's vision of the New Jerusalem.
On the Sixth Impossible Thing to Believe Before Breakfast – if God is good, why evil?
Five Impossible Things to Believe Before Breakfast -- difficult theological ideas.
On the Near Death of the National Health Service –
On marriage –
On Social Media, Problems with Pancakes and a Minor Miracle –
Confessions of a Doomscroller – dealing with Doomscrolling, escape into cherry blossom and contemplation.
On Being on the Religious Front Line – the consequences of Rushdie's book, Oman.
A Note on France in Summer – water, nigtingales, natterjack toads and the world's largest strawberry tart!
The Ontic Bulge – ghosts, UFOs, and other scientific rule breakers, human perception.
On Richard Hooker – the Church of England's Ecclesiologist and Theologian.
Intimations of Christ – the beauty of the created world, the Benedicite, Melchizedec.
On Romanic Love – our awareness of others, John Dunne, Shakespeare.
On The Jinn – Oman and unseen companions on the road.
On Reality and Self-Deception – Jason Stanley on how our ideas resist reality.
On Hyrax – on the evolution of “a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.”
Is French Republicanism a Religion? –
On Reality vs. The Plausible Narrative –
On Our Fear of “The Other”.
On The Middle East in 1979 – the roots of modern conflicts found in the year 1979.
On Turgenev – the beauty of the natural world and love of the Russian people.
On a Libertarian's View – Jonathan Sumption on Covid 19 Restrictions.
On The World's Oldest Building – Syracuse, Sicily.
In Defence of the Faith against A Philosophical Attack on God – Martin Hägglund
Thoughts over The New Year 2021 – looking back at our family history in France.
In Praise of Wasps – the diversity of the natural world.
What is in the Desert? – Oman, a tale of theophany.
On Being Confined – Covid 19 lock-down and surviving boarding school.
A Reflection on Spies Salad – Oman, spies, salad, no-fly zones.
On Vanity, Charity and Timeless Eternity – a Rolex watch, the contemplative life.
On the Noise of Eternity and the Noise of Argument – Benedict of Nursia, the timeless moment
On Trinity Sunday – The dynamism of Cambridge churches and chapels 2022.
On Hope for the Future of Ageing: why do we humans age so quickly after our 70th year?
A Meditation of the Number Nought – a tribute to the town of Cambridge.
From Xerxes to Putin – human success in science but failure to prevent war.
On Retreat from Darkness –
On Science, Heresy and Political Stability – why the industrial revolution happened in UK.
On the Anti-Christian Nature of Small State Ideology –
On the Battle Against Malaria –
The Compassionate Mercenary – Oman, a soldier's compassion.
On Honouring Contracts – the Mercer's Livery Company, ancient bequests.
On The Tribulations of Tribalism – Oman, a project to conserve the Arabian Oryx.
On Compassion – The Virgin Mary.
On Social Class – France, Catholicism, a tranquil awareness of effortless superiority.
On Providence and Wildlife – Oman, waterholes in desert mountains, origin of The Serpent...
On Humility – modesty, politics, fascism, boasting, lent.
Seven Revelations.
On the Importance of Doing the Washing Up – Theresa of Avila, revolution, Vietnam war.
On Rewilding – wildlife, woodcutters and world class athletes.
MO 89. On being Head of the Church of England.
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