I want to share something new...

Last Easter, a dear friend of mine suffered a stroke.

He lived alone at the time, and was not found for three days.

He survived; but among other losses he lost the ability to read.

My friend is a learned man who loves reading and was in the process of training to become a priest.

I knew that losing the ability to read would be a terrible loss for him.

He lived on the other side of Scotland, so I couldn’t go to read to him in person; so decided to record readings and send them to him instead.

After quite a lot of indecision, I finally settled on working my way through Luke’s Gospel a little at a time.

I’d point the camera of my phone at whatever was outside my window  first thing in the morning and send it to him via WhatsApp.

Over the weeks, and much to my surprise, I found myself more and more enriched somehow by these little readings and moved and inspired by the story they told.

And not just me either: but more and more the other members of the WhatsApp group that had come together to support our dear friend.

And then yesterday I got to the end of Luke’s story and decided to start on Mark’s.

I’ve also been introduced to the First Nations Version of the New Testament which I find very wonderful.

It describes itself as an “Indigenous Translation of the New testament” and you can find out more here

First Nations Version

After much hesitation, I decided to post the readings here.

I know many of you might not want to have anything to do with the Bible in any shape or form, and I hope it won’t be too much trouble just to delete the email.

But I hope some of you enjoy them, as I do; and do feel absolutely free to share them.

Particularly to churches; as you know, I have a thing these days about performing Queen Jesus in churches, and I think it’s important other voices are heard in these places.

I think each recording will start with a bell, and then a bit of silence, and then the reading (3-4 minutes max) and then another silence.

What you will see will be whatever I am seeing from my window at the time.

I will keep writing something else once a week. 

There is so much I want to tell you about: 

the experience filming in a Cold War bunker last week. 

the experience of performing Queen J in Unitarian churches in Sheffield and Doncaster the week before.

the experience of performing in the Cathedral over the Festival.

two events I have coming up - taking part in the World Aids Day ceremony in St Mary’s Cathedral; performing at the opening of an exhibition by Joyce Gunn Cairns of portraits of me and other theatre people.

All these amazing things shine a light for me on the world we live in and I want to share that light to you…

With love

Jo