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Something Understood

Religion & Ethics

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life

Ethical and religious discussion that examines some of the larger questions of life, taking a spiritual theme and exploring it through music, prose and poetry

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Something Understood: Storms and Stillnesses

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31/12/2017

Storms and Stillnesses

BBC Radio 4 - Something Understood, Storms and Stillnesses

Dr Rowan Williams seeks stillnesses as he reflects on what has been a stormy year.

Former archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams looks back over what has been a stormy year in many ways and reflects on our limited ability to control the world we live in.

For New Year's Eve, former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams looks back over what has been a stormy year in many ways, and reflects on our limited ability to control the world we live in. 

For Dr Williams, a storm offers us two truths. One is that there's ultimately no defence against human fragility - we can't postpone forever the acknowledgement that we are not all-powerful over the world. The other is the fact that the comfort we make for ourselves repeatedly blocks out the reality of other people's experience of fragility and risk.

Dr Williams argues, "Unless we remember how much of a lie it is that we can make ourselves completely safe, we shall train ourselves not to notice how the majority in our world continue to live." He explains that, at the heart of our experience of storms, is a religious revelation that there is no guarantee of safety but a promise that we shall be held through it all and not defeated. 

According to Dr Williams, "When we show ourselves ready to stand alongside those who face the worst upheavals, trials and pains, we reflect just a little of the steady presence at the root of everything that never disappears, the pulse that continues to beat even when we can hardly discern it - the presence we call God."

Presenter: Dr Rowan Williams
Producer: Michael Wakelin
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