Home | Visions Of Hope
"I was guided by the principle that you only get out of life what you are prepared to put into it. Well, I'm still working on it. There have been many ups and downs but from time to time precious moments of contentment and happiness,'' writes William Sykes.
"When I was being prepared for confirmation at the age of sixteen, the school chaplain told us our main aim in life was 'to glorify God and enjoy him for ever'. This didn't mean much to me at the time. God was somehow put over as being 'out there' miles away beyond the clouds. 'Glorifying God' suggested an attitude of worship, with hands upraised towards the heavens. I was somehow meant to enjoy this for ever, but I was unable to enjoy it at all,'' writes William Sykes.
"I wonder if Albert Schweitzer will be acknowledged as the greatest person of the twentieth century. A man of remarkable academic ability, he had four doctorates—in philosophy, in theology, in music, and in medicine—and three of these were completed in his twenties,'' writes William Sykes.
"One of our former members of Univ. (University College, Oxford) worked in a L'Arche community for six months, as a preparation for the ordained ministry. He popped in to see me on his return to England. Living in such a community had not been easy, but he had learnt such a lot in the short space of time. When I asked him how he had managed to cope he looked at me quizzically, raised an eyebrow, and gave an answer in two words: 'Prayer, Bill', writes William Sykes in this meditation on the subject of goodness.
"I wonder if most of us settle down too quickly— in our work, in getting married, and in having families—at the cost of our freedom,'' writes William Sykes in this meditation on the subject of freedom.
"How then can we best cope with failure when it happens?'' asks William Sykes.
...life should be a voluntary overcoming of difficulties, those met with and those voluntarily created, otherwise it is just a dice-game...
William Sykes brings a collection of quotations on the subject of endurance.
"Over the years I have been impressed with the intellectual qualities of our fellows, post-graduates and undergraduates. University College is one of the top academic Oxford colleges, usually performing well in the Norrington table, until it was abolished recently. However I sometimes wonder if we are too one-sided in our system of education,'' writes William Sykes.
William Sykes brings a series of quotions which help us to journey from life's dar times, back into the light.
...Courage is far more common than is commonly supposed, and it belongs as much, and more, to the ordinary events of life than to the spectacular. Every man who lives in intimate contact with other people, especially the unprivileged people, is amazed at the quiet bravery of obscure folk. To those who have eyes to see, there is evidence of courage on every hand...
William Sykes brings a collection of quotations on the nature of courage.
"There was a tentative knock on my door at University College, Oxford. The door opened and one of our undergraduates entered the room. I was shocked by his appearance. His face was ashen white. Clearly something was seriously wrong. I invited him to sit down and made him a cup of tea,'' writes William Sykes.
"I have always been influenced by people of character. When I first went away to school, I was assigned a 'guardian'—a slightly older boy, who was to keep an eye on me and help me settle down. We became firm friends. Years later he became captain of school, played rugby for English Schoolboys, and has recently been made a bishop. He's always been to me a person of quality and character,'' writes William Sykes.
"Jesus worked out in his own experience of life what it meant to be made in the image and likeness of God. As such he became a pioneer, a prototype, an incarnation of beauty,'' writes William Sykes.
"For many people today, beauty is seen as something outside us, in nature, in such things as music, poetry and art, and in the beauty of another person. As such it can greatly enrich our lives. However, we seem to have lost the awareness that the essence of beauty lies in the depths of our being,'' writes William Sykes.
William Sykes brings us uplifting thoughts on Christian authdsority.
"What a valuable source of hope aspiration can be for us.'' writes William Sykes.
...The artist, of whatever kind, is a man so much aware of the beauty of the universe that he must impart the same beauty to whatever he makes...
William Sykes offers comforting and inspirational words on the subject of art.
William Sykes presents a series of quotations to help us face up to the anxiety which we all experience from time to time.
...Ambition is the spur that makes man struggle with destiny. It is heaven's own incentive to make purpose great and achievement greater....
William Sykes ponders on the nature of ambition.
...Old age is the most precious time of life, the one nearest eternity. There are two ways of growing old. There are old people who are anxious and bitter, living in the past and illusion, who criticise everything that goes on around them. Young people are repulsed by them; they are shut away in their sadness and loneliness, shrivelled up in themselves. But there are also old people with a child's heart, who have used their freedom from function and responsibility to find a new youth...
William Sykes presents profound thoughts on the subject of growing old.
"Sooner or later, we all come up against adversity in some shape or form. If faced with courage and determination, it can be put to good use and in turn be a great source of hope,'' writes William Sykes.
William Sykes tells more of his personal spiritual journey and quotes inspirational words which stir us to action.
William Sykes, for many years the chaplain of University College, Oxford, brings guidance through Scripture and the words of great writers and thinkers which can lead to a vision of hope.
The Reverend William Sykes recently retired as Chaplain and Fellow of University College, Oxford. Twenty years ago he lost his faith—and set out to find it again in a very unusual way.
In a preface to William's book, Visions of Hope, American lawyer Steve Sheppard wrote "Bill Sykes has grappled with our demons. The mundane, modern demons that stalk the early hours of doubt and fear.''
Visions Of Hope, which will be serialised on forthcoming Sundays in Open Writing, is a record of Bill's struggles, taken from his remarkable readings across the spectrum of Christian and other writings, from saints and from sinners.
