Youth
"My advice to youth, if asked, would be: 'You only get out of life what you are prepared to put into it,''' writes William Sykes.
Home | Visions Of Hope
May 26, 2013
May 19, 2013
Work
"Man and woman, after all, are made in the image and likeness of God with dominion over the earth, with a mandate to run it according to the will of God. I wonder if we need to get back to this fundamental principle,'' writes William Sykes.
May 12, 2013
Word Of God
"I am very fond of the story of Elijah at Mount Horeb in which the word of the Lord came to him in 'a still small voice'. I believe this is how we should hear the 'word of God' today, though very few of us are quiet enough to hear it,'' writes William Sykes.
May 05, 2013
Vision
"I remember reading Ralph Waldo Trine's book, In Tune with the Infinite, in my teens, and through it coming to a belief in God, seen primarily as Creator and the power behind nature,'' writes William Sykes.
April 28, 2013
Transformation
"I took a step of faith, naively expecting to be transformed in the twinkling of an eye. It didn't work out that way at all. In the weeks that followed I was aware a fundamental change had taken place and experienced a new sense of freedom, but the process of transformation has been a long and costly process,'' writes William Sykes.
April 21, 2013
Time
"I stand back from time to time and prune my activities. We tend to waste so much time in trivia and superficialities.'' writes William Sykes.
April 14, 2013
Thinking
"I owe a great debt to Edward Wilson, the doctor on Scott's expedition to the Antarctic. Early on in life he adopted the practice of keeping a spiritual diary and would go through the Gospels systematically, working out in his own mind what he thought about our Lord's teaching. I adopted a variant of this practice in my early twenties, but added to the Gospels what I consider to be the great insights 'on life' in the last 2,000 years,'' writes William Sykes.
April 07, 2013
Solitude
Solitude permits the mind to feel, to think and to grow, writes William Sykes.
March 31, 2013
Society
"Two people—a man and a woman for whom I have the greatest respect—have spoken warmly of society today. They both feel it is an exciting time to be alive. They have jobs they find fulfilling and enjoy the fruits of applied science and technology,'' writes William Sykes.
March 24, 2013
Seeking
"A big step forward was taken in my first term in Oxford. I found to some extent what I was looking for in the pages of the Gospels.'' writes William Sykes.
March 17, 2013
Science And Religion
"I'm very impressed with the discoveries of science, and the enormous strides that have been made in applied technology in the twentieth century, but recognize there are several avenues that lead to truth—art, science, and spirit—and each needs to be respected,'' writes William Sykes.
March 10, 2013
Quietness
"Noise has become one of the great pollutions of modern time. I know this only too well having spent the last thirty years in the centre of cities,'' writes William Sykes.
March 03, 2013
Purpose
"In retrospect, I realize that I lived very much on the surface of things for the first twenty years of my life. At school I worked away to get through O levels, and then specialized in three subjects for A levels. In other areas of life my interest was mainly on sporting achievement. It was only later that I realized this was superficial,'' writes William Sykes.
February 24, 2013
Psychology
"We acknowledged the valuable work done by the medical profession, the social services, families, relatives and friends, but perhaps the greatest integrating factor of all is God in the depths of our being—the One who heals and makes whole,'' writes William Sykes.
February 17, 2013
Progress
"Have we made overall progress?'' asks William Sykes. "We are aware now of the enormous cost to the environment and the dangers of running out of certain resources. We know how easily we can be destroyed at the press of a button. The media continue to feed us with horror-stories from all over the world.''
February 10, 2013
Prophets
"Have we become too institutionalized in our church life and ended up as God's frozen people?'' muses William Sykes.
February 03, 2013
Poverty
"In our short time in Calcutta we were besieged by beggars at every turn. Some were blind, others badly disabled, and many were destitute. It was difficult to know what to do for the best,'' writes William Sykes.
January 27, 2013
Politics
"I wonder if the practice of reflection has something to contribute to politicians of the future, possibly even a vision of hope,'' muses William Sykes.
January 20, 2013
Poetry
...We do it wrong, being so majestical,
To offer it the show of violence;
For it is as the air invulnerable...
William Sykes presents a variety of thoughts on poetry and the nature of poets.
January 13, 2013
Philosophy
"At university the study of philosophy has become a very exacting academic discipline, far removed from the ordinary person. I have been greatly helped by some words of Lord Byron in which he wrote in his poem, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, of that untaught innate philosophy,'' writes William Sykes.
January 06, 2013
Petition
... 'Do you see what really happened Bill? Naaman wanted something dramatic to happen—perhaps a great victory so he would have earned his healing. In the end it was a simple act of faith that did it. That's what healed him.'...
William Sykes presents quotations extolling the efficacy of prayer.
December 30, 2012
Personality
"I could see in an instant he was pinpointing our great aim in life, namely, to grow a personality which is us at our highest level of development and expression,'' writes William Sykes, hard hit by words of the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung.
December 23, 2012
Perseverance
"With the odds against her she has managed to find a part-time job. There are some people you just have to admire,'' writes William Sykes, telling of a lady who has battled on through life despite an abundance of physical problems.
December 16, 2012
Perfection
...I used to think of perfection in terms of ethics and behaviour. I no longer think in these terms... I now tend to think of perfection as wholeness, harmony, as a unity, as a oneness with God,'' writes William Sykes.
December 09, 2012
Panic
"When I returned to Ibadan, I described what had happened in a sermon in our church the following Sunday. I happened to mention the Federal troops had been looting: In retrospect this was a mistake, for shortly after the service ended a police landrover drew up and I was arrested. Someone must have reported me. Panic! What could I do?'' writes William Sykes, psenting thoughts on coping with panic.
December 02, 2012
Pain
William Sykes presents quotions designed to give hope to people in pain.
November 25, 2012
Opportunity
William Sykes, bringing further words of wisdom. tells of a man who "pbserved the opportunity''.
November 18, 2012
New Creation
A week or so later a friend persuaded me to go and hear a certain preacher who was reputed to be outstanding. I went along, somewhat reluctantly. I can't remember a thing the preacher said now, but I was impressed. He was radiantly alive, and seemed to possess the very thing I was looking for
November 11, 2012
Nature
... I shall never forget a certain dawn when I was high up on Mount Kenya. When the sun came up it was possible to look down on a sea of cloud and to see Mount Kilimanjaro, two hundred miles away...
William Sykes brings thoughts and reflections on the wonders of nature.
November 04, 2012
Music
"I wonder if in music we can see another variant and consequence of what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God, and of the divine inbreathing.'' writes William Sykes.
October 28, 2012
Money
Thge love of money is the root of all evil, writes William Sykes.
October 21, 2012
Mission
"I was impressed with the work of a missionary society in Nepal. They had been forbidden to proselytize by word of mouth so instead they built a hospital, near Pokhara, in the heart of western Nepal. The quality of their healing work and compassionate care spoke for itself, so something of the Gospel was proclaimed to those who used the hospital. It was well patronized,'' writes William Sykes.
October 14, 2012
Mission
William Sykes tells of the "Shining Hospital'' and reflects on the meaning of "mission''.
October 07, 2012
Mind
"The quotations which make up Visions of Hope have been gathered from the great minds of earlier generations. The practice of reflection is a way to develop our minds on these lines,'' writes William Sykes.
September 30, 2012
Maturity
"Someone once asked me what I was trying to do in my anthologies and reflection groups. I had difficulty at first in giving a clear answer. In the end I settled for maturity, and went on to outline three areas in which people might benefit from using my books in the practice of reflection,'' writes William Sykes.
September 23, 2012
Materialism
"I for one was hard hit by the impact of materialism. It's true there have been enormous benefits from the findings of science and technology, but at a cost. We can see this in the environment, and in the whole realm of personal relationships, and in the breakdown of traditional beliefs. We are now in danger of destroying ourselves, as materialism more and more becomes the order of the day,'' writes William Sykes.
September 16, 2012
Longing
"I find I'm surrounded by people with longings,'' writes William Sykes. "I sometimes wonder if our longing for God and quest for ultimate reality is the deepest longing of all.''
September 09, 2012
Literature
William Sykes brings thoughts on the purpose and origins of great literature.,
September 02, 2012
Literature
...Literature is rather an image of the spiritual world, than of the physical...
William Sykes focuses on the fundamental place of literature in our spiritual lives.
August 26, 2012
Listening
"I realized that in my prayer-life I was doing all the talking, almost telling God what to do. If God was indeed, in some mysterious way, in the depths of my being, then perhaps I ought to be taking a much more humble approach and listening to him instead of speaking,'' writes William Sykes.
August 19, 2012
Leisure
"In our theological training we were told it was important to take a day off a week in our ministry. This is often difficult to do in a hectic term, so at Christmas, when college is closed, I make up for this by going to Switzerland to look after a church in Miirren, near Interlaken,'' writes William Sykes.
August 12, 2012
Leadership
"Leadership skills are increasingly needed in modern society,'' writes William Sykes, bringing inspiring words on the subject from the Bible and a number of great writers and thinkers.
August 05, 2012
Justice
"Justice is important in all walks of life, and if lived out to the full, gives hope for the future,'' writes William Sykes.
July 29, 2012
Intellect
"As regards religion he adopted the typical stance of the intellectual: unless he was let into all the secrets of the Creator, he would not believe. Hence he was an agnostic.''
William Sykes brings profound words on intellect and belief.
July 22, 2012
Integrity
William Sykes considers the quality of absolute integrity and trustworthyness.
July 15, 2012
Inspiration
"Inspiration takes me back to my most original belief. In the Genesis story of the creation of man, God is depicted as-fashioning and shaping man in his own image and likeness, and the last thing he does is breathe into man and man becomes a living being—that is, man is fundamentally 'inspired','' writes William Sykes.
July 08, 2012
Influence
"There are certainly some very important institutional influences at work in our lives—home, school, higher education, state, Church, work, marriage, the media, and so on. Looking back over my life so far, I can see there have been many institutional forces at work which have helped to mould and fashion me,'' writes William Sykes.
July 01, 2012
Influence
There are certainly some very important institutional influences at work in our lives—home, school, higher education, state, Church, work, marriage, the media, and so on. Looking back over my life so far, I can see there have been many institutional forces at work which have helped to mould and fashion mem writes William Sykes.
June 24, 2012
Immortality
"In my last year at school, I managed to come across a book by Ralph Waldo Trine, called In Tune with the Infinite. It belonged to my father and I found it hidden away in the cupboard of a display cabinet at home. One of the effects of reading this book was to trigger off a belief in immortality—a belief which has never left me,'' writes William Sykes.
June 17, 2012
Imagination
"So much of modern education concentrates on the primacy of the intellect that we miss out on the imagination—much to our cost,'' writes William Sykes.
June 10, 2012
Hope
"I remember a programme on TV. A young woman, whose baby son had disappeared a year ago whilst they were on holiday on a Greek island, was being interviewed. She still hoped he would be found and that they would be reunited. There was something inside her which gave her hope, though she didn't know what it was,'' writes William Sykes.
June 03, 2012
Holiness
"I remember it was dark inside the church and she hushed me to be quiet. In a spirit of awe and reverence we peeped into the manger. A light shone on the baby Jesus. There was a quiet atmosphere of holiness about the whole scene. It made a deep impression on me,'' writes William Sykes.
May 27, 2012
Healing
"An experience of 'healing' affected me greatly. It occurred in the Duke of York's Home in Bradford whilst visiting there as a part-time hospital chaplain. I knocked on a door of a single room and got a rather feeble 'come in''' writes William Sykes.
May 20, 2012
Happiness
"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.
May 13, 2012
Growing
"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.
May 06, 2012
Greatness
"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.
April 29, 2012
Goodness
"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.
April 22, 2012
Freedom
"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.
April 15, 2012
Failure
"How then can we best cope with failure when it happens?'' asks William Sykes.
April 08, 2012
Endurance
...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.
April 01, 2012
Education
"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.
March 25, 2012
Darkness
William Sykes brings a series of quotions which help us to journey from life's dar times, back into the light.
March 18, 2012
Courage
...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.
March 11, 2012
Christianity
"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.
March 04, 2012
Character
"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.
February 26, 2012
Beauty
"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.
February 19, 2012
Beauty
"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.
February 12, 2012
Authority
William Sykes brings us uplifting thoughts on Christian authdsority.
February 05, 2012
Aspiration
"What a valuable source of hope aspiration can be for us.'' writes William Sykes.
January 29, 2012
Art
...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.
January 22, 2012
Anxiety
William Sykes presents a series of quotations to help us face up to the anxiety which we all experience from time to time.
January 15, 2012
Ambition
...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.
January 08, 2012
Age
...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.
January 01, 2012
Adversity
"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.
December 18, 2011
Action
William Sykes tells more of his personal spiritual journey and quotes inspirational words which stir us to action.
December 11, 2011
Acceptance
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.
December 04, 2011
An Inspirational Book
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.
Categories
- A Clutch Of Pearlies
- A Court Of Fowls
- A Diary of Innocence
- A Fistful Of Stars
- A Geordie All-Rounder
- A Life Less Lost
- A Lovely Shade Of Blue
- A Potter's Moll
- A Shout From The Attic
- A Spitfire Pilot Remembers
- A Tale Of The Unexpected
- A Writer On Writing
- About A Week
- About Our Words
- After Work
- Alaskan Range
- All That Was
- All This Jazz
- American Pie
- An Englishman In New York
- Ancient Feet
- And Another Thing...
- Animal Stories
- Anna And Rosie
- Arabian Autographs
- Arkell's Ark
- Around The Sun
- As Time Goes By
- Away With Worry
- Backwords
- Beijing 2008 Olympics
- Black Ice
- Blue, Green, Red and Purple
- Bonzer Words!
- Book Bounty
- Born With a Rusty Spoon
- Bradford Lad
- Christmas Every Week
- Classical Composers A-Z
- Clement's Corner
- Consequences
- Darkly Watching
- David Marsh Cartoons
- Day After Day
- Delanceyplace
- Denizens
- Diamonds And Dust
- Donkin's World
- Double Cream
- Down The Holler
- Dr Ron's Laughter Clinic
- Dusk To Dusk
- Ee By Gum Lord!
- Eric Shackle Writes
- Facets Of India
- Family Of Four
- Fast Fiction
- Feather's Miscellany
- Fishcake Words
- Flood
- Footprints
- Got The T-Shirt
- Harry's Tales
- Here Comes Treble
- Here In Africa
- Here's Alison
- Highlights In The Shadows
- I Didn't Belong
- I Only Came For The Music
- Illegal Entry
- Illingworth House
- In Good Company
- In The Small Hours
- Interludes
- It's A Great Life
- Jambo Paulo - Jambo Mykoli
- Jo'Burg Days
- Kiwi Konexions
- Lansdowne Crescent
- Laugh With Lisa
- Lest It Be Forgotten After I Am Gone
- Letter From America
- Letter From The Other Side
- Life Is Too Short To Drink Bad Wine
- Living On Three Continents
- London 2012 Olympics
- London Letter
- Luddite Spring
- Man Bites Talking Dog
- McCaffrey On Fishing
- Mullin' It Over
- My Week
- National Trust News
- North American Dreaming
- Olga's Daughter
- On The Gold Coast
- Open Features
- Opinion And World View
- Over Here
- Oz Musings
- Pamy's Place
- Pins And Needles
- Poetry Pleases
- Rainbow's End
- Ratcatcher
- Rodney's Ramblings
- Roses Aren't Everything
- Sam Pepys – His Diary
- Sandy's Say
- Shalom and Sheiks
- She's Back Again
- Shooting the Breeze
- Simply Sue
- Skidmore's Island
- Smallville
- Spanish Secrets
- Tales from Tawa
- Tasmanian Words
- Thai Girl Tattle
- The Day Before Yesterday
- The First Seventy Years
- The Fourth Wish
- The Great Cley Floods
- The Kingdom Of The Blind
- The Last Star Trek
- The Limit
- The Melody Lingers On
- The Museum Mystery
- The Reyrolle Story
- The Scrivener
- The Shepherdsville Times
- This and That
- Thoughts From The Coast
- Through Lattice Windows
- Time Witnesses
- To War With The Bays
- Two Rooms And A View
- U3A Writing
- Useful And Fantastic
- Views And Reviews
- Visions Of Hope
- Visions of Glory
- Walking the Tightrope
- Walnut Wisdom
- Western Oz Words
- Western Walkabout
- When The Crocodile Smiles
- Word Acts
- Words From Adelaide
- Words In History
- Yorkshire Dialect
- Yorkshire Lad
