Love Took My Hand: George Herbert and the Friendship of God

George Herbert is one of the great 17th century poet-priests. His poems embrace every shade of the spiritual life, from love and closeness, to anger and despair, to reconciliation and hope. And his work is always rich with audacious playfulness: he seems to take God on, knowing God will win, as if he’s having an argument with a faithful friend he knows is not going to leave. In much of theology and spirituality, God is a critical spectator to human lives, but for Herbert, his sense of relationship with God is primarily of a friendship that can never be broken.

In this reflective day, we will explore Herbert’s spirituality and sense of God, and what they might teach us about our own assumptions about and relationship with God.
Mark Oakley is Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, overseeing the arts and learning programmes at the cathedral. He writes regularly for the Church Times and The Tablet and broadcasts frequently on BBC Radio 4. His latest, bestselling, book The Splash of Words: Believing in Poetry (Canterbury Press) was published last year to great acclaim.

Cost £40. The day includes reflective worship, lunch and other refreshments and takes place at The Royal Foundation of St Katharine in Limehouse, East London (www.rfsk.org.uk). Bursaries are available for those for whom the charge would make it difficult to attend: please contact us for details. We are very grateful to our partners at St Katharine’s for their generosity in co-hosting our reflective days.