Podcast
Christmas culture
Creed
Generosity
1 min read

Christmas countdown day 25: a gift is given

Reflecting on gifts given and received unlocks so much.

Graham is the Director of the Centre for Cultural Witness and a former Bishop of Kensington.

A large stone house is wrapped in a red ribbon and bow.
Howard Dickins, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Listen or read

The Christmas Countdown

It’s the season to be jolly, stressed, and all round Christmassy. On the Seen & Unseen Aloud podcast, we’re here for you with our Aloud Christmas Countdown!

Every day in December, we’ll drop some of the best seasonal content from Seen & Unseen Aloud. From how to survive Christmas, reviews of the best Christmas movies and the origin story of Santa Claus.

For when you’ve got your hands full of mince pies and baubles, but you still want to hear some thoughtful content, subscribe to Seen & Unseen Aloud for the Christmas Countdown.

Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon.

Throughout the year, the Seen & Unseen Aloud brings you the week’s best articles, in a short 20 minute podcast episode. Browse the index for episodes from Seen & Unseen Aloud, Re-enchanting and GodPod.

​​​​​​​Join with us - Behind the Seen

Seen & Unseen is free for everyone and is made possible through the generosity of our amazing community of supporters.

If you’re enjoying Seen & Unseen, would you consider making a gift towards our work?

Alongside other benefits (book discounts etc.), you’ll receive an extra fortnightly email from me sharing what I’m reading and my reflections on the ideas that are shaping our times.

Graham Tomlin

Editor-in-Chief

Article
Belief
Books
Creed
Faith
2 min read

Graham Tomlin's summer reading list

Seen & Unseen Editor-In-Chief shares his recommendations for a much-needed moment of pause

Nick is the senior editor of Seen & Unseen.

Niall Williams', John as picked by Graham Tomlin
Take a much-needed moment of pause this summer

I'm so glad that my Summer Reading List caught your eye. Whether you've got time now to dig into a new recommendation or want to bookmark this for an upcoming holiday, I hope at least one of these picks offers you some respite.

📖 Paul Bradbury, Why We Should Mourn The Death of the Semicolon 

Ordained pioneer minister, Paul Bradbury

I studied English at university, so I have always been interested in the way language works. I love how Paul Bradbury takes this tiny thing - a semicolon, and the evidence of its demise in English, and uses it as a sign of our need for pause, space, and reflection in our daily lives.

📖 Graham Tomlin, Blaise Pascal - The Man Who Made the Modern World

Bishop Graham Tomlin

I have been fascinated by Blaise Pascal ever since I read him as a teenager. I always wanted one day to write a biography of him, explaining his extraordinary life and piercing insights into human life and Christian faith. Maybe this might be a good book to take away on holiday; read on the beach, in the campsite or wherever you are!

📖Niall Williams, John

Author and playwright, Niall Willaims

From the author of History of the Rain and This Is Happiness, John is a wonderful novel depicting the elderly apostle as a man steeped in the simple yet extraordinarily revolutionary message that God is Love and that therefore we should not just tolerate, but love one another.

📖Hartmut Rosa, Uncontrollability of the World 

Sociologist and political scientist, Hartmut Rosa

The sequel to Rosa’s path-breaking work on social acceleration and resonance, this short book is a penetrating exposé of our cultural project to control everything and how it kills beauty and even ourselves in the end.

📖 Alan Kreider, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church

American Mennonite historian, Alan Kreider

If you're interested in history and what gave birth to the extraordinary Christian movement that transformed the world, then this is a great guide to those early years.

📖Paul Kingsnorth, Against Christian Civilisation

Former deputy editor of The Ecologist and author, Paul Kingsnorth

I read this lecture earlier in the year. It's a fascinating argument about the future of cultural Christianity. You might or might not agree with it, but it will make you think. 

📖Iain McGilchrist, Re-Enchanting Season 4, Ep 10

British psychiatrist, philosopher and neuroscientist Ian McGilchrist

Iain McGilchrist is such an interesting thinker whose work spans such a large area – neuroscientist, philosopher, historian, and much more, all expressed with a humility and sense of wonder. I loved his conversation with Belle and Justin. This would be a great one to listen to on the journey to your summer holiday this year.

📖Benjamin & Jenna Silber Storey, Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment

University of Texas Research Fellows, Benjamin & Jenna Silber Storey

A brilliant, insightful and beautifully written account of modern discontentment through the lens of four crucial French thinkers - Montaigne, Pascal, Rousseau and de Tocqueville.