Whispered Light - Advent reflections on death, judgement, heaven and hell The Rev'd Matt Simpkins
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- Religion & Spirituality
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In this short podcast, the Rev'd Matt Simpkins, an Anglican Priest and musician explores the "last things" - death, judgement, heaven and hell - through old, weird folk and gospel tunes. Aimed at anyone who loves folk or gospel, or who has ever pondered death, judgement, heaven and hell, the themes traditionally contemplated by Christians during Advent, "Whispered Light" is about finding hope in even the darkest times.
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Hell - I Don't Want to Go Down There
In this concluding episode, the Rev'd Matt Simpkins - an Anglican priest and musician - leads us into the darkness of hell in search of whispered light. Reflecting unflinchingly on Covid and suffering using folk gospel songs and the Psalms, Matt...
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Heaven - There is Happy Land
In this episode, the Rev'd Matt Simpkins reflects on heaven through the lens of the folk hymn, "There is a Happy Land". Admitting that for many years he found the idea of heaven more troubling than the idea of hell, a journey from Scotland to the Iowa...
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Judgement - I want to be ready
In this episode on the second of the ‘Four Last Things’ of Advent, Matt explores the theme of judgement through the song ‘Walk in Jerusalem Just Like John’ (also known as ‘I want to be ready’). Should we fear judgement? What has judgement got to do...
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O Death!
In this episode, Matt approaches the theme of death through the folk song, 'O Death!' Well-known from the film 'O Brother Where Art Thou?' and the Banjo player Dock Boggs' version in the mid 1960s, Matt traces the rich history of the song back into the...
Customer Reviews
Facing the last things
Simpkins's honest look at the the four last things through music, song, and writings gives one a rare opportunity to think carefully about the very things that we are usually actively trying so hard to avoid thinking about. In this, the first episode of Whispered Light threatens to teach us something about ourselves that , perhaps we would rather not know.