All Things Considered

We’re three weeks into January - Christmas seems a distant memory, the weather pattern this month has ranged from flooding to freezing cold temperatures, and there’s still a couple of months to go before the clocks go forward, when the days grow longer and lighter. And perhaps, for many us, those hope-filled new year’s resolutions are now long forgotten. For some, these factors all contribute to a decline in mood. So-called ‘Blue Monday’ falls this week. The label was reportedly coined by psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2004 when a holiday company asked him for a ‘scientific formula’ to calculate the most depressing day of the year. In fact, there’s nothing scientific about it, and the term ‘Blue Monday’ has been disputed over the years. But, does January really make the world feel different; or is the notion a myth, negatively conditioning the way we routinely view the first month of the new year? How deeply do the changing months and seasons affect the way we view and experience our daily lives, and our spirituality?

To discuss these issues, Delyth Liddell is joined by Vishvapani Blomfield, a Buddhist writer, broadcaster and mindfulness teacher; Dr Simon Braybrook, a GP from Cardiff; and Sr Gemma Simmonds, director of the Religious Life Institute at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, and an ecumenical canon of the Church in Wales.

Roy Jenkins speaks to the Church in Wales' newly-appointed Director of Mission and Strategy, the poet and writer Grahame Davies. Before his recent appointment to the church of which he has been a lifelong member, Grahame served as deputy private secretary to King Charles III, where he worked behind the scenes helping with - among other things - the huge task of organising royal visits. Grahame talks about his faith journey - sometimes literally, when he reflects on a profound spiritual experience he had after visiting the island of Iona - and about the joy of hearing his own words sung and performed to millions of TV viewers around the world during the King's Coronation.

This year All Things Considered marked the 900th anniversary of St David's recognition by Pope Callixtus II as patron saint of Wales, when he declared that two pilgrimages to St Davids were worth one to Jerusalem.

Across the seven weeks between St David's Day and Easter this year, All Things Considered and Celebration celebrated the life and impact of this man whose feast day we mark every year but about whom we know relatively little.

During the course of the series programmes were made examining David's relationships with Pembrokeshire, Brittany, Rome and Jerusalem – following in the footsteps of the saint himself, and asking what this medieval figure might have to teach us today.

Jonathan Thomas introduces highlights from the series.

Delyth Liddell introduces four Christmas cards from Llandaff Diocese. Will and Jude Souter are from Urban Crofters church in Roath; Edwin Counsell is at St Illtud's in the Vale of Glamorgan; Mark and Ruth Greenaway-Robbins are at Margam Abbey; and Sarah Jones is from St John the Baptist in the centre of Cardiff.

The birth of Jesus is an important even for both Muslims and Christians, but there are some key differences in how the nativity story is told. For any Christians expecting to hear about donkeys and asses, innkeepers and shepherds there's disappointment in store: these do not feature in the Islamic nativity story, although Mary and the Angel Gabriel do enjoy a key role!

Azim Ahmed explores the Islamic traditions of Jesus, who is regarded not as the Son of God, but as an important prophet. For some critical scholars such as Professor Gabriel Said Reynolds the Islamic narrative derives from earlier Christian sources, sometimes from texts that were banned by the mainstream church. For Muslims such as Ahmad Thomson, however, the version contained within the Qur'an is the definitive one, revealed to the Prophet by the Angel Gabriel. Both traditions, however, are united in their belief in the virgin birth, and the eventual return of Jesus at the Second Coming. Rana Kahn, the Church in Wales' representative on interfaith matters, takes an even handed view of both the Biblical and the Quranic versions, whilst for Amanda Morris the story of Mary giving birth alone to Jesus is a story of immense emotional power.

Producer: Geoff Ballinger

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed on 10th December 1948, is seen by many to be a milestone document in human history. Drafted in the aftermath of the Second World War, it set out basic rights that belong to all of us regardless of race, religion, gender or politics.

But has the declaration withstood the test of time? Roy Jenkins examines the issues with four people who have dedicated their working lives to fighting for human rights. Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, Principal of Regent’s Park College in Oxford and former Chair of the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture. Canon Paul Oestreicher, an Anglican priest and a Quaker, a CND vice-president and former Chair of Amnesty International UK. Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch and Marissa Conway CEO of the United Nations Association in the UK.

Our guest today is one of the world’s most widely performed contemporary composers and arrangers, as well as an acclaimed choral conductor. Born in 1955, singing as a choir-boy in his local church ignited a musical spark in Bob Chilcott. Since then, choral music has been at the heart of his life: a chorister, then a choral scholar in the choir of King's College, Cambridge; a member of the British vocal group The King's Singers; and, since 1997, a full-time, prolific composer, arranger and conductor. His works span genres and include a large sacred output, performed and recorded globally. For many, his name is synonymous with Christmas, having written and arranged reams of Carols, including editions of the choral singer’s go-to compilations, Carols for Choirs. As a conductor, he holds the position of Guest Principal Conductor of the BBC Singers, and directs choirs of all ages and abilities across the world. Bob Chilcott is committed to sharing choral singing as a vehicle for humanity.