Something Understood is a weekly BBC R4 programme, first broadcast in 1995 and produced until 2019. It covers such topics as religion, spirituality, and “the larger questions of human life”. Each programme considered a spiritual theme, not just through discussion but also by including music and poetry. There were a variety of presenters, most regularly Mark Tully, but other people too, including the Dalai Lama, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a granddaughter of Ghandi.
The title of the programme is a quotation from George Herbert’s 1633 poem ‘Prayer’ which includes these lines:
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The Milky Way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
The land of spices; something understood.
Last time our writing group met, at the end, after hearing our different offerings which on that occasion was inspired by the word ‘cloak’, we were trying to think of something to inspire us to write on the next occasion we get together. For some reason, the name of the radio programme from Herbert’s poem leapt into my mind, but instead of ‘something understood‘ I thought of ‘something overheard’. This was greeted with acclaim – actually it wasn’t, we all just agreed it was an interesting and very open topic!
So many ideas spring into my mind, but I’m ever aware of how clever and gifted our group is, so trying to write something nor only interesting, but different will be once again, a challenge.
Lois Elsden 