Stuart Wood was born in
Derby, UK, at the end of 1958, and is married with two
children. Although he holds a doctorate in science, he is also
passionate about the creative arts and music, and is a gifted
drummer and percussionist. In 1998 he released his acclaimed
debut CD, Soundscapes, on which percussion and
drums paint "sound pictures" of biblical passages and stories.
In his 'spare' time, Stuart runs a number of websites, including
one which helps others to set up their own internet businesses.
During his work in science,
medicine, music and the church, and also through his many
personal friendships, Stuart has gained a great breadth of
experience and understanding of relationships and friendships.
He has also made some big mistakes and suffered serious illness,
during which relationships and friendships were often tested to
the limit. However, through these experiences he began to
understand more deeply about relationships and their immense
influence on our lives. He also began to understand how our
relationships with others are influenced, for better and for
worse, by our own sense of worth and security.
Friendship is a Verb (in
a hurting world) was born out the experiences of Stuart and
close friends. His natural ability to communicate difficult and
often painful issues, sensitively yet directly; simply yet
honestly, oozes from every page. Whether Stuart writes
commentary or poetry, the same transparency and challenge is
there. He does not believe in trying to give simple answers
where there are none. However, he does believe that it is
important to speak up for those who have no voice, and that it
is important to challenge those in a position of power or
influence to carefully measure their words and actions.
Stuart never deviates from
challenging us all to consider our friendships and relationships
as the basis, building blocks and cement in our daily lives, so
that everything we do is based on the best foundations. He has
learnt that 'relationship' and 'friendship' are not objects
(nouns); they must be verbs (actions) for us to really meet
needs in our hurting world.
