Something to celebrate Dear friends, The grave could not contain him. Injustice, torture, and judicial murder did not finish him. Blood, nails, and a broken body did not constrain him. Mary met him in the garden, the voice of the Lord cutting through her grief and loss. Peter met him on the beach, with the smell of fish on the fire, and…
A different kind of prayer. Dear friends, If you were asked to define prayer, what would you say? Most would centre on a reply that was something like “asking God for things” – whether that be aid in difficulties or a material improvement in life circumstances. In the New Testament, Jesus mines this vein in the Lord’s prayer, expanding our engagement with…
Comments for this article have been turned off Dear friends, I love it when the online paper publishes something guaranteed to enrage and then waits until you have read to the end to clamp the lid back on, by turning off the option for public comment on the piece. As if they don’t already know that this is not the way the…
Celebrating Motherhood Dear friends, When I was a young curate, in Yorkshire, there was only one person in the church that Ian, my training vicar, was afraid of. This was Olive, the chairwoman of the Otley branch of the Mother’s Union. Ian’s nervousness was rather puzzling to me, for Olive was the sweetest, kindest lady you ever might wish to meet, a…
The Path in the Sea Dear friends If you go to Southend on Sea, in Essex, and keep going until the railway runs out, you will reach Shoeburyness on the east coast. Although the railway goes a little further as a single track, but only for MOD use, heading north east towards their depot outside the village of Wakering. You can cycle…
Looking over the wreckage Dear friends “If you want to make God laugh,” said Woody Allen, “Tell him your plans.” This is true for institutions as well as individuals. Lanercost Priory in north Cumbria was one of the smaller religious houses, and thus one of the first plundered (or, reformed, if you are an ardent monarchist) by the agents of Henry VIII,…
Light and darkness Dear friends This rather bleak and storm swept week in January holds two rather different commemorations. Thursday (25th) is the feast of the conversion of St Paul, knocked to the ground by a divine revelation on the road to Damascus, whilst about the business of destroying early Christian communities, who at that time were worshipping as either house-churches or…
Life on Fire Dear friends, Spare a thought for the people of the Reykjanes peninsular in Iceland, as the anticipated eruption has finally come to pass. You may be wondering why some volcanos are cone shaped, some explode, some have loads of gas, and some, like in this part of Iceland, just seem to crack open the earth in great fissures. The…
High Water Dear friends, The level of the Thames begins to fall, as a vast volume of storm water moves through and away from our area. Some recording stations have monitored levels almost a metre above the normal peak. Flood plain fields are awash, and riverside properties in Wallingford have flooded. Only the bird life rejoices, as their aquatic habitat is suddenly…
Happy New Year Dear friends, Whether you celebrate much on New Year’s Eve, or go to bed early with a good book and a cup of cocoa, there remains, always, the feeling of a corner being turned, at least for a while. The old diary is put away, sometimes with a look through, and the realisation that, despite everything that has happened,…