Contemplating the reign of Christ in a season of uncertainty
In two apparently contradictory celebrations, we are directed towards a shared truth – one that is needed more now than ever before.
"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
Something strange is happening to our language of freedom. Perhaps an opportunity is being lost.
"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" – Luke 23:34
Before we wish that the downtrodden would temper their anger, or express it in a nuanced way, remember the words of Jesus: “first, take out the plank.”
Why is music so intricately bound up with worship? What is it about music that affects us, and how should we make use of it as part of our own devotions?
We can often get bogged down thinking through the mechanics of Jesus’ miraculous meals, but what if we step back and see the miracle in John 6 anticipating...
The Revd Canon Dr Bob Derrenbacker reflects on the tragic discovery of 215 children’s graves at a former Indian Residential School in Canada.
With the conflict in the Middle East showing no signs of abating, care is needed in how we speak of it.
Often children are spoken about as sites of hope. What might it mean to hope for a child beyond projecting imagined futures?
The Revd Professor Dorothy Lee and the Revd Dr Garry Deverell on Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann's invitation to white society to listen to Indigenous cultures.
What Did Jesus Do? Eating with an Enemy?
Self-denial is about as popular as Old Testament law these days, despite how important self-denial has been in containing and avoiding infection during the...
A diet for our world of fear and uncertainty.
Remembering to live more thoughtfully…
Biblical texts about shepherds ask pointed questions about the role of political leaders as rulers or servants.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Ecclesiastes 3:1
In these times in between times something about ordinary moments becomes legible.
“Do not put your trust in princes (or in presidents, premiers, or prime ministers)…”
Being peace makers in a siloed world.
What incentives drive people to hold public office: self-interest or a desire to serve others makes a huge difference…
Kimmy? Kimmy? Kimmy, now look at me. Look at me Kim. Look at moi. Look at moi. Now, I've got one word to say to you, Kim. Mask.
Compassion for the self and for others is a pathway to peace and harmony, and what the world needs right now.
Even in a crisis, ‘normal life’ must continue.
Now is a season to be gentle with oneself, not to admonish, but to find encouragement or seek help.
"This time like all times is a very good one if we but know what to do with it." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Breathing is hard at the moment. A few of us are finding ways to do it together.
Caves are often considered to be dark and unpleasant places, yet Plato and Inigo of Loyola let us see them as places for reflection and preparation for life.
During this ongoing pandemic season, it is worth taking stock of the things that give us hope.
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you” Matthew 7:12
We learn patience through experience as we become adults. We learn that the seeds will push through the soil, the special day will come, and we will ‘be...
Gratitude is one way to enhance our resilience and endurance in these difficult days. Psychologists tell us that our brains our wired for the negative—a...
Well-meaning rhetoric about ‘persevering’ isn’t that helpful right at the moment.
Hope, assurance of restoration, and belief in the God who can bring an end to all suffering, does not prevent Jesus weeping.
In the face of increasing turmoil, let's continue to follow the 'Golden Rule', and 'do unto others', even in a pandemic.
The yearning for returning to the past may keep us from discovering the new opportunities and perspectives which this time affords us.
Repetition ends with failure, and begins with hope. So perhaps love might even interrupt repetition, it might be the end of history.
One of the phrases that must be in contention for the phrase of the year contest is ‘the new normal.’
The story in which Ishmael and Hagar are driven out into the wilderness by Sarah, with Abraham’s complicity, has often been read as setting up the animosity...
The impact of the past on the present is not fixed for nations and peoples, any more than it is for individuals.
Over the weeks of lockdown through the coronavirus, we celebrated major festivals of the church’s year: in particular, the death, resurrection and ascension...
Almost three months ago – when shops had just closed, borders had been shut, and we were beginning to hunker down into an indefinite period of home isolation...
In the past week, a cry of protest against systemic violence and racism has erupted in our world.
What’s 'normal'? We hear a lot about the 'new normal' which has emerged in this lockdown period and which will gradually emerge as we transition not only out...
Art often provides us with a glimpse of reality. It provides us with the possibility of thinking differently by estranging us from ourselves for a moment.
The Johannine epistles have a lot to say about group boundaries and who is in and who is out.
When I worked in Kenya in the 1980s, news circulated from Uganda of a disease which caused healthy young adults to lose weight rapidly and die.
In Psalm 135, the Psalmist writes: ‘The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have...
Just when I thought I had the ageing thing nailed, the government intervened.
Like me, I am sure you have all noticed how much more silence there is in these days of isolation and being-at-home
During the summer of 1944 – 15 months into a 2-year imprisonment that would end in his execution in the Flossenbürg concentration camp – Dietrich Bonhoeffer...
The word Sabbath, Shabbat in Hebrew, comes from a root word meaning “to cease”: it is the cessation of work on the seventh day
There is a sign on an Alaskan highway that warns drivers about the limitations facing them ahead. It reads “Choose your rut carefully, as you will be in it...
One of the things that it is easy to forget while “we” are in isolation is that not all of us are so lucky.
Not “going to church” can make us feel really guilty, especially if we have been brought up that this was something we really ought to do.
‘But Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ (John 14:5) is Thomas’ anguished cry as Jesus announced his imminent departure...
Times of stress often lead to periods of deep introspection. Lent is already a period set aside by the Church for reflection and thoughtfulness.
Staying home is now our new normal. And going to church at home has become the way we belong to the Body of Christ.
Meditation on Hebrews 2:5-18: This passage from Hebrews was the New Testament reading set for morning prayer on the feast of the Annunciation on 25 March...
In times of crisis, danger, and fear, the Church has frequently sought solace in Hebrew resources of lament and supplication.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
How’s your blood pressure? COVID-19 is leading to lock-downs the likes of which we have not seen in generations.
Over the centuries, the logistical issues of participating in worship exercised the Jewish ancestors of our faith.
COVID-19 has brought the frailty and vulnerability of the body into sharp relief.
In a society which already experiences so much social isolation—that is only exacerbated by social media—the idea of churches being forced to cease to gather...