Meditations

In him all things hold together

Contemplating the reign of Christ in a season of uncertainty

17 Nov 2021

An Incongruous Unity

In two apparently contradictory celebrations, we are directed towards a shared truth – one that is needed more now than ever before.

26 Oct 2021

Anxiety and Faith

"All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."

12 Oct 2021

The Disappointment of the Apocalypse

Something strange is happening to our language of freedom. Perhaps an opportunity is being lost.

29 Sep 2021

Forgive them Father

"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" – Luke 23:34

15 Sep 2021

By the rivers of Babylon

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.”

31 Aug 2021

Make a Joyful Noise

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?

17 Aug 2021

A Change in Perspective

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...

02 Aug 2021

Reconciliation must become a way of life

The Revd Canon Dr Bob Derrenbacker reflects on the tragic discovery of 215 children’s graves at a former Indian Residential School in Canada.

07 Jun 2021
The Israeli and Palestinian flags painted onto concrete, with a crack running through the middle.

On Speaking of Israel and Palestine

With the conflict in the Middle East showing no signs of abating, care is needed in how we speak of it.

20 May 2021

Theology of the Child

Often children are spoken about as sites of hope. What might it mean to hope for a child beyond projecting imagined futures?

04 May 2021

On Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann’s ‘Dadirri’

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.

13 Apr 2021

What Did Jesus Do?

What Did Jesus Do? Eating with an Enemy?

31 Mar 2021

The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul

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...

17 Mar 2021

Taste and See that the Lord is Good

A diet for our world of fear and uncertainty.

01 Mar 2021

Ash Wednesday

Remembering to live more thoughtfully…

17 Feb 2021

Skinning, Shearing, or Serving?

Biblical texts about shepherds ask pointed questions about the role of political leaders as rulers or servants.

25 Nov 2020

Seasons

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Ecclesiastes 3:1

18 Nov 2020

The Interregnum

In these times in between times something about ordinary moments becomes legible.

11 Nov 2020

Do not put your trust in princes

“Do not put your trust in princes (or in presidents, premiers, or prime ministers)…”

04 Nov 2020

Breaking Down Barriers

Being peace makers in a siloed world.

28 Oct 2020

The Trinity in the Age of Narcissus

What incentives drive people to hold public office: self-interest or a desire to serve others makes a huge difference…

21 Oct 2020

Longing for the face of God

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.

14 Oct 2020

On Compassion

Compassion for the self and for others is a pathway to peace and harmony, and what the world needs right now.

07 Oct 2020

On the Luxurious Necessity of Normal

Even in a crisis, ‘normal life’ must continue.

30 Sep 2020

Be patient with all of them

Now is a season to be gentle with oneself, not to admonish, but to find encouragement or seek help.

24 Sep 2020

Time

"This time like all times is a very good one if we but know what to do with it." Ralph Waldo Emerson

17 Sep 2020

Finding Breath

Breathing is hard at the moment. A few of us are finding ways to do it together.

10 Sep 2020

Caves and Lockdowns

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.

03 Sep 2020

Hope Does Not Disappoint

During this ongoing pandemic season, it is worth taking stock of the things that give us hope.

27 Aug 2020

Do Unto Others

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you” Matthew 7:12

20 Aug 2020

The gift of patience

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...

13 Aug 2020

On Gratitude

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...

06 Aug 2020

The Perils of Perseverance

Well-meaning rhetoric about ‘persevering’ isn’t that helpful right at the moment.

30 Jul 2020

Hope

Hope, assurance of restoration, and belief in the God who can bring an end to all suffering, does not prevent Jesus weeping.

23 Jul 2020

'Do unto others' (even in a pandemic)

In the face of increasing turmoil, let's continue to follow the 'Golden Rule', and 'do unto others', even in a pandemic.

16 Jul 2020

Curse or Gift

The yearning for returning to the past may keep us from discovering the new opportunities and perspectives which this time affords us.

09 Jul 2020

Love and the End of the World

Repetition ends with failure, and begins with hope. So perhaps love might even interrupt repetition, it might be the end of history. 

02 Jul 2020

Trauma and 'the new normal'

One of the phrases that must be in contention for the phrase of the year contest is ‘the new normal.’

25 Jun 2020

Breaking the chain

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...

22 Jun 2020

The past is not fixed for nations and peoples

The impact of the past on the present is not fixed for nations and peoples, any more than it is for individuals.

18 Jun 2020

Reflection on the Trinity

Over the weeks of lockdown through the coronavirus, we celebrated major festivals of the church’s year: in particular, the death, resurrection and ascension...

15 Jun 2020

Breathe

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...

11 Jun 2020

Job's Friends

In the past week, a cry of protest against systemic violence and racism has erupted in our world.

09 Jun 2020

Beyond Being 'Normal'

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...

04 Jun 2020

On Parasites and Vampires

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.

01 Jun 2020

On Remaining Together

The Johannine epistles have a lot to say about group boundaries and who is in and who is out.

28 May 2020

Vultures around the Carcass? Judgment, Blame and Scapegoats

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.

25 May 2020

COVID-19 and the Dilemma of Technology

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...

21 May 2020

Living with new gratitude for the gift of life

Just when I thought I had the ageing thing nailed, the government intervened.

18 May 2020

What will we take?

Like me, I am sure you have all noticed how much more silence there is in these days of isolation and being-at-home

14 May 2020

Living 'Without God'

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...

11 May 2020

Rest amidst the Unrest

The word Sabbath, Shabbat in Hebrew, comes from a root word meaning “to cease”: it is the cessation of work on the seventh day

07 May 2020

The Pathway Ahead

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...

04 May 2020

Freedom and Love

One of the things that it is easy to forget while “we” are in isolation is that not all of us are so lucky.

30 Apr 2020

Normal Service Will Be Resumed

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.

27 Apr 2020

Presence and Paraclete

‘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...

23 Apr 2020

The Time of Singing Will Come

Times of stress often lead to periods of deep introspection. Lent is already a period set aside by the Church for reflection and thoughtfulness.

20 Apr 2020

The New Normal

Staying home is now our new normal. And going to church at home has become the way we belong to the Body of Christ.

16 Apr 2020

Meditation on Hebrews 2:5-18

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...

14 Apr 2020

Sanctifying God's Name

In times of crisis, danger, and fear, the Church has frequently sought solace in Hebrew resources of lament and supplication.

09 Apr 2020

A Lament for Holy Week

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

06 Apr 2020

Confidence in Times of Uncertainty

How’s your blood pressure? COVID-19 is leading to lock-downs the likes of which we have not seen in generations.

02 Apr 2020

Long-Distance Worship - An Idea From The Rabbis

Over the centuries,  the logistical issues of participating in worship exercised the Jewish ancestors of our faith.

30 Mar 2020

Eucharist and Absence

COVID-19 has brought the frailty and vulnerability of the body into sharp relief.

26 Mar 2020

Love One Another

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...

23 Mar 2020