I am writing this thought knowing that it will come out as we prepare to go into Holy Week. Some of you will already have planned to attend reflective services, where we aim to travel in remembrance with Jesus through this difficult and hugely testing period in his earthly life and others will be doing…
On March 7th I went to a World Day of Prayer service at a small chapel near to my home village. Once called the Women’s World Day of Prayer, the name has now been changed and it was good to see 5 or 6 men there, enjoying the privilege of sharing in this service which…
The artist Rembrandt painted a beautiful picture called “The Return of tbe Prodigal”, probably one of his last works, completed in the last 2 years before his death in 1669. In the picture the prodigal son kneels before his father receiving his blessing and forgiveness after his time of rebellion and absence. The picture portrays…
In 1997 I was privileged to travel to Israel with my late husband and 3 grown up children, the last holiday we took together as a family of 5. It proved to be a very special time and many memories live on. On our second day in Jerusalem, we started off from the top of…
I have mentioned before that this series of thoughts on “God the Father” was inspired by a series of 3 sermons I heard on the subject while visiting my daughter’s church. During the second sermon the preacher used the story of the Prodigal Son to bring home the nature of God’s forgiving, constant love for…
Today I want to introduce you to 2 fathers who each reflected in their lives some aspects of their Heavenly Father’s character. Ron had a wife and 3 children and he was active in his church. Sadly Ron’ s wife left the family to start a new life elsewhere, leaving Ron to juggle the demands…
Last week I found out that February 4th was the 120th anniversary of Bonhoeffer’s birth. It was too late to write about him on that date but I didn’t want the occasion to go by without paying tribute to a Christian leader whose life and death inspired me as a teenager and still inspires me…
Continuing my thoughts about Our Heavenly Father and earthly fathers, I am looking at a friend Michael’s experiences of his father. Born in Australia, Michael lived for his first 7 years happily with his mother and father, mainly in New Guinea where his father, an ordained Methodist minister, was serving as a missionary with the…
Continuing my thoughts about experiences of fathers, and the Fatherhood of God, – I have often spent time with Kate, a friend, for whom the whole subject of her father brings back very painful memories. When she was 10 her father left the family to start a new relationship, moving 250 miles away to make…
I recently heard 2 sermons about the concept of God as Father and have been inspired to think about how people are able to accept this, bearing in mind their different experiences of parenting and specifically of fathers. It is a big step to move from seeing God as Creator of the universe to accepting…