In today’s reading [Colossians 1:21-23], we find Saint Paul writing about alienation from God because of what he calls our ‘evil behaviour’ (NIV(UK)). The way we think, act, live, our instincts and everything are a problem in our relationship with God. We are our own worst enemies in making it difficult to see and hear…
The Prayer Handbook points out that today is kept, in the Catholic Church particularly, as the Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the day when the mother of Jesus ‘fell asleep’ and of her bodily assumption into heaven. That language is outside my comfort zone and for years would have deterred me from…
An unexpected benefit of spending weekends with our daughter and son-in-law is getting to see new places. They are not new of course, just new to me. The latest discovery was walking by the river Darent and discovering a great viaduct, towering over a country lane. Later in the following week I caught up with…
God is in heaven! At the time of writing at least, the weather is lovely. This morning the sun was already strong at 7:30am. The cereals in the fields are already starting the ripening process, the first night of Proms is imminent and it is only a week until the opening ceremony for the Olympic…
A colleague from a different country across the ocean told me recently that he could not understand the British obsession with the weather until he started working here regularly. The grey summers and the need to switch from T-shirt to overcoat are confusing to someone used to consistently hot temperatures without variation. Similarly, here we…
Late last month we visited Saint Alban’s cathedral at Saint Albans. Did you know that the spelling of the name of the place came about because of an error in the application to become a city in 1877 when a Parliamentary Draughtsman accidentally omitted the apostrophe. Whether that error would matter to the saint after…
A week ago, we elected a new Government; but writing this over the weekend before the election I am at a disadvantage. I have a shrewd idea of the outcome but not its detail. Of one thing I am sure, however confident our new leadership may appear to us, there will be things they must…
Today feels very urgent and important. Those of us who qualify to vote will play our part in a democratic process that has evolved over the years. Even if we choose not to exercise the right to vote we are still doing something democratic. Dartmoor’s ancient settlement of Grimspound dates from the Bronze Age which…
Those of you reading this who have childhood memories of going to church may be able to remember the first hymn book you used. My faith journey can be traced by the hymn books I have used and the hymns I have known and loved. The first was Hymns Ancient and Modern, with no hint…
It is easy to get downhearted about the state of things. An election campaign makes us think and it can bring out the worst in us. On holiday on Dartmoor recently we visited the ancient Wistman’s wood; a mysterious wooded area of great beauty. Around the margins new oak seedlings are flourishing. The destruction of…