Just after a recent light snowfall I noticed that the snow had melted more quickly on a growing crop than on a grassy footpath. Most of the time we barely notice the effect of all our footsteps on the environment around us but here was a good illustration of the legacy of ramblers, dog-walkers, family…
‘Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise him’ (William Draper based on words of St Francis of Assisi) A clear and cold afternoon makes for a great walk and a chance to hear and see the sounds and sights that are hidden on cloudy, damp days. I set…
2 Corinthians 1:3-7 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the…
A happy New Year wherever you are. To be happy is to feel, show or cause pleasure or satisfaction according to the Cambridge Dictionary. That is fine but what are the ingredients for happiness? Walking along the beach at Southwold in the sunshine just ten days before Christmas seemed to be a perfect moment to…
Joy to the World!, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56347 [retrieved December 13, 2025]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/babasteve/31844535845/. It is a privilege to write today and to wish you all a joyful Christmas. A fortnight ago tomorrow I enjoyed a performance of Handel’s Messiah at The Royal Festival Hall.…
Moyers, Mike. The Lord is My Light, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57135 [retrieved December 7, 2025]. Original source: Mike Moyers, https://www.mikemoyersfineart.com/. For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live…
As I write this, we have just had an Advent Prayer Day for the churches in the Northern Mission Area of the Ipswich Circuit. There were some beautifully thought through and obviously helpful prayer stations devised and set up by various friends. The atmosphere was special and spiritual. I have just searched the internet for images of ‘prayer aids;’ the search returned…
I recently had an interesting conversation with two colleagues who, like me, are beginning their retirement. The point for discussion was legacy folders and documents, both the physical sort and the electronic ones. For me, pressing delete on many hundreds of documents and even more emails was easy, but I am stuck with the bottom…
Looking back just over a fortnight I am still thinking about something that happened, almost unnoticeable but significant. I prepared a short address for the Remembrance Sunday Service that included a reflection on the Latin words from which are derived the word ‘Armistice.’ On the Friday night I turned up at the Church to rehearse…
A kind friend recently found a very old photograph of herself with my late sister. It was taken in 1976 and gave me a flash back into what seems like a former life. In the hope that other family members may like to have a copy too, the photograph has been on a journey to…