A few weeks ago, Axel Radakubana was tried and sentenced to 52 years in prison for the murders of three young girls at a dance class in Southport last summer. At the time of the crime, we were shocked by its cold-blooded nature and the senselessness of targeting those victims. Little by little more has…

In his inaugural address the current President of the United States of America said that he had been ‘saved by God to make America Great again.’ President Trump believes that he avoided death by assassination because God required him for that specific purpose. Three things are implicit in this statement, one of which is profoundly…

One murky morning recently when I was out as the sun got up, as warmth developed so the mist thickened into fog as it sometimes does when conditions are right. Walking round the corner of a hedgerow I caught sight of the silhouette of a small herd of deer. I can see seven in the…

Recently, we paid a visit to Rochester Cathedral. It is one of those places we had not visited before so we learned another few lines of our country’s rich history. Something else was surprising. We have become used to war memorials being adorned with wreathes all the year round. However, at Rochester, inside the visitors’…

Today’s reading is from Matthew 5:17-20, part of Jesus’s teachings known as The Sermon on the Mount. It is about legal compliance in every respect and taking compliance to the next level by living the letter and the spirit of the teachings of the Old Testament. Most of us go through a rebellious phase (or…

The poet and painter William Blake produced various illustrations of the book of Job. This is the same man who wrote of the ‘dark satanic mills’ in the same poem as describing ‘England’s green and pleasant land.’ Job had a mostly fortunate life; he was a man of God and successful by the world’s standards.…

One evening recently I was sent a photograph of Venus beaming brightly in the night sky. On a recent cold and frosty morning, I was out as the sun rose (which is not difficult to achieve in the dark mornings of early January). There is a world of difference between the clear night sky and…

It is strange how old memories materialise out of nowhere. Reading the passage for today (2 Samuel 6:12-19) I recalled my mother’s smile. With hindsight she always had a happy smile but as a child I considered it to be an abomination. To my shame, now that I am some twenty years older than she…

A very happy New Year to you all, whoever you are, reading this. When we look back over a year that has closed, we are faced with a blend of recollections we like, and those we prefer to forget. There are likely to be some aspects of the past that we had barely noticed at…

A Happy Christmas. In a recent Thought Christine O’Neill reminded us of the words of the Gloria. An ancient and beautiful hymn of praise to the glory of God. I wonder what the Shepherds really saw in the night sky when Jesus was born? It may have been indescribable but it was summarised as the…