From the dusty depths we looked at last week, today we are raising our gaze to the mountains. In the Old Testament, Mountains symbolise fidelity for example in Psalm 125 we read of towering mountains that cannot be shaken. Other cultures and ancient mythologies have traditions that holy mounts were sites of divine creativity and…
Thinking members of my family all told me that I should not read it, but never wanting to do as I am told and not wanting to criticise a book I had not read, I have just finished Prince Harry’s ghost-written memoir ‘Spare’. It is a sad story about a person beset by personal hurt…
I guess that most people reading this have had some sleepless nights; worried about health, work, paying the bills or reliving a negative experience in a relationship. We spend time working out how we are going to find a solution for ourselves, or working through different scenarios as to what might happen – ‘what if?’. …
This week, our 10 minute service reflects on Micah 6:8.
With my Norfolk pen pal, I stayed at a local Christian Guest House where we met a lovely Irish couple. They were engaged but took the phrase, “Owe no man anything” from Romans 13 verse 8 literally as they didn’t believe in having a mortgage so were saving to buy their first home before getting…
Second Sunday in Lent Year A 5th March 2023 Lectionary readings: Genesis 12 v1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4 v1-5, 13-17; John 3 v1-17. Abraham’s example. Long ago and far away, (about 4000 years ago, in Southern Iraq), God spoke to man named Abram (later Abraham). Abram put his faith in God’s plans for…
Last week I was clearing brambles, of which there are many, from our garden. I managed to get a thorn in my finger. However I didn’t notice it until a few days later when my finger became rather sore, particularly when putting pressure on it. I looked at my finger which was becoming rather red…
We are at the start of our journey through Lent, and we are using “Holy Habits: Following Jesus” written by Andrew Roberts for our Lent reflections in the Ipswich Methodist Circuit this year. I have decided to pick up the themes for our Sunday Thought for the Day’s Lent 1 Based on Luke 4: 1-13…
I was trying to think about what to write for today when I read an article about how beavers had built a 70-metre-long dam in Yorkshire. The natural barrier built by a family of beavers in Pickering is the largest dam in England and has saved the town’s population from being flooded. Since they were…
Jesus lived in the dust of the desert for forty days. Dust means dryness, aridity. Often, in the Bible, dust has negative associations with desolation, diminishment and decline into death. “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” However, it is also seen as the crucial raw material of life. It has echoes…