I do sometimes wonder what Jesus thinks of his Church. I know he is Lord of it. I know in reality there is one church – spread out across the varying denominations which have a wide variety of perspectives on aspects of theology and…
Commemorating St Titus is good to do. Commemorating how the early church followed Jesus, remembered Jesus and what he said as taught by the Apostles and eye witnesses and those they appointed to keep the message going (before the New Testament was written and…
It was conversation that was like sea foam – light, inconsequential, momentary – the type you have because you’re walking along side of someone or you’ve bumped into them at work. There’s no agenda other than pleasantries. So it came as a shock when…
The horror of the false accusation is well known. We rightly tense up and are relieved when a person behind bars is exonerated. Completely innocent and yet suffering punishment is a hell we imagine. (The fact that some prisoners remain imprisoned when they could…
In last week’s email to Ascension’s diaspora I mentioned that our recent Christmas and New Year celebrations had an arbitrary ‘man-made’ quality about them in terms of when we have them. Observing Jesus’ birth could happen at any time. (I suppose you might want…
UK Power Networks to boost compensation payments. Donation ‘saved our Christmas’ say family. Tributes to ‘exceptional’ soldier’ killed in Afghanistan. Three Brits injured in Tenerife hotel explosion. Pope Francis urges aid access to Syria in Christmas speech. South Sudan threatens to attack rebel stronghold….
I have become fond of the Methodists’ nativity set they put up in front of the pulpit in Ad-vent. Their church, their ‘toys’, their rules – I’ve no problem with – as we set up and take down our liturgical furnishings. But when I…
We enjoyed our quick visit to Amsterdam this past week. Two images particularly struck me. I bought them – postcards – and have them in front of me as I write. The first is Otto Frank – the father of Anne Frank and the…
On Thursday I came home after spending the evening with the Sea Cadets out in Mildenhall as the town welcomed Santa and turned on the Christmas lights. I was dressed very warmly – the uniform’s wooly pully is thick and I was wearing thermals…
Recently I came across some of the latest ideas regarding memory. Ever fearful of losing our memories, there is an increasing market for ‘memory training’ with supporters and sceptics on both sides. One view says that just being socially active keeps our brains ticking…
