I’ve been really looking forward to the Advent season this year, to entering a deliberate period of reflection, waiting and hoping.  Today I had some time to write, pray, read and reflect and just had a deep sense of immense gratitude. For some reason, my mind was drawn back to my baptism in the Almond … More Advent Immersion

The prayer I most often pray is on the theme of ‘relief’.  There are a million things I’d like to do, many things I’d like to achieve, even more to experience.  The one thing I’d so dearly love is to do things in life without the weight of depression tied round my feet. I long … More Relief

A busy summer of wrapping up ministry in Gosforth (miss you guys already!), moving south to St Albans, and getting to grips with a new geography and general life pattern.  We’re just about all started up at work/school.  We did, however, have a great holiday in France this year during which I had the opportunity … More Taizé

I wish I could remember where I read it now, but the phrase that has been in my mind the last couple of weeks is ‘If the church stops talking about Jesus, it really has nothing much to say.’   It spoke to the very heart of the essence of where I feel I am at … More Back to Jesus

Back after a brief blog break…it happens now and again but never for too long in my 10+ years of blogging. This week my Facebook feed has been filled with yellow, red and blue.  The Salvation Army’s ‘Boundless’ International Congress, celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the founding of The Salvation Army, has been taking place in … More Boundless

Compassion is a beautiful word.  Literally it is ‘com’ (with) ‘passion’ (suffering).  To be with someone in the face of difficulty, challenge and the mystery that is human suffering. In our 21st Century world, there are many things that ‘compete’ for our compassion, whether it be emotional television appeals of hardships in other places, the … More Compassion

I’ve been journeying now with the Northumbria Community for many years.  It is a dispersed new monastic community, which has a ‘mother house’ here in Northumberland, but the majority of the  community live in their own settings in different countries of the world.  We live by a rule of Availability and Vulnerability (full rhythm of … More Availability and Vulnerability

In some of my more reflective moments over the last few weeks, especially when thinking of my re-entry into the world of work and ‘normal’, the poetic words of a friend, Peter Neary Chaplin, have spoken powerfully and challengingly to me.  The poem, ‘The Understudy’ is a story where the ‘main actor’ gets sick and … More The Understudy

I’ve been laying relatively low of late, certainly on the blogging front, for no other reason than general busyness, taking a break, and all that jazz. I’ve also being doing a lot of background stuff to prepare a bit for our life from Aug next year, when I finish at Trinity. Lots to share on … More Still here…

Stuart Murray Williams is a writer and speaker about our current cultural climate and how it effects the church.  I’ve been so encouraged and helped by him personally in recent years, and others like him.  I think his 7 ‘transitions’ are really helpful in light of the discussion on yesterday’s post ‘Why Us Millennials Are … More Shift