How would you know if God gave you a miracle? (a sermon from Ruth)
This is a sermon preached by my daughter Ruth on 23rd July at her church – Holy Trinity Lenton. She’s on the PCC, Safeguarding officer and occassional preacher. She asked me to proof read this and I thought it rather good. https://www.lentonparish.org.uk/ (Photo is of Tim, Abi, Ruth, Lucy, me walking in Sheffield Park) Haggai […]
Just Do It.
A book review on: The Church of Tomorrow by John McGinley. If you read one book this summer then it should be this one. McGinley opens with this prayer of Thomas Merton: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me … Therefore will […]
Luggage Tetris
We took a six hour drive, the rain and friday evening traffic being particularly bad on the way to Worcester to fetch Sam, finishing his year in industry before he returns to Nottingham in September. And then a game of tetris, so to speak, of fitting his boxes into our car. The car filled to […]
We will pray for you
“My treasures have been….” This is an exercise that the group does (last Thursday) in our last session. “I am thankful for the cleaning team (some giggles around the room, and supportive hmms), and for the worship (some ahhhs from the others) and the international-ness of this week (I have loved the daily Lord’s Prayer […]
Be an ally with the Enemy of Apathy
It’s been a day of having open eyes to the wonder of all that you see about you. So I think of the volunteer in the shop who is here for a few months before returning to Ridley Hall Theological college to train as a vicar. She did my church history module. And I notice […]
Deep Peace
Tired, after a slow eight mile walk, we sit in a circle of stones known locally as the Hermits Cell. On the wind is a distant sound of bleating sheep, a buzzing thing busys itself and swallows swiftly swoop about us. But that’s it. Feet tired and damp on the boggy earth. An occasional waft […]
The hope of Love
This place is known as a Thin Place. George McLeod said that here “Earth and heaven are separated by a cigarette paper”. We are given a tour of the Church here, not as old as St Leonard’s and oddly with ferns growing out the inside walls. St Columba came here in 563ad (noticeably before St […]
Walk in love
How do you build community? How do you come to feel that you belong? We, a group of more than 40 folk with a wide range of ages, geographies, theologies (so many of us are pastors it is easier to spot who isn’t) are being formed into a community. Here’s something of the process. 1. […]
But hush for God is here
There is something about going to a holy place and allowing some sort of metaphysical detox to happen; as if to sweat out that cynicism and sarcasm that masks stress. Perhaps it is good, having to purposefully seek out the wifi here so that news updates and Facebook opinions clamour less in my head. At […]
5 trains, 2 ferries, 1 double-decker bus
What is a pilgrimage? I think of it as being about going to a special religious place, a thin place, and there encountering God in a sort of burning bush or still small voice moment. And if you have read the earlier pages of the blog, especially about Jerusalem, you can see my point. Although […]