Somewhere in the middle of Holy Week, a quiet transaction takes place.No crowds. No spectacle. No raised voices. Just a question, a price, and an agreement. And just like that, everything shifts. Tradition calls this Spy Wednesday. The day Judas goes to the chief priests and asks what they will give him if he handsContinue reading “Lent 2026: He knew. He stayed”
Tag Archives: closeness with God
Lent 2026: I nearly didn’t write today
When I started the Lent series this year, I told myself it was OK not to manage every day. It’s hard to juggle essays and sermons and reading. Adding daily blog posts into the mix… well, I didn’t think I’d manage it. But here we are. Day 28. With posts ranging from Panda Theory toContinue reading “Lent 2026: I nearly didn’t write today”
The Quiet Gift of Jubilee
This week always feels like an odd one to me. Christmas Day has been and gone, and New Year’s Day is not yet here. The busyness and preparation have all paid off, and now there is a pause, a period of in between. For me, it’s a time of reflection. Reflecting on the year thatContinue reading “The Quiet Gift of Jubilee”
Singing Faith, Sharing Hope
I’ve just returned from a week in Taizé, the community of brothers in France who welcome thousands of young people and pilgrims each year. This was my second visit – different from the first, and yet somehow the same. Different people, same God. Different theme, same rhythm. Different worries, same peace. As I journey home,Continue reading “Singing Faith, Sharing Hope”
Word for the year
Happy New Year! We are now a week into 2025. Have you decided on any resolutions? Have you kept the ones you have made? I don’t make resolutions. Or, I don’t make New Year Resolutions. The pressure to be original and the lack of hope that I will actually stick to them put me off.Continue reading “Word for the year”
2024 40 days of lent: belated day 7 – Mind the gap
I had an unusual week which just left me without time to write a blog post on a couple of days, although I did draft the idea. This one was a reminder in a book I had been reading called ‘God is closer than you think’ by John Ortberg, one of my favourite theological writers.Continue reading “2024 40 days of lent: belated day 7 – Mind the gap”
2024 40 days of lent: day 2 – Muted
It is said that if a person loses one sense, the others become sharper to make up for it. Someone who is blind will often be able to discern more through hearing and smell than someone who has all their senses. On a smaller scale, someone who is trying to concentrate on what they areContinue reading “2024 40 days of lent: day 2 – Muted”
2024 40 days of lent: day 1 – Happy Galentine’s
Becoming a helpful tradition for me in lent, 40 days of drawing closer to God through writing. As ever, some will be long and some will be snapshots, but all will be God focused in some way. This year, Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent, has fallen on Valentine’s Day. Me, my housemates andContinue reading “2024 40 days of lent: day 1 – Happy Galentine’s”
Just what I needed to hear…
Have you ever read or heard something that seems to be exactly the right thing for that moment? Maybe a friend (or stranger) has said something you didn’t know you needed to hear, or you’ve read something that has struck a chord somewhere deep inside. Whichever, something that has brought clarity or comfort. That happenedContinue reading “Just what I needed to hear…”
40 day challenge day 36: Held
When talking about God, we often talk about a Father. And that is how Jesus refers to God when praying, as his Father. But there are also places where God is compared to a mother. In Isaiah there are 2 places where God uses a mother comparison, talking about comforting like a mother comforts, orContinue reading “40 day challenge day 36: Held”
The Reason for my Hope Blog 