Lent 2025: Truth in the Temple

Today, I found out that traditionally on the Tuesday of Holy Week, we remember Jesus in the temple – teaching, challenging, confronting. It’s an interesting passage on the way to the cross. It shows a different side of Jesus. The tension is rising. The cross is coming. And yet, Jesus doesn’t back down. Combining theContinue reading “Lent 2025: Truth in the Temple”

Lent 2025: The Importance of the One

This week has been challenging – if you’ve read my recent posts, you’ll know that. But I don’t apologise for that. If David could write psalms about despair, abandonment, and loneliness, then I think it’s okay for me to write about exhaustion and overwhelm. God created us with emotions, and being honest with Him aboutContinue reading “Lent 2025: The Importance of the One”

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”

The same but different – lent 2023

In a few weeks I have been invited to speak at a church. It’s after Easter so the passages they have given me are about what happens after Jesus has risen. There is the story of Jesus appearing to his disciples in a locked room on the evening of Easter Day (or its equivalent 2000Continue reading “The same but different – lent 2023”

Pain bearer – lent 2023

There a lots of titles used in reference to God. Some make sense, others need a bit if thinking about. This one was used in a prater recently and comes in the latter category. Jesus, Pain-Bearer. It seemed an odd title. I still feel hurt, no one else bears it for me. I was remindedContinue reading “Pain bearer – lent 2023”

It’s not the big things… – lent 2023

Sometimes in life we have amazing experiences. We conduct a choir on a cruise ship, we cater for an amazing dinner party, we right an article that gets published… OK, those are all me, but I’m sure you have some stand out amazing memories too. And they are most definitely part of our stories. ButContinue reading “It’s not the big things… – lent 2023”

Welcome in

Its Christmas tomorrow. Are you ready? Have you bought in all the food, defrosted the meat, wrapped all the presents, sent out all the cards, hoovered the house, put up the decorations, iced the cake, made the mince pies, chilled the wine and found the crackers? Maybe you’re list has more in it. Maybe itContinue reading “Welcome in”

The end of the chapter

Growing up, I read a lot of books. There was one by Roddy Doyle called ‘The Giggler Treatment’. The reason that particular one is relevant now is because of how Doyle uses the chapters. They were an extra comedy element to an already funny story. Some chapters were of a standard length. Some chapters wereContinue reading “The end of the chapter”

A light in the… fog?

A few days ago there was quite a heavy fog in the town where I live. (When I say heavy, I mean more than I’m used too, and it considerably restricted sight). I was giving a friend a lift somewhere in the afternoon when the light was failing, and that combined with the fog meantContinue reading “A light in the… fog?”