Apologies for being lax yesterday. Normal transmission can now be resumed. I'm hoping to be daily but it's funny how busy things are even during this extended home assignment! Today I'm going to read some poems from someone who is…
Alan Paton (1903-1988) was a South African who spent decades fighting against the apartheid system. He was a founding member of the Liberal Party of South Africa and worked in it until it was banned by the government. He is…
R. S. Thomas, I imagine, would not necessarily have had much time for me. I don't really know why I think that (and I'm probably committing a gross calumny), but there's a severity and pointedness to his writing which suggests…
Sacred Treasure This is an extraordinary story that reads like a whodunnit: the stolen early manuscript of Mark? (long read but worth it)I'm an unashamed John Dickson fan - his new book on the historical Jesus looks great: here he…
There is an emotional complexity to this wonderful painting by Swiss artist Eugène Burnand. I know very little about him, apart from the usual resort of Wikipedia. But he manages to capture a moment of almost frantic inquisitiveness, as Peter and his young, fellow-disciple John rush in the golden sunrise light to the burial garden. Their faces seem filled with anxiety, confusion, hope, wonder, and longing all at once. Hoping against hope, but fearing a con, or something worse? Could Mary Magdalene, first to visit the tomb, possibly have been right...?
Here is part 2 of Sofia's story. If you've not read part 1, I suggest you start there. It is harrowing. But important. It is a testimony of experiences. This stuff happens. In our churches. Let us have ears to…
Jeepers - it's been a whole year since I last did a Q Combo - need to get back into the habit. But this is definitely a combo with a difference. Both artist and poet are women who are still…
Last week I was interviewed for the IVP blog about the holiday season, a time that is often fraught and a particular challenge for those with mental health issues. 1. How do you manage depression during the holiday season? It…
Happy Christmas one and all! This Christmas Combo is only 2 days late, but the meanings and wonder it points us to are by no means time-sensitive, nor do they have an expiry date! I saw this painting at the…
We moved house this summer - so this poem is apt: the 'clocks and carpets and chairs on the lawn all day'. We moved to Maidenhead in Berkshire, so the painting is apt: Stanley Spencer lived and worked most of…