Last week I had a lot of fun talking to our local Church school about Palm Sunday. Taking a 'leaf' (groan) from Bob Hartman's style of story telling, I quickly realised that this story lent itself to being told by the letter P. Palms, parade/procession, people, prayers.... For my primary school crowd it didn't need... Continue Reading →
Bird-watching is a lot like thought watching
I am not much of a birdwatcher but I am learning to become a thought watcher and I was intrigued the other day by a metaphor which connected the two ideas. For about six months now I have been practising meditation. Practising is what you do when you are not very good at something and... Continue Reading →
Jerusalem – the final part of our pilgrimage
It's taken me a while to get my thoughts in order for this final blog post about my recent trip to the Holy Land. Maybe because it was at this point in the journey that I became much less of an observer and much more of a participant. Our exploration of Jerusalem took the form... Continue Reading →
From Bethlehem to Hebron
For the second part of our pilgrimage we moved from blissfully beautiful Galilee to Bethlehem, via two brief stops. First we stopped at the Jordan River very near to the site of Jesus' baptism (and also several other old Testament events, an example of how history piles up vertically in several places). This was the one... Continue Reading →
Holy Land Pilgrimage – Galilee
I am just coming to the end of an 8 day journey through the Holy Land. We began in Galilee with three nights at the Pilgerhaus a retreat house on the shores of Lake Galilee. Highlights here included an swim as the sun came up, a boat trip out on to the 'sea' of Galilee,... Continue Reading →
Happy New Year? Two poems to get you through 2018
The turning of the calendar from one year to the next always seems to me to be the most slender of reasons for celebration. Surely it is no more hopeful than the beginning of every new day? Why in the world would the changing of a single digit in a date inspire hope for tired... Continue Reading →
Why the one truth most people live by will not help you
"Peace on earth"? How, in God's name (quite literally) did the concept of 'peace' come to be associated with the birth of child? Anyone who's ever had a child will tell you that the quality of peace is not something you associate with the arrival of children! In fact the very opposite: not only are... Continue Reading →
Mary’s hopes and fears at 8 months pregnant
Another poem by Helen Brocklehusrt:via Mary, mother of Jesus
Rekindling
Written in Lent 2017 See Helen's Poetry Page
Living Advent Calendar
We've had a fabulous local initiative started up in three streets near us: a living Advent Calendar. The idea is that every night from Dec 1st to 24th - a different house in these three adjoining streets reveals a window display around 6pm and invites their neighbours out on to their driveway to share in... Continue Reading →