I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown..'   Those words, part of a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins, were used by King George VI as part of his Christmas message in 1939. At that time, the country was at war; fears and  worries were many; who knew what the New Year would bring.   2026: another New Year has dawned. The country is not at war but the world situation is uncertain; fears and worries are still man

The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 7:14   The wonder of Christmas is not that God came into a perfect world, but that God chose to come into a world as messy, divided, and unjust as our own. At the first Christmas there were rulers who ruled by fear, who threatened the vulnerable and clung to power at any cost. There was deep inequality, with wealth and safety concentrated

What we really want for Christmas is a world where people unite to relieve human suffering. Where rude, loud, aggressive pronouncements are hushed. Where children can grow up safely, with enough to eat. Where fear is dissolved. Where generous ingenuity is put in the service of the community.  Where we can all stretch and breathe and live without taking another’s space. Where our world grows green again. All these deep needs feed into our daily and weekly prayers. What many of

Adventure (n) – an unusual and exciting experience. The anticipation was unbearable; as a child I never understood why Christmas featured so much in the weeks that led up to the Great Day. The build-up accompanied by the daily opening of yet another window on the Advent Calendar, along with regular reminders that time to buy presents was rapidly diminishing, only added to almost uncontrollable excitement. Throw into this mix the worry that I’d perhaps not been good enough to

One of the traditional themes of Advent is waiting. The final verse of Psalm 27 is “Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”. You might be more familiar with these words from the beautiful Taizé chant “Wait for the Lord”. When Christians speak of the Advent theme of waiting, I would guess that they normally have this sense of the word in mind. First and foremost, waiting for Jesus at the end of time, and secondly, waiting for the birth

Last week I received my Lectionary for the coming year. It’s a book full of useful information including which Bible readings are suggested for services on each day of the year. It also lists festivals, saints days and indicates which liturgical colour should be used on each day (e.g. purple for Lent and Advent and gold or white for Christmas). This week is the last week of green Ordinary time before we enter Advent and a new lectionary year on 30 November. Paula Gooder has w

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me… I go to prepare a place for you.” – John 14:1–3   On Remembrance Sunday and on Tuesday Nov 11th at 11am, we pause in stillness to remember those who gave their lives in war, and those who continue to suffer in conflict across the world. We remember them not as distant names carved in stone, but as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, friends and neighbours: each one known and loved by God.   Jesu

I am lucky enough to have a group of friends, going back to our time as students together. We still meet regularly with our partners, to compare our different experiences and our varied challenges. We don’t solve many problems, but we laugh and see them in a better perspective. Memories and companionship are precious gifts. As Christians we share an even richer treasure. Our saints, remembered on so many days of the church calendar, are a hugely varied group. At Morning Praye

So begins a poem by Gerrard Kelly entitled Lament. It feels serious and sombre but remembering friends and family who have died is not a light-hearted matter.   This season of remembering is such an important time. In our busy worlds the endless round of activities can drown out our need to pause, reflect, and lament. Before we get too gloomy let’s remember this is in the context of the certainty of the love of God that holds us in all times and places. As Gerard Kelly puts i

Our reading from the Second Letter to Timothy yesterday morning contained some words which made my ears prick up: "For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires,   and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths."   That left me pondering the question,  do I have itchy ears? And how would I know?   Paul suggests a test for answering

This year my apple tree has produced more apples than ever before – it was meant to be a small espalier tree but has grown into a large untidy tree which produces hundreds of apples. We’ve eaten them as they come, made chutney, apple juice, apple crumbles and stewed apples. I’ve given apples away to anyone who shows the slightest interest them. Still we have four boxes of apples piled up in my kitchen waiting to be cooked or eaten. Everywhere I look I see trees laden with app

I write this at the Reader retreat at Pleshey where our leader, the Revd. Lizzie Hood, has taken us though ways of looking at time: times...

On Saturday my daughter and I went to the wonderful celebration of the marriage of a friend who was celebrating the love she has for her...

We were thinking about wisdom yesterday. Specifically, the wisdom of the shrewd manager in the parable Jesus told (Luke 16:1-13), who...

Yesterday was Holy Cross Day. We celebrated it at our 10am service in style. We sang some well loved hymns and listened to resonant words...

“Dedicated follower of fashion”? So sang the Kinks back in 1966, arguably the decade that launched a fashion revolution worldwide. One of...

How did you spend the August Bank Holiday? I went to Marlow and walked in the Chilterns before heading down to the Thames path for a swim...

Each of the Gospel writers has their own particular interests, which are brought out in the way they tell the story of Jesus. One of the...

Some time ago, St. Peter’s Book Group discussed Brooklyn  by Colm Toibin. In that novel, Eilis leaves her native Ireland to obtain work...

Clearly there’s a technique to navigating exams successfully. It begins with planning, continues with preparation and includes plenty of...