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Thank you. Rob
As this goes to press we are waking up to a new political landscape after an election that is setting our course for a generation; many jubilant and others deeply worried. Someone must have said, long ago and often, in democracy you get what you deserve; that leaves us all with something to think on, but for now, urgently, we must move forward and work together to make our democratic institutions function as honestly and effectively as possible.
Read MoreWhen working in the Highlands we didn’t get a public holiday on Good Friday; Reformed Scotland thought it safer and more pragmatic to reward people for taking gratitude and celebration seriously by giving them 2 days off at the New Year. There is something to be said for that. The cross is where it is all leading, but it is the incarnation, so audacious and scandalous, that turns the world upside down. God the Creator wired us for eternity; we yearn for spiritual connection, for our maker and God. All religions and spiritualities reach up or out or in to God; but in Christianity –and perhaps Jews would include themselves in this- God uniquely comes to meet us right where we are in our grisly mess.
Read MoreShould we talk about Brexit? It’s mesmerising, and a storm that is shaking our democratic institutions. Or do we talk about carbon? Our comfortable and familiar habits are hastening climate breakdown. The first is urgent, and neighbours from Kington have been marching for a people’s vote to resolve it, but the other towers over us dwarfing all other man-induced threats; other neighbours have been demonstrating more dramatically with Extinction Rebellion. Both threats are existential and dire.
Read MoreOutrage and Optimism is the cri de guerre at the moment. I’ll try and minimise the outrage by keeping off prorogation but we have to talk about Brexit. A couple of riders: first, I voted Remain and have become increasingly convinced of the damage Brexit, especially a hard Brexit, will cause the nation, and I’ll be marching in London on 19 Oct to say so.
Read MoreBear Grylls tells the story of a mishap with a parachute that very nearly cost him his life; plunging to earth at a fatal speed he cried out to God. There are not many atheists in situations like that he remarks. Well, as we know, God answered his frantic prayer and he survived, despite coming within a whisker, as the surgeon put it, of total paralysis. Less dramatically, but to make the point, it is recounted by an Army chaplain that on the tense voyage south to recapture the Falkland Islands, the mess was crammed full for services.
Read MoreBy the time August arrives we’ll have a new Prime Minister. The democratic process that delivered this outcome has been rather breath taking. I’d like to blame the system but we all have more grounds to deplore the way in which Conservative MPs have abandoned the centre ground and tacked hard to the Right. Bring it right home to Kington.
Read MoreMarriage has been in the news as I write; see #marriageweek. In hindsight, at least, it was an encouraging piece of advice given on the subject by a bishop; Oh don’t worry, he said, the first 30 years are the worst! For us what started as an adventure continued as an adventure, and much time later we are still strong advocates of marriage.
Read MoreI joined the Extinction Rebellion (XR) outside the Coop the other day; we let off alarm clocks and waved banners in a mildest possible and good natured demonstration to draw attention to the reality that our planet faces catastrophic climate breakdown.
Read MoreThe old King was quite angry and upset; the Queen had never seen him so cross, and it had been going on for months and months. It would be hard for a newcomer to the kingdom to give a consistent account of what was upsetting everyone so much. One said this and the other said the opposite, both with equal conviction.
Read MoreRebellion is in the air; “thank goodness” many would add. How bad do things have to get before we collectively change them? And which things do you have in mind you might ask! Well, in the vortex of a Brexit cyclone at the time of writing, it is impossible to know where we shall end up. But towards the end of March I shall be marching in support of some of the less alarming Brexit options.
Read MoreA lament for the Earth with tribute to Job.
Oh Lord, you stretched a line across the foundation of the earth;
You made the morning stars sing and the angels shout for joy.
Who has comprehended the vast expanses of your creation?
Read MoreOne of our little New Year rites is to bicycle up to Titley Pool with a flask of tea and some biscuits. Once comfortably seated in the hide you can gently open the screens and survey the lake unseen, and observe what colder weather might have brought in.
Read MoreThere are some benefits coming out of the present political and constitutional turmoil, not least of which is a brilliant crop of satire. I have a nice 50 Guinea note from the Imperial Bank of Brexit with a picture of Jacob Rees-Mogg wearing a topper and promising “to pay myself more than you”.
Read MoreOnce upon a time there was a king, The King I should say. He was of course just as you would expect: to be obeyed absolutely, at times terrifying, always regal. But this was not a great burden to his subjects because he was also known for wisdom, even compassion, and certainly humour. In short, he was a king who loved his people. He was surrounded –whether by design or the consequence of too much life- by a great druidic court of poets and priests, of sages and diviners, who were supposed to represent the King to his people.
Read MoreIt’s the season of Remembrance, a special centenary year, and of course our own festival of poppies and remembrance at St Mary’s. We shall be naming the fallen at our war memorial from two world wars and Afghanistan; there’s also a memorial down on the Recreation Ground for the Korean war. We are remembering soldiers from our community who gave their lives. But in the rest of the world remembrance isn’t as straightforward. Our wars were as savage as other people’s wars, but in contrast the fighting and most of the misery happened in other countries.
Read MoreIt’s a strange idea but it’s true; God’s Church exists entirely for its non-members. Jesus makes clear that his disciples were to go out and spread the good news of Christ to the ends of the earth. That movement is the Church, and its purpose is to make disciples of those who are outside, to bless them and to be the hands and voice of Jesus to them.
Read MoreThis caught my eye, and the eye of tens of thousands of others apparently by the way it went viral on facebook. Retirement at 32 with ‘extreme frugality’ said the headline from some utopia like Vermont.
Read MoreDear People, of all the fowls of the air we are perhaps the most detached from the solid surface of the roundy globe. But for the briefest days of nesting in the northern hemisphere’s summer, we remain and have our entire being in the skies. We are of course the swifts.
Read MoreThe Royal wedding was of course an early summer delight, but I find myself thinking about Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon on love. What an extraordinary responsibility and opportunity to preach to an audience said to be two billion people worldwide. What would it take to break that record?
Read MoreOne of the most wonderful things to happen in May, apart from the turning of the weather and the coming of the swifts, was the glorious Festival of Makers. Walking into St Mary’s Church and seeing it filled with glorious craft and art with celebratory shapes and colours was a wonderful experience.
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