Greetings ‘Flectioneers! Welcome to the boring part of the year: we’ve packed away the decorations and our houses are boring; we’ve (mostly) stopped wearing Christmas jumpers and our clothes are boring; we’ve watched all the specials we recorded over Christmas and the telly is boring; we’ve eaten those posh biscuits we bought and our food … More John 2 & Ps 35
It’s always a joy when a photo catches a “moment” of action or a humorous pose… This mallard was enthusiastically immersing himself (and any other fowl that came near) in a flurry of feathers and spray. … More Duck The Baptist! Look, See, Pray
Feathers I went for a walk this morning and found a red kite feather along the path: long, brick red (ie, orange-brown, not red at all) and a bit tatty along the edge. Red kite feathers are not uncommon where I live. There are plenty of red kites round here (small and furries of the … More Feathers – James 5
A mountain stream at full bore… collecting water from the high peaks and plateaus, it throws itself headlong towards the sea. It has the energy to carve slowly through rocks, and collects minerals to feed the farmlands far below. Exuberant life! … More Living Water! Look, See, Pray
Our “short” history is full of pain and struggle; the interminable conflict of the war for our soul forces us to cry out for help. “How long, O Lord?” we scream at the heavens. Who is winning? … More Who Is Winning? Look, See, Pray
Yup, it’s that time of year to wheel out the curate, the lay minister, the retired bishop or whomever else you have lying around and give them the Trinity to preach on. Meanwhile the church wardens, elders or circuit Sanhedrin can prepare the stake and kindling in the carpark. Please find below a bundle of … More Trinity #HeresyAlert
What a very bucolic theme we have to this week’s Reflectionary. I feel I should don a smock and prance around with a pitchfork. Or perhaps just watch THAT Yeo Valley advert a couple of times. (Love the chicken!) Click here for my freshly-preached sermon on John 10:11-18, the Good Shepherd. My apologies for posting … More Shepherds and Farmers and Sunshine(?)
I’ve just come back from a labyrinths day at the beautiful St Deny’s Church in Evington, Leicestershire. A quintessentially English church yard filled with forget-me-nots, a modern parish centre filled with lovely people, and a sunny day filled with prayer, peace and biscuits. Bliss! But building labyrinths is quite a physical activity (lots of crawling … More Vines at St Denys
We had a bunch of fab baptisms in church this week. Liturgical whoop whoop! So if you want twenty minutes of uplifting youtube that’s not parrots playing the xylophone, you can listen to the testimonies from t = 60mins and watch the baptisms from t = 77mins The preach, from about t=45, is also good. Totally … More Sheepy Stuff + Water
Dandelions are prolific seeders. Brilliant yellow flowers have fed the early bees, now the urge to reproduce has taken over. Fluff-balls of white parachutes wait for the wind to blow, then gleefully depart for a place of their own (usually in gardener’s prize flower plots, it seems!). Therefore dandelions have a bad reputation. Once landed, … More As The Wind Blows- Look, See, Pray
The Reflectionary 