Author: Henry Morgan
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131 Happy Christmas
I sense gloom and despondency in the air. Partly it’s directed at our government which seems burnt out & out of control, busy making the mess it’s created worse. Partly it’s despair at the situation in Gaza and Israel, where two sides each with a legitimate cause, their ownership of their land, seem intent in…
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130. Just Knowing or Revelation?
Earlier this summer I read that Alice Oswald had been elected as the next Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. I recognised her name but wasn’t familiar with her poetry, so on a whim I went to BBC Sounds and on entering her name came upon a programme in which she had been interviewed. I…
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129. Supper with Jesus
We see a painting which will be described in detail, below. This painting is entitled ‘Supper at Emmaus’ and Caravaggio painted it in 1602. He was a hugely gifted and theologically perceptive painter with a bit of a reputation for violent behaviour: he often had to leave town in a hurry. Before we look at…
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128. Just Knowing
A picture of geese flying in formation. I met recently with a friend who is having to rest and recover through the summer & into the autumn, after a spell in hospital suffering from a debilitating illness. The strange thing was, he said, that he’d planned some months before to clear his diary for those…
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127. Life and death
We.see a painting of a dark table with an upturned skull on it, and a lit white candle.. The background is a pale colour, there is a dark strip down the left hand side, and a less clear dark strip down the lower part of the right hand side. This painting “Skull and Candle”is by…
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126. Was Jesus feral?
Autumn 2022 I think that you can make a good case for Jesus being feral. If feral means that something/somebody has returned to a natural state from one of captivity or domestication, then I reckon that Jesus fits. Consider this: I think that you could make a similar case for Paul, Francis, and other significant…
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125 The Wounded Angel
July 2023 I enjoy looking at paintings. They often slip under my guard and take me by surprise. I sense that they speak and my soul hears them before the rest of me catches up. One painting that does this for me is this one. This picture is entitled ‘The Wounded Angel’. Its is by…
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124 In Defence of Angels
June 2023 The Church has a tendency to make simple things difficult, like prayer & faith, both of which are simple in principle but challenging in practice. Society has a tendency to trivialise important things like miracles and angels. I’ve written about ’Everyday Miracles’, so now I’m going to write “In defence of Angels”. School…
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123. Faith
23rd June I remember, many years ago reading a poem by David Whyte entitled ‘Faith’: I want to write about faith About the way the moon rises Over cold snow, night after night. Faithful even as it fades from fullness Slowly becoming that last curving and impossible Sliver of light before the final darkness. But…
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122. Church is Everywhere
June 2023 I was in conversation with a friend recently and, in passing, she said of me “You’ve left the church”, and I was taken aback & immediately said to myself “No I haven’t”, But quickly responded “But I can see why she might think that. I rarely attend worship in church, I’ve returned my ‘Permission…
A CONTEMPORARY SPIRITUALITY 