Author: Henry Morgan
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100. An Advent Story
November 2021 A small village nestled high up in the mountains had developed over the centuries a series of traditions by which they marked Advent every year. All the men in the village used to dress up as shepherds and bring symbols of their trades to the little village church, as gifts for the Christ-child.…
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99. The Raising of Lazarus: Part 3
June 2021 There is another question that John’s story of Lazarus raised for me. Jesus is described as loving Martha, Mary & their brother Lazarus. When He arrived at Lazarus tomb John tells us that Jesus wept, such that the onlookers said “how dearly He must have loved him”. John makes it clear that Jesus loved Lazarus…
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98. The Raising of Lazarus: Part 2
June 2021 Mulling on the stories of Jesus Resurrection appearances in all four Gospels a number of themes emerged: [1] Those who go looking for the dead body of Jesus don’t find Him. [2] They mostly find its absence frightening. [3] The Risen Jesus appears unexpectedly to others who were not looking for Him, although often they don’t…
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97. The Raising of Lazarus: Part 1
June2021 I marked Easter this year by mulling on the Resurrection stories in the Gospels, and found myself led from those in John’s Gospel to John’s account of the raising of Lazarus, where I was struck by both the similarities and the differences between the stories of Jesus’ Resurrection and that of Lazarus. We see a…
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96. Top up or bottom down
May 2021 I was talking with a friend recently, and he mentioned the vision that Julian of Norwich had in which she saw God as a Lord and human beings as the Lord’s servants. I had to admit that while I understand that image of God in my head it doesn’t engage with either my…
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95. Worship in lockdown
April 2021 Recently a friend told me that she had been to receive Communion for first time for some months as her church was now open for worship: she was delighted to have been able to do so, as others are, as lockdown is beginning to be eased. Unlike my friend I haven’t been to…
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94. New Life within
March 2021 My friend Colin and I have met regularly to talk over many years. He retired early as his wife Joy was not well, and as her illness progressed and she was confined to her bed, he became her full-time carer. As he could no longer visit me I started to visit him at…
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93. A failure of the Imagination
March 2021 We see a painting entitled ‘The Dead Christ’ by Ercole de Roberti, which hangs in the National Gallery in London. The article goes on to describe the painting. I have been drawn to this painting by Ercole de Roberti in The National Gallery, for many years, but Chloe Reddaway in an excellent short…
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92. Anniversary Questions
January 2021 Last summer I was reminded that the autumn would mark the 50th Anniversary of my ordination, and that prodded me to think about whether I should mark it and if so how. A personal review seemed like an obvious thing to do, but I reckoned that might benefit from some outside questioning. So I wrote…
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91. Journey into Priesthood 2
After 50 years, I’ve been wondering about what God has revealed to me on this journey into priesthood, what I’ve learnt? When I wrote it down, I found to my surprise that there was more there than I’d expected to see. I was also intrigued to notice the means by which revelation had taken place, not…
