Category: Personal
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160. Let your soul be your pilot
Insight came strangely out of what at first seemed unconnected things. In my recent blog ‘158 Rhosilli Bay’ I found myself mulling on how I can stay rooted in what has already been revealed to me by God in my world, while being open to the Great Mystery of the God of a multitude of…
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158 So many other worlds
Early this September I spent a week alone in my friend Andy’s cabin on the Gower coast as I have done for some years. It was a rich and nourishing week as it always has been. On my last night I slept well as I usually do. I woke at 3.40 restless at the prospect…
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157 Who does God know?
I recently wrote a blog entitled ‘An Awesome Fact’ in which I reflected on a wonderful poem by the Polish writer Wislawa Szymborska, in which she draws our attention to how utterly unique we each are at birth. More recently I bought a birthday card for a friend who was celebrating his 70th birthday. It…
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154 How are you?
I’m doubtful about coincidences. My experience is that when several seemingly separate but similar things occur in close proximity to each other, then the likelihood is that they are connected. Some years ago I wrote a prayer exercise that was included in a book “The God you already know’ that my friend Roy Gregory and I…
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152. In the beginning
My 80th birthday in April has turned out to be a more significant milestone than I had expected. In March a series of synchronistic events led me to find and re-read my Priest’s Exam papers of July 1971. In Southwark Diocese you had to sit this in the summer after you’d been ordained Deacon, and…
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150. An Awesome Fact
I recently visited Krakow in Poland with my daughter Hannah, as part of the celebrations of my 80th birthday. Her Polish friend Joanna had recommended Krakow, and so I asked Hannah if her friend might suggest a book or two that would give me a feel for Polish culture before we went there. She suggested…
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149 Our Vocation
One of my favourite films is entitled ‘Mail for Pastor Jacob’, which is set in the 1970s. It’s about a blind elderly Finnish Lutheran minister, who amongst other things has a ministry in what we might call ‘spiritual direction’ although that phrase is never used in the film. Every morning the mailman cycles up the path,…
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144 The Artist’s Room
I was recently in Sheffield with my daughter Lizzie, and we visited the Graves Gallery hoping to see a favourite painting of mine by Gwen John, ‘A Corner of the Artist’s Room in Paris’. It was out on loan, so I bought a postcard instead. It is a remarkable image. It captures what R S…
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141 Early Morning Walk
I woke early one morning last week, and being wide awake, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to doze off again, I got up and performed my usual morning tasks before getting dressed and going out for my morning walk. It was quieter than usual, and I saw nobody. I decided on a whim, that…
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139. A Spiritual Odyssey
When I was a young man beginning to study The Bible, the story of The Annunciation [Luke 1:26-38] always left me cold and mystified. I was very doubtful about the existence of angels, and the idea that one might ‘appear’ to Mary to announce her forthcoming pregnancy sounded ridiculous. The story made no sense. But…
A CONTEMPORARY SPIRITUALITY 