Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth century Carmelite Lay Brother seemed to perfect the art of being ‘constant in prayer’ – of making prayer ‘business as usual’. But isn’t that what monks are supposed to do? His letters and conversations published under the title “The Practice of the Presence of God” reveal that the life of a lay  [Read More]

It seems as though more and more of our knowledge is now being stored “in the cloud” – even our knowledge about God, about ourselves and our memories of others – and our cloud keeps growing. That might sound a bit scary to some – but according to an anonymous mystic, writing in the late fourteenth  [Read More]

This week the church celebrates Alban, the first recorded British martyr, who famously sheltered a priest fleeing persecution by the Roman authorities, helping him to evade capture by swapping cloaks. When the Romans found it was Alban beneath the priest’s cloak, he was sentenced to death. Little is known about the priest that Alban sheltered, whose  [Read More]

For millennia, countless people of different faiths have prayed Psalm 130, perhaps using the words from the Book of Common Prayer, or their own version of them. In a moment of despair; overwhelmed by events – out of their depth – crying out to the only one who can assist. We know from an entry  [Read More]

Our names contain meaning. Babies born during the lockdown are being given ‘virtue’ names, such as Patience, Hope and Faith. Tina (which means follower of Christ) but is also seen as a corruption of the word ‘quarantine’ is also proving popular.  Slave owners often resorted to naming their slaves according to the month in which  [Read More]

This week we look at a passage that opens the second half of John’s Gospel – the ‘Book of Glory’. Here, the pace of events slows and the focus changes. John has spent the first part of his Gospel describing, through signs and teaching , Jesus’ love for the world. Now he focuses on Jesus’  [Read More]

During Lent at our informal discussion group, we are exploring the Gospel of John – do join us via Zoom on Thursdays at 7.30pm if you can. For more details click here. One of the distinctive features about the gospel of John is the number of ‘asides’ or ‘stage whispers’ if you prefer, often shown  [Read More]