Unfastened and set free

Challenge us with the demands of love

That first verse of the our gospel reading has always niggled at me: John 14:15 ‘If you love me,’ he went on, ‘you will keep my commands. “Commands” can so easily sound like a long list of things that we must check off in order to prove that we love Jesus. So, a question for you. What are the commands…

Re-claim your sheepiness

I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly appreciate being called a sheep. There’s a raft of unflattering metaphors around sheep – as clueless and dim; or that phrase ‘sheeple’ – people who mindlessly conform or follow the whims of whatever is supposedly on trend. My parents built our childhood…

Unfastened and set free

His spirit and his life he breathes in all Now on this cross his body breathes no more Here at the centre everything is still Spent, and emptied, opened to the core. A quiet taking down, a prising loose A cross-beam lowered like a weighing scale Unmaking of each thing that had its use A long withdrawing…

He Stinketh

In our Lent groups this week we’ve been talking about pain and suffering, so it feels like a bit of a gift (but maybe not that unsurprising, given it’s Lent) to have the story of Lazarus as our reading today. When we’re in a place of pain and suffering ourselves - whether it’s something in our own lives,…

Recovering your sight, finding your voice

Apologies if I’ve used this story before - there comes a point where you can’t remember what you’ve shared and where - but when I was in Year 13 - 7th Form in old money - part of the English curriculum for the year was to do a 3-minute ish speech on a topic of your choice in front of the class. Now I…