Our Many Coloured Days: On the Brown, Grey and Purple Ones…
I imagine that many of my readers are Dr Seuss fans. What’s not to like about him, green eggs and ham, the Grinch, and all the rest we are introduced to in Theodor Geisel’s wonderful world? Among my favourites are My Many Coloured Days, which attaches a colour to the different moods we encounter in life, with the liberating conclusion that whatever the colour of a particular day, “it turns out all right you see… and I go back to being ME.” In Dr Seuss’s world, some days are red, “On bright red days how good it feels, To be a horse and kick my...
Read MoreRefresh: Where our best prayers take us…
Todays refresh post first appeared in Aug 2022. Frederick Buechner’s idea that some prayers are “best prayers” and that they should take us somewhere, resonates with me deeply. It’s worthy of a re-read… Incidentally, some of these ideas are also explored on the Stirrers and Saints Podcast on Scripture and Prayer. Well worth a listen… Where our best prayers take us A post in 2022 noted the passing of Frederick Buechner and tapped into some of his wisdom. In this one I’d like to explore a passing comment which appears in a series of rapid fire advice...
Read MoreFormed, forming, reforming and deforming…
One of the hats I wear is as “Pastor at Large” of the Carey Group. While the title sounds exotic, I’m not sure any of us really know what it means, but in practice I get to speak into and participate in the life of Carey at a meaningful level. It’s an enormous privilege. We usually choose a theme for each year – something that identifies where we will place special attention, and this year the focus is on formation. It’s a choice that delights me. Why? Well, it’s not claiming a static “formed” – as though we have arrived and now...
Read MoreRefresh: Things that get in the way…
This is the 10th year this blog has been operating. There have been over 500 posts along the way. I always encourage readers to repost and republish if they find the material useful, and recently stumbled upon a website that had done just that. I vaguely remembered writing the post about 3 years ago, and as I skimmed through it thought, “Gosh, this is actually rather good! Definitely worth thinking about.” The trouble with that post, and many others like it, is that it is now buried amongst 500 others. That’s when I came up with a new plan. How about every Wednesday I do a...
Read MoreThis strange space called recovery…
My faithful blog followers know that I’m just back from some unexpected surgery over the Christmas and New Year period – an urgent hernia repair for those who like detail. I’m now in this strange space called recovery, when even a raised eyebrow sees Rosemary anxiously asking, “Are you sure you should do that dear? You don’t want to set the process back.” Oh it would be so easy to exploit everyone’s good will. I just need to cough a little piteously and I get offered another cup of tea or a biscuit. True, I don’t fool everyone. My 9 year old...
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