Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
About a holiday…
I recently returned from a wonderful family holiday in Japan. The selection of Japan was based largely on its amazing ski fields (a really important factor for my oldest son Nic) and that it would be culturally enriching while still being a country where you can get by with English – albeit that the occasional misunderstanding occurs. So what are my reflections from this time? First, holidays really matter, and it’s worth scrimping and saving a little during the year to ensure that you can have one. They also need to be long...
read moreManaging Monday with Pope Francis (take 2)
Pope Francis is the 266th and current pope, his papacy having begun on 13 March 2013. He has said many memorable things, often about the importance of care of the poor and of faith being expressed in tangible actions. Last week we noted some of his insights, and this week round them out with a few more… You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works – Pope Francis Having faith does not mean having no difficulties, but having the strength to face them, knowing we are not alone – Pope Francis Sometimes...
read moreManaging Monday with Pope Francis…
Pope Francis is the 266th and current pope, his papacy having begun on 13 March 2013. He has said many memorable things, often about the importance of care of the poor and of faith being expressed in tangible actions. Here are a few of his insights… To ignore the poor is to despise God – Pope Francis The crucifix does not signify defeat or failure. It reveals to us the love that overcomes evil and sin – Pope Francis I prefer wrinkled families with wounds, with scars, but that continue going forward because these wounds,...
read moreManaging Monday with Thomas Merton – Take 2
Last week we reflected upon a few Thomas Merton quotes – and here are some more. Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk and mystic. For a brief period he was a Communist. He is largely remembered for his work as a civil rights activist, poet, writer and student of comparative religion. When ambition ends, happiness begins – Thomas Merton The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture...
read moreTradition and traditioning…
I grant you that most people don’t spend lots of time wondering about tradition and particularly the tradition of the Church, and if they are being true to it or not. But if you have ever had a bright idea of yours shut down with a “It’s not going to happen. We’ve never done it that way before”, or if on the opposite end of the spectum you’ve felt a little uneasy that you might be about to embrace something that humans have only really been doing for the last 5 minutes of their existence, and which...
read moreManaging Monday with Thomas Merton
I recently started reading Thomas Merton’s Contemplation in a World of Action and it has led me to track down some of his quotes and insights. Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk and mystic. For a brief period he was a Communist. He is largely remembered for his work as a civil rights activist, poet, writer and student of comparative religion. To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that Love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character....
read moreEt Teneo, Et Teneor – holding and held…
Most of us aren’t into Latin, but once in a while you come across a phrase that captures your imagination. At any rate, et teneo, et teneor captures mine. Translated it means, I hold and am held. It serves as the motto embedded in the crest of Spurgeon’s College, Spurgeon probably having first heard it from the hymnwriter Dora Greenwell, who had adopted it as her life motif. In the crest, a hand holds the cross of Christ, and it can be interpreted as both holding out the cross to others, and holding onto the cross. Holding and...
read moreManaging Monday: Quotes for the start of a new year…
As we start a new year, here are some wise insights to reflect upon… Do something today that your future self will thank you for – Anon Speak in such a way that others love to listen to you. Listen in such a way that others love to speak to you – Anon The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new – Socrates And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out...
read moreManaging Monday: Quotes as the New Year approaches…
As 2016 enters its final few days, here are a few quotes worth thinking about… There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind – C.S.Lewis What feels like the end is often the beginning – Anon You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine – Jessica Gordon Ryan There comes a day when you realize turning the page is the best feeling in the world, because you realize there is so much more to the book than the page you were...
read moreIf Christmas hadn’t happened…
As Christmas approaches, I have reproduced a piece I wrote for Christmas a few year ago and which appears in my latest book Could this be God? Bumping into God in the Everyday. Hope you enjoy it – and I do hope that Christmas provides a chance for you to connect more closely with the One who assuredly entered our world as a little baby thing… If Christmas hadn’t happened A rather harassed looking student popped into my office a few days back, claiming a mental block whilst doing an assignment. For some, that’s a permanent...
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