Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
Managing 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...
read moreManaging Monday: Some quotes for Christmas…
With Christmas around the corner, I sifted through a hundred or so Christmas quotes on Pinterest, and discovered a few I thought worth pondering… Advent is synonymous with hope, not the vain waiting for a faceless god, but concrete and certain trust in the return of him who has already visited us. – Pope John Paul II Look for Christ and you will find Him. And with Him, everything else. – C.S.Lewis Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else...
read moreWhen family fails…
At Carey we recently finished a preaching series on the life of David – author of so many of the Psalms, and Israel’s most successful king. One of my topics was the family life of David – notable largely for its failure. As a fair few people found my reflections on the topic helpful, I decided to post my sermon notes on the blog. Perhaps the messiness of David’s situation might, in some round about way, be helpful for you… Don’t know if you had any imaginative dreams during your childhood. In my fantasy moments I...
read moreBorrowed Spaces: A Meditation for Advent
Audrey Francis has contributed to this blog on a few occasions. Recently she sent me this meditation for advent ‘Borrowed Spaces’ – allowing me to use it on the blog and also to give you permission to use and reuse it as you see fit, so long as you credit her as the author. Audrey recently completed her studies at Vose Seminary, and has a lifetime of service behind her, including a period as a missionary nurse in Africa. Borrowed Spaces A Meditation for Advent Her time was near, time to give birth to her first- born. She...
read moreWhy the angels sang…
With the Advent season officially upon us, I thought it would be worth turning our thoughts towards Christmas. In an Advent message a few years ago I asked the question if the angels were right to sing a song of joy the night Jesus was born. Would a dirge not have been more appropriate given the shameful response Jesus met with? Here are some of the things I said… When at high school I was the chairman of the school debating team. I quickly learnt that there were two sides to just about any argument, and that it didn’t really matter if...
read moreManaging Monday with C.S.Lewis – Take 4
C.S.Lewis is one of the most oft quoted people. His insights are pithy and effortlessly and clearly get to the heart of each matter he addresses. A few weeks ago I posted on C.S.Lewis as apologist, and so it seemed appropriate to follow up with some of his wisdom in selected quotes for Managing Monday. This is the last of this short series from Lewis (well, for a while…) In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people’s, we do not accept them easily enough (from The Weight of Glory) If God forgives us we must forgive...
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