Articles, thoughts, essays, and content from Brian as well as students – our budding theologians.
Refresh: Then I Remember, Death Comes Before the Rolling Away of the Stone
Regular readers of this blog know that Mary Oliver is one of my favourite poets. Some of her questions never go away (“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”) while others linger on, inviting deeper and deeper thought. Todays refresh post from July 2023 picks up on one of these insights, “Then I remember, death comes before the rolling away of the stone.” Here are some of the thoughts this line initially sparked… Refresh: “Then I Remember, Death Comes Before the Rolling...
read moreThe Boredom that Sparks Creativity: 5 Potential Benefits from Seriously Dull Moments
What do you think of the saying usually attributed to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, “Hurry is not of the devil; Hurry is the Devil”? Corrie ten Boom said a comparable thing, “If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” Beneath both is the idea that too much rush stops us from observing what is really going on and prevents us from being open to deeper realities tucked just below the surface, things we need to pause a while if we are to notice them and be impacted by them. When people complain that...
read moreRefresh: Amor Fati – From things happen to me to things happen for me…
This reflection on Amor Fati – the Stoic counsel to love your fate – was first published in June 2023, and drew many comments. I think it continues to have a lot to say to us. But what if we went even further and suggested that it is not just that things happen to me, but that in some way they also happen for me? Refresh: Amor Fati- From things happen to me to things happen for me… The Stoics have a lovely expression, “Amor Fati”. In essence it means love your fate, or at the very least, embrace your fate. Probably...
read moreBecause life’s negatives are singular and its positives are plural
If you are a regular reader of this blog you’d know that I like to seize on throw away comments from podcasts I listen to at the gym – most often when I am on the cross trainer, and struggling to control my breathing. You really need something to keep you going through those moments, and as I have a tendency to sing along with music I’m listening to – definitely a breech of gym etiquette – I default back to podcasts. The person being interviewed was speaking about gratitude, and reinforced it with the line...
read moreRefresh: When we are seen…
The Bible gives us many beautiful insights into God. One of the finest is in Gen 16:13 when a distraught Hagar, having encountered God at a time of deep danger, says simply: “You are the God who sees me…” The God who sees me…. and invites us to see others as well. This Refresh post from Oct 2022 explores this important topic. Refresh: When we are seen… Have you ever felt invisible? If it’s especially bad, people don’t notice you at all, if a softer version, they sort of see you, but have placed you in...
read moreLife – and 7 other L Words…
It’s one of Jesus’ most popular claims, “I am come that you may have life, and life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). The implication is clear. Follow me, and you will find the life that is most truely life. Now given that Jesus was the speaker, we shouldn’t be too quick to assume we know what this means. After all, the same Jesus said that if we want to find our lives we must be willing to lose them (Matt 10:39) and that the first will be last (Matt 20:16), and that the way is narrow, and only a few find it...
read moreRefresh: Limiting Beliefs – Things that Hold us Back
One bad experience often becomes two, three or four, not because it needs to, but because it impacts the way we think about ourself, undermining our confidence and restricting our willingness to try again. This Refresh post from June 2023 explores the hazard of limiting beliefs… Refresh: Liming Beliefs – Things that Hold us Back I was recently talking to someone who felt God had let them down badly. The marriage hadn’t gone well even though they felt they had done everything right. Of course they had indulged in a few little...
read moreChef or Ingredient. Which are You?
It seemed a strange question at the time. “Chef or ingredient. Which are you?” The more I have pondered it, the more I appreciate its relevance. What’s it getting at? I guess behind the question is the probe, “Are you essentially a pawn in someone else’s game – there because in some way you add something to it (a tasty additional ingredient) – or are you in control of the game, deciding what goes in, and what is excluded.” Most of us would say that it depends on the setting. Sometimes we are...
read moreRefresh: On Full Stops and Commas
This post from May 2022 is one of my favourites. It notes the difference between a full stop and a comma. The one signifies an end, the other, a brief pause. Confusing them can see us giving up prematurely – as I so nearly did with my writing. The post tells the story. BTW, while this 2022 post notes 6 published books, that number is now 7 (thanks to my 2024 book, Stirrers and Saints), and hopefully it will keep growing. Refresh: On Full Stops and Commas Let me start with a brag, and follow it with a confession. I won the English prize...
read moreTowards a Theology of Personal Development (7): Guided by Hope
Perhaps there is no word in the English language as depressing as “hopeless”. It’s the word we attach to seriously lost causes, or the resigned and despairing verdict we pronounce when a desired dream is clearly not going to eventuate – “It’s hopeless.” We might add, “So let’s give up now. Carrying on only makes it worse.” Yet hopeless is not really part of the Christian vocabulary. In Rom 15:13 Paul prays: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in...
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