It might be one of the legacies of lockdown, but almost every day, I hear in our media worryingly aggressive criticism of others. This has been a growing trend for some years. I’ve found over my lifetime that it’s generally better for one’s mental health, to try to accept that the vast majority of people are not unlike I am
Reflective Preacher
Women’s Lives Matter
On 10th June, I wrote a piece entitled ‘Am I a Racist?’ and in it I asked: ‘Why do we care so much about racism, but don’t seem to care at all about gender violence…?’ In a recent discussion with my daughter Katie, she volunteered to expand on this theme, and what follows is her guest blog, in her own words.
Gratitude for the English countryside during lockdown
This last week in the UK, we passed the milestone of one hundred days spent in ‘lockdown’. I suspect that everyone’s experience has been different and it’s most important not to suggest that everyone has been as lucky as we’ve been, in our stunning corner of the South Downs National Park in Hampshire. But I also feel the need to celebrate the magnificence of nature in this strangest of years, when perhaps even the smallest things can make us feel better about ourselves.
Have we lost all trust in ourselves, in Science and in God, just when we need it most?
Fifty-two years ago, in 1968, the world was going through a very troubled period. It was the height of the ‘Cold War’; on April 4th, Martin Luther King was murdered in Memphis; there were riots in America; thirty people were shot by panicking Police officers in South Carolina.
Self-loathing, Anger and Forgiveness
The sharp-eyed among my readers will have noticed that I’ve quoted a passage from Leviticus for today’s blog, the words of which are very similar to the one from the Letter of James that I chose last week. If we’re honest, none of us remember many sermons from one year to the next, but I’ve never forgotten a sermon that I heard on this verse from Leviticus, several decades ago.
Am I a Racist?
In 1972, I made my first visit to the United States. It included a trip to Dothan, Alabama. The morning after my arrival, I witnessed a young white man shout in a southern drawl at a grey-haired black man: ‘Come here, boy!’
Reflective Preacher 