Blog
On Baptism
1. We who live near the ocean know the primal power of water to give life. The swirling water can release repressed emotions; it’s surprising how quickly old wounds can heal in the clean, salty waves. Lately I have been thinking a lot about water, because soon I will baptise my first child. It is…
Read MoreWhy be a Christian? Part 3
The final chapter of Timothy Radcliffe’s work is about stopping, recollecting ourselves and, strange as it might seem, playing games. It is about Sabbath rest. In Christ, we learn to reclaim the sweetness of time, the otium sanctum—the sacredness of rest. And this is our obligation for, as we hear in Genesis, God rested on the…
Read MoreChristus Resurrexit
1. Thomas doubts. I will not trust, he says, until I see the mark of the nails in Jesus’ hands; I will not trust until I can touch those wounds. And in this story Jesus appears to Thomas, to his sight and to his touch, only to say that he had it the wrong way…
Read MoreChristus Victor
1. “Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth, bright with a glorious splendour, for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal king!” Those are words from the Exultet, which we heard last night as we lit the Easter fire. It is always wonderful to see, and hear, and smell that fire crackling in darkness. The…
Read MoreWhy be a Christian? Part 2
Endurance Joy in this life is mixed with pain. Yet our joy sustains us through it all, teaching us patience. As St Augustine says: “Let us sing Alleluia here below while we are still anxious, so that we may sing it one day there above when we are free from care…Let us sing Alleluia, not…
Read More