Wednesday Riff: God in the Ordinary
The silences and the noises, the waiting and the wondering, the nudges and the hunches, the longings and the questions, the doubting and the believing, the moments and the hours, …
Blog Archives
Monday Rewrite: Perspectives
Numbers 13 v 25-33 One lot returned with giants in their eyes, seeing the mountains and the problems, the failings and frustrations of the land. The possible potholes and pitfalls. …
Film Friday Refection: Book of Eli
There is a moment towards the end of Book of Eli when Eli is asked about the nature of the Bible he is carrying. He says this, ‘It’s beat up, …
Biblical Tales of Perseverance
Against All Odds Biblical Tales of Perseverance She feels a little as if she’s surrounded on all sides. Those around her sometimes help, sometimes make things feel worse. She’s in …
Wednesday Riff: Furniture
There are times when life feels tidy, Organised, neatly controlled, All the bits safely within our grasp, Motivation flowing from a tank full of energy. And there are times when …
Monday Rewrite: Lost in the Supermarket?
We make our way through the maze of shelves. So much on offer, though we can barely afford it all. Special offers. Two for three. Guaranteed life changers and soul …
Film Friday Reflection: Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri
There are a few surprising happenings in this bitter, brutal film about a mother crying out for justice. Not least when the local advertising guy, Red Welby, finds himself in …
Wednesday Riff: The Penguin
‘Don’t worry…’ we are told. If only. But Jesus tells us more, offers us something else. Go and find something green, he suggests. Something that flies, or sings, or blossoms. …
Wednesday Riff: Three Boxes of Frankincense?
What if the wise men Had not conferred before setting off? Before packing their bags and Saddling up in search of the starry king. Had not compared their presents. ‘I …
2021
You are our help in our troubles, Our calm in the storms, Our strength in the pressure and trials, Out stillness in the hurrying. Our song and our lamenting. Our …
Emmanuel – A Christmas reading
Christmas Story: A Snowy Night
There was a chilly bite in the air as I walked further up the hill. As if I was being wrapped in a blanket that had come straight out of …
Wednesday Riff: Emmanuel
We thought of God as distant, Hidden somewhere in the clouds Up there, unapproachable, A deity too far away, One that would not be interested, Would never come close For …
Tuesday Extra: A Tale of the Unexpected
It’s hard to concentrate at the moment, half the time I don’t know if I’m hammering or chiselling. My head’s like a maze of endless corridors, the thoughts going round …
Monday Rewrite: Ding Dong Virtually on High
Somewhere in heaven, a few months before the first Christmas, the angels gathered. Or as we say these days, switched on their tablets, clicked on a link and zoomed one …
Festive Film Friday Reflection: The Family Man
In the festive favourite It’s a Wonderful Life George wishes he’d never been born, and when an angel grants him that wish, he discovers how precious life is and what …
Wednesday Riff: King of Kindness
As we turn our gaze once more, To the king of kindness, Once stable born and one day returning… We thank you Lord for the many glimpses Of kindness we …
Monday Rewrite: The Heart of Christmas
Two shepherds are kneeling in a stable looking at the baby. 1. Is he all right? 2. Why? 1. Well, he’s very quiet, shouldn’t he cry every so often? 2. …
Festive Film Friday Reflection: Little Women
Not exactly a Christmas film, but one that features two Christmases in it! I love the 1995 version of this tale, and find it deeply moving. Not least the scene …
Wednesday Riff: The Waiting
Not easy to be part of the waiting, We want to get on, to do things, To achieve, to be onto the next thing, To be busy and part of …
Monday Rewrite: The Ghost of a Chance
The house was like something from a Scooby Doo classic. Dark towers at each corner shrouded in grim shadows. Cobwebs hanging like drapes in every nook. There may well have …
Festive Film Friday Reflection: Home Alone
When a couple of pesky burglars do their utmost to break into young Kevin’s house, our optimistic hero has to do battle with them, using any means at his disposal, …
Wednesday Riff: A Great Light
Those of us who walk in darkness Have seen a light, A great and fragile light, A light that first brought light to the world. A light offered to all …
Monday Rewrite: This Advent-ure
The other day, as I was out on a mission, I bumped into three people. They had all been given things to do by their boss who had gone away …
Film Friday: Military Wives
As a group of wives and their families await the return of their loved ones from the fighting in Afghanistan they find various ways of counting the days. Homemade calendars, …
Wednesday Riff: The Truth. Sort of.
Why is it so hard to tell the truth? The truth about my doubts and fears, The truth that anxiety grates like a detuned radio In the back of my …
A Short Piece About Hope
Monday Rewrite: The Plan
Three angels wonder what to do about the world’s problems. 1. The world is struggling again. We need a plan. 2. Ooh! I think we should send a committee to …
Film Friday: Persian Lessons
(Persian Lessons is due out soon in February 2021) In occupied France in 1942 a young Belgian, Gilles, is arrested with a group of other Jews and taken away to …
Wednesday Riff: The Moment
Easy to miss the moment, I do it all the time, Too busy waiting for the next thing, To appreciate the real thing. Too busy making plans, To appreciate the …
Monday Rewrite: Grandad
Joachim is chiselling a bit of wood. Anne walks in. Anne: Joachim, stop that a minute, I’ve got some news for you. Joachim: Good or bad? Anne: Well…. both really. …
Lyrical Riffs: Difference and Closer
Difference I prayed a prayer today, Not sure that it really worked. Went outside and noticed the colours Carried a vivid autumnal depth. Bumped into old whatsisname, He drives me …
Film Friday: Praying the Movies
Almost two decades ago now I spotted this book Praying the Movies by Edward McNulty on a bookshelf at Lee Abbey conference centre in Devon. I was living and working …
Monday Rewrite: Soul Food
Now he wants to eat. Earlier, when the bread was there, right there in his hands, all he did was rip it in two and disappear. Taking them back to …
Film Friday: Rebecca
‘I dreamt last night I went to Manderley again…’ When an unnamed lady’s companion meets rich aristocrat Maxim de Winter in Monte Carlo, it’s not long before the two …
A new reflection: Trust
A new video from Simeon Wood and myself. A reflection on the theme of Trust… To know peace for the day’s travelling, For the mountains we must climb, And …
Wednesday Riff: You Know How It Is
You know how it is when your back’s against the wall, When your bones are weary from another day, When you can’t see the sun for the clouds. You know …
Monday Rewrite: Visible
No one should be invisible, though many of us are. Or feel it anyway. And yes, we all have times when we want to be unseen, left quietly undisturbed, in …
Film Friday: Once
When a busking hoover fixer meets a street flower seller, a tentative friendship begins. She needs her hoover fixing, no big deal for him, but that leads her to encourage …
Wednesday Riff: Faith
Not some finely-tuned superpower, Or aggressive weapon we wield with pride, Not some glossy trophy we polish from time to time, Or a badge of honour for impressing others. But …
Monday Rewrite: Blessed
Blessed are those not offended by me, those who can cope when I break out of the boxes they put me in. Blessed are those who can adjust, can keep …
Film Friday: The Equalizer
Robert McCall doesn’t sleep well, so he goes to an all-night diner to read his book and drink his tea. Once there he meets Teri, a young woman being controlled …
Wednesday Riff: The Heart Locker
‘We do well to guard our hearts,’ Somebody once said. The core of our being, Our centre of gravity, The wellspring of life, Our fuel tank and air supply. To …
Monday Rewrite: Isaiah 53
He lifts his head, looks to the darkening sky. It all looks so empty up there. Where is the comfort? The strengthening presence? He needs it now more than ever …
Film Friday: County Lines
Tyler is a loner, a fourteen-year-old struggling to find his way. He does what he can to care for his little sister but finds himself at odds with his mum …
Wednesday Riff: Remnants
Bits and pieces of another world, Glimpses and snatches of something ‘other’, Like looking through a dirty window, Through the smudges and smears, To a paradise beyond. As if this …
Monday Rewrite: Stranger in a Strange Place
Daniel stands in this strange place. Hearing the pronouncement that he has a new name now. The last vestige of familiarity fading away. Everything he is, grabbed by the collar …
Film Friday: Hitchcock and Humanity
I have been a fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies ever since I caught Chicken Pox back in 1987. He was nothing to do with me getting ill of course, I …
Wednesday Riff: The Artist
If the good bits of this world are a work of art, Then the Artist never overstates his case. Leaves it for the eye of the beholder. What will we …
Monday Rewrite: Troubles
He knows that they worry, understands that it’s a human trait to do so. Can see the concern and questions etched in the furrows of their brows, in the lines …
