Film Friday Reflection: Free Guy
‘Don’t have a good day – have a great day!’ So says Guy to those he meets each morning. Guy is living the perfect life – or so he thinks. …
Blog Archives
Wednesday Riff: Bones
Bones are popular this time of year, bones and cobwebs and darkness, ghosts and grim apparitions in white sheets, and masks fixed in a permanent scream. So it is, that …
Monday Rewrite: Gethsemane Waiting
He’ll wait all night if he has to, While those who think they have the power, Are floundering, flustered, chasing their tails, Tripping over their feet, concocting their tales, Empty …
Film Friday Reflection: The Courier
London 1960. With the cold war humming away and the threat of it escalating into a nuclear event, the CIA need a little help. They are thin on the ground …
Peace on Earth?
Peace on earth, and goodwill to all, The longings rise up, the questions, the call. Peace on earth, promised long ago, When the tiniest child arrived here below. Peace on …
Monday Rewrite: Walking Miracles
A thought – miracles often come complete with skin and bone, flesh and blood. As Saul looks up now, dust and grime on his face, his threats and sadness and …
Film Friday Reflection: No Time to Die
So, Mr Bond is back, and let’s face it, we’d been expecting him. For quite a while. And he’s up against Spectre once more, the evil organisation with another plot …
Wednesday Riff: Running on Empty
Running on empty, running on full, Your grace is the fuel that helps face it all. Running on empty, lost for words, Struggling to achieve, to be seen or heard. …
Monday Rewrite: Appeal
Lord you know what we need, What we want, and what is possible. You see the bigger picture here, there and everywhere. So today we want this_____ We need this_____ …
Film Friday: The Nest
Rory O’Hara has his heart set on wealth and success, so much so that he often cannot see the wood for the trees, or reality for his delusions. He buys …
Wednesday Riff: Holy Trudgery
Keeping going, nothing spectacular, faithfully walking, Long obedience in a good direction, Trudging on, setting your face, inspiring others, Drawing them to look where you are looking too. One foot …
Monday Rewrite: Lipstick and Love
She is getting her nails done. Again. And her eyes. And her lashes. And pretty much everything else. She is well aware she is way more than this. More than …
Film Friday: Reminiscence
In a waterlogged and dystopian city, Nick and Emily offer the chance to revisit and replay past memories. However there is always the danger that clients will revisit too often …
Wednesday Riff: Pruning
I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He prunes every branch in me that bears fruit. Lord, that’s easy to read, trips off the tongue, But …
Monday Rewrite: Two Prayers
In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed two prayers: ‘Rescue me’ and ‘Let it be.’ ‘If possible take this cup from me.’ Then, ‘Not my will but yours.’ Two prayers …
A Thought on Unexpected Encounters
I look out on our back garden and see a pink slide, a half-open, poo-strewn guinea pig hutch, a deflating beach ball, and a grubby upended paddling pool. It’s all …
Film Friday Reflection: Love Actually
In this romantic comedy there is a moment when young Sam tries to say farewell to the love of his life but is stopped in his tracks at airport security. …
Film Friday Reflection: The Last Temptation
I’ll be the first to admit that this film is strange in places, an unusual retelling of the life of Jesus. However, it also has some fantastic moments. Like the …
Wednesday Riffs: Song & Gratitude
Gratitude If you had not entrusted yourself to us, Where would we be, I wonder. If you had not entrusted yourself To that young poor couple in Bethlehem, If you …
Wednesday Riff: Gratitude
If you had not entrusted yourself to us, Where would we be, I wonder. If you had not entrusted yourself To that young poor couple in Bethlehem, If you had …
Monday Rewrite: Discovery
Peter doesn’t know it but he’s about to make the discovery of a lifetime, a discovery of life itself. – So, what’s the word on the street? Jesus says. – …
Film Friday: The Last Bus
In this understated tale a quiet yet determined elderly gent, Tom, embarks on a mission, which takes him on the country’s longest bus ride, from John o’ Groats to Land’s …
Wednesday Riff: I Still Believe
I still believe, though I’m often haunted by doubt, I still believe, though the road goes uphill at times. I still believe in truth though life has its shams, I …
Monday Rewrite: Resources
And seeing the crowds, lost and wandering and confused and empty he had compassion and wanted to help them. – Send them away, says Philip, so they can fend for …
On Music and Musicians
It’s been a week of news on music and musicians. Just today I’ve been reading about a new album by Gerry Rafferty, compiled and produced by his daughter Martha, 10 …
Film Friday reflection: Black Widow
There is a great light-hearted moment in this movie when Black Widow’s sister, Yelena, challenges her about why she adopts her dramatic fighting poses all the time. Yelena drops awkwardly …
Wednesday Riff: Psalm 136 Revisited
We are born. We cry. We fill nappies and drink milk. His love, his kindness, his caring presence is always with us. We grow. We struggle. We learn. We tumble. …
Monday Rewrite: The Call of Moses
Cast: Narrator, Moses, two sheep, a bush. The Narrator reads the lines in bold. Hello everyone, I’m the narrator. Hopefully the audience will say ‘Hello!’ And this is Moses. Moses …
Wednesday Riff: A Prayer for Peace
Lord we pray today for peace in your world, For those working to bring peace, For those longing to live in peace, For those with the power to offer peace. …
Film Friday Reflection: The Firm
John Grisham’s compelling tale of dastardly doings in a Memphis law firm is nearly 30 years old now, but it still looks as good as ever. Mitch McDeere is a …
Monday Rewrite: The Unbelievers
In an age when everyone was pressured into towing the line and believing what they were told, they refused to conform. They would not bow to the gods of success …
Film Friday: The Croods 2
When caveman Grug and his Crood family find a walled paradise, the home of the Bettermans, they think they have discovered the tomorrow they have been looking for, life will …
Wednesday Riff: On Prayers and Praying
What of our prayers and praying? They are like a hand reaching for help and comfort And something solid for ourselves and others, A song we make up as we …
Monday Rewrite: Praying Like Breathing
– – – – – – A simple sketch to illustrate the need to pray at all times. It involves one narrator and a group of 4 – 10 …
Film Friday Reflection: La La Land
There is a telling moment early on in this film when Mia, working in a coffee shop, serves coffee to a famous movie star. We don’t know who it is …
Wednesday Riff: All
To offer it all, our whole being, the bits we like and the bits we don’t. Like Jacob wrestling with an angel, we wrestle in our love for God, We …
Monday Rewrite: Tales of the Unexpected
People underestimate the power of a good story. As I stood there before the king, detesting the smell of my own body, disguised as someone who had lost all care …
Film Friday Reflection – Cruella
On her way to becoming Cruella de Vil, the reckless and gifted Estella gets a job working at the Baroness’s elite dressmaking company. She quickly impresses the Baroness with her …
Wednesday Riff: Open Hands
To live a life with open hands, I think must be a wonderful thing, Risky, and vulnerable, of course Yet also free of the compulsion to hold onto things, Free …
Monday Rewrite: The Fruit Shop of Life
1. Ah good morning. Welcome to the fruit shop of life. 2. Yes, morning, I thought I’d pop in and pick up a few bits of fruit… 1. Oh well …
Film Friday Classic: The Untouchables
When Elliot Ness decides to take on Al Capone he discovers something – there is a shortage of trustworthy cops in Chicago. Corruption has seeped into all walks of life. …
The Book of Revelation: The End of the World As We Know It
John writes… his letter, so hold tight, a rollercoaster, The king’s here, and brave John is sore afraid: Letters to the churches, don’t forget your first love, I know about …
Film Friday: Dream Horse
Jan is bored and weary. Her life lacks spark. Then she notices a copy of Horse and Hounds and an idea is born. She is going to breed a racehorse. …
Wednesday Riff: Fuel
It matters What we put in, What we take on board, What we absorb and hold on to. Or to put it another way, The saying goes: Feed the healthy …
Ps23
Lord, for ourselves, for those we care for, And for those who lead us at all levels, Please would you be our shepherd today. Guiding us, providing what we need, …
A Prayer
Give justice to our leaders, O God, May it top their to-do list. Help them judge and guide your people in the right way, Let the poor always be treated …
Monday Rewrite: Pilgrims
There was a time when this small band of pilgrims included furious, brow-furrowed fishermen, troubled tax demanders, courageous women with embalming fluid in the creases of their palms, boundless party …
Film Friday: Peter Rabbit 2
Bea’s tales of Peter and his friends are taking off, the books are selling like, well – hot cross bunnies. But when a big company comes knocking, wanting to take …
Wednesday Riff: Fretting
Fretting We fret about so many things Surviving, success, stability, Being accepted, being strong, Our looks, our finances, our family. Those we love, those we like, those we fear, Our …
Monday Rewrite: When
When disappointment hangs in the air, When plans and hopes and dreams lie lost along the way. When success must be replaced with faithful holding on, When the options and …
