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The Common bond
The day after the killing of two worshippers at the synogogue in Manchester, a day that will almost certainly see more civilian casualties in Gaza, it is difficult for me to find any words. But this morning, I heard the Bishop of Manchester, Dave Walker, speak out about what perhaps is the worse danger of…
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Hypatia, Charlie Kirk and Martyrdom
Hypatia is not a person who is well known, but in 415 in Alexandria in Egypt, she was a celebrity. She was a leading philosopher, noted for her learning. She was also a pagan. In that year, she was attacked by a mob and killed; some attributed her death to rabble-rousing by the Bishop of…
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A Little Church
I’m in the middle of harvest festivals at the various churches at which I serve and a friend recently sent me this poem by EE Cummings. It speaks to me. I am a little church (no great cathedral) far from the splendour and squalor of hurrying cities – I do not worry if briefer days…
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The Chapel
This weekend is Ride and Stride, the annual fund-raising event for the Shropshire Historic Churches Trust. I offer one of my favourite poems by R.S. Thomas by way of response. The Chapel A little aside from the main road, becalmed in a last-century greyness, there is the chapel, ugly, without the appeal to the tourist…
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Quietly Sneaking Up
Last month, I ticked off one more item from my bucket list; I descended Gaping Gill. Gaping Gill is one of the most spectacular underground caverns in the country. It is 300 feet from its opening to the bottom, a cavern the size of a cathedral and several water falls descending from the top. The…
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Thoughts and Prayers
“Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now, these kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school, they were in a church.” These are the reported words of the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, after two children were killed and 13 seriously injured in a mass shooting in a…
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The Lone Biker
As I drew up to Billingsley Church yesterday, I noticed a motor bike outside. Now the Bishop of Hereford is a biker so my first reaction was panic was that he was doing an unannounced inspection of the church. But on looking closer, the bike didn’t look like his Harley Davison. On entering the churchyard,…
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Reinhold Niebuhr’s prayer 80 years on
Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian whose work was deeply influenced by the great political turmoils of the mid-20th century. He wrote following prayer in response to the Second World War; even though we have just marked the 80th anniversary of the ending of that war, its words seem as relevant as ever. Lord, we pray this…
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VJ Day
This coming Friday will be the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, the ending of the 2nd World War. I am sure the celebrations will be on a smaller scale than VE day back in May, when the war in Europe finished. My impression is that VJ Day was never on the same scale as VE Day, unless families had…
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Farewell, Prince of Darkness
Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath is dead; the Black Country mourns… Regular readers of this column will be aware that my musical tastes veer towards Anglican plainsong not heavy metal and I have no idea what Ozzy and Black Sabbath actually sounded like. However, I know many people do admire their music and he and…
Benefice of Highley with Billingsley, Glazeley and Deuxhill and Chelmarsh
Knowing Jesus and Making Him Known
