The Vicarage had never heard anything quite like it: the three most prominent swear words in the English language all in the same sentence (and none of them began with B or S). The lorry driver was clearly having a bad day – and it wasn’t even half past eight. Read more…
‘I matter therefore I am.’ One of the highlights of the recent short sabbatical was being in Salisbury to hear and meet Luigi Gioia, former Roman Catholic Benedictine monk turned Anglican priest. In a wonderfully stimulating study day, Luigi talked about how Benedictine spirituality is still very relevant. (He even Read more…
‘Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, Turn and face the strange’. In my last job I was (and knew I was) very fortunate to work alongside people who were supportive, encouraging and had a default answer of ‘yes’. The last three years have been a stark reminder that not everyone else is like that! Coping Read more…
A few days ago, my wife, who (unlike her husband) is often prone to outbursts of excitement, came rushing in saying, ‘Richard, there’s a message on the answerphone from the Dean of Southwark Cathedral! They’ve been using Life with St Benedict in their online Night Prayer and he wants to Read more…
Last year was a year like no other – and the next 12 months may not be that different! Lest you think that to be a ‘Unhappy New Year’ greeting, please read on… In the coming few days as we mark the Epiphany, many will reflect on how the travellers Read more…
Well, you don’t need me to tell you what strange times we are living in. And how much life has changed since the last full blog post on Ash Wednesday. Little did we know what we would be giving up for Lent. Along with ‘Coronavirus’ and ‘Covid-19’, terms such as Read more…
At this time of major change in the way we live our lives and with many people feeling isolated, anxious or unsettled, I’ve put together some short films to help provide some stability. Click on this link to find out more and to watch them.
‘The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.’ Those words, often attributed to George Bernard Shaw, demonstrate that whether speaking, writing, texting, messaging or emailing, we may know what… we said we tried or wanted to say we said without actually saying it we Read more…
In the paid work I used to do, I was often heard to proclaim, “It’s not about me”. No… it was about the work we were doing and, in essence, the hundreds of people who were making it happen. And it was usually other people who, very kindly, were mentioning Read more…
Oh, how I hated role-play! Waiting for the moment when the enthusiastic, upbeat, uber-confident, staff trainer or presenter would make us act out what they’d been teaching us to do. ‘Please don’t pick me, please don’t pick me,’ my inner voice repeated over and over again. Thankfully on many occasions, Read more…