As we enter the last few days of Advent, those with good memories may recall that this time last year my four-month-old daughter was starring in our church’s immersive Nativity scene, and I was led to reflect on the enormity of Jesus’s sacrifice in taking on the absolute powerlessness of Read more
For me, the season of Advent expectation this year comes hot on the heels of a new arrival within my own family – the birth of our own firstborn, our daughter Tehillah (‘Tilly’), in late August. Her entrance was extremely well-timed, both from my perspective as an academic (I emerged Read more
About six weeks ago, I had the privilege of chairing one of the series of ‘Feeding the Earth’ webinars hosted by Thinking Faith Network, exploring contemporary research into food security from a ‘values’ perspective. The opening talk, given by Dr Yoseph Araya of the Open University, was an introduction to Read more
As we tiptoe tentatively through the first weeks of 2022, wondering what lies ahead for us this year, I’ve been musing on an attitude which I’ve seen cropping up in a few different places recently – most obviously in the title of the rather universally panned Netflix mockumentary ‘Death to Read more
We enter Holy Week this year just a few days after the year-anniversary of the UK’s first lockdown. What a difference a year makes. It’s become a staple of the national conversation in recent weeks to observe the transformation in attitudes, plans and expectations from last March up to now, the Read more
As this strange and troubling academic term comes to an end, I can think of no better way of finishing it than by turning to God in prayer—in adoration for his grace, confession and thanksgiving for what’s past, and supplication for the future. Dear Lord and Father, We thank you Read more
‘Long lay the world in sin and error pining,Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.’ I’ve remarked in previous posts how much I love Christmas; though it is nowhere near Christmastime, I was reminded Read more
Like many who are not schoolteachers, NHS staff or other key workers, in these recent weeks I have been getting used to spending most of my time at home, getting very acquainted with Zoom and the various tools we are using for online teaching at the university where I work. Read more
George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Scottish clergyman and writer who profoundly influenced the fiction and non-fiction works of C.S. Lewis. One of Lewis’s lesser-known publications is an edited collection of MacDonald’s writings: the book can be hard to find in print now, but a dear friend gifted my a copy Read more
As 2019 has come to a close, and a new decade is beginning, I have been thinking about a poem by Emily Dickinson – one of my favourites, for its enigmatic imagery and its expression of longing: ‘I did not reach Thee’. Here is the first stanza (you can read Read more