Category: Books

  • Where your treasure is…

    … there will your heart be also. The cynical mind ponders the question, ‘Do most people come across this phrase in Luke’s Gospel 12:34 or in Chapter 16, entitled ‘Godrick’s Hollow’ of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? I suppose it will be one of those really annoying pub quiz questions one day where a…

  • Ashes to ashes…

    …dust to dust! My study employs an open cast filing system.  So much so that as I’m preparing to move this Lent, it seems a great opportunity to clear the rubble and gather only the important things after the dust has settled.  Lent of course is a great time to do this.  Rather than throw…

  • There is but one way…

    … to get rid of the snow, and that it to build a sled for the children.  When I have finished it, (June or July sometime) the snow will be gone!  Whilst deciding whether or not to clear the drive and risk the car this morning – (nah, walk!) I was browsing a few books…

  • Soil, Soul, Society

    I have been working on a paper for about six months, I knew that at some point I would have to write the beginning, but have not as yet until this morning found the right words. Soil, Soul, Society. Alastair McIntosh describes this as the “Tripartite understanding of community” (For those who are concerned about…

  • to recover the celtic

    I have avoided that word for a long time, it has almost become a nothing word to some, speaking of fanciful longings and notions without any depth or heart or soul. ‘Celtic Christianity never really existed’ some say, and to an extent I would agree. The trouble is, it goes deeper than this. “And Celtic…

  • Life, Death and Neighbours

    Magazine letter for October: A time when we are in the midst of the refurbishment of a church… Life, Death and Neighbours. That is I think, a pretty good description of humanity.  We live our life, always aware that it has a beginning and an end.  The art of living a life so fulfilled that…

  • Celebration, Lament and Hope

    These are the three things that Ian Bradley in Colonies of Heaven says that we need to do in worship suggesting that: We need above all to have more sense of heaven in our worhip and to make the places where worship, whether churches or homes, colonies of heaven in which earth and heaven meet,…

  • Arrivals

    Just in time, I have almost finished clearing the study of clutter, when what pops through the door but two large packages, one an unexpected gift – an Epiphany present – thanks John, how did you know I had been meaning to get one of those for a while?? And two, the collected works of…

  • Instinct

    I recently re-watched the film Instinct it’s one of those films which quietly works away at you, then jumps up and bites you on the ass as you realise what is going on, of course Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Ethan Powell is excellent which helps.  I’ve watched it before and ‘got’ the message, enjoyed the…

  • Books for Ordination

    We were offered a book from the Bishop as an ordination present, lovely thought I… As I cast my eye over the books I have yet to read, and those bought waiting in line wondering if they will ever get read, I decided to be brave and select a slightly more modest item of reading…