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Barefoot Prayers - Week 4 - Puzzles
Barefoot Prayers - Week 4 - Puzzles
by SPCK - Stephen Cherry
Week 4 Puzzles Life raises questions. It creates predicaments. It leads to situations that are not easily resolved and conflicts that refuse to be reconciled. Life is full of puzzles: and our prayer should embrace and hold some of the puzzles that we experience...
Barefoot Prayers - Week 1 - Gatherings
Barefoot Prayers - Week 1 - Gatherings
by SPCK - Stephen Cherry
Week 1 GATHERINGS This collection begins on the Sunday before Lent. Lent is itself a season of preparation, but even preparation can benefit from preparation. Shrove Tuesday is the focus of this, and can helpfully take the form of a day of clearing out and carnival. It begins on …
GOD's rich Pattern - A painful parting
GOD's rich Pattern - A painful parting
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A painful parting Ralph’s deterioration, both mentally and physically, took a huge downturn. He was constantly falling, finding himself in a totally agitated state, unable to stand. After two falls in the middle of the night, which my carer and I had to cope with, it was time to …
GOD's rich Pattern - The final walk
GOD's rich Pattern - The final walk
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
The final walk In my last meditation I spoke of the unity within my family: Ralph, myself and Harvey, our dog, who meant so much to Ralph. Ralph had had a very difficult year, with lots of bouts of infection and trips to hospital, becoming more and more fatigued and weakened by t…
GOD's rich Pattern - My best friend
GOD's rich Pattern - My best friend
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
My best friend It was Princess Diana who famously once said, ‘There were three of us in this marriage.’ In our case there certainly were – namely, Ralph, myself and Harvey, our chocolate English Cocker Spaniel. He came into our life when he was eleven weeks old. Ralph and I had a…
GOD's rich Pattern - A trip that would make a difference
GOD's rich Pattern - A trip that would make a difference
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A trip that would make a difference Throughout all our struggle, the work of The Lin Berwick Trust continued. We had our first cottage in East Harling, Norfolk. We were then looking for a second site. Where it would come from, I had no idea. I knew we just had to go forward in fa…
GOD's rich Pattern - A reason for living
GOD's rich Pattern - A reason for living
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A reason for living Ralph hated the term Parkinson’s disease. He felt he was somehow contagious, and didn’t want anyone to know that he had it. He behaved as though he were ashamed. When tragedy strikes, our first reaction is that we don’t want to go on. Life has no meaning. For …
GOD's rich Pattern - Where was God?
GOD's rich Pattern - Where was God?
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
Where was God? I couldn’t pray, I could only cry out in anguish. Why Lord? Why did you allow this to happen? I had, I felt, experienced my own personal Calvary a number of times in my life, and now I was having more problems heaped upon me. So many of us feel that we are not stro…
GOD's rich Pattern - The rock
GOD's rich Pattern - The rock
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
The rock God and Christ were my rock. They were the foundation on which I had built my life. As a child, going backwards and forwards to hospital for examinations and treatment, my life was very problematic. People said I had the mind of an adult, perhaps because I spent much of …
GOD's rich Pattern - A change to my world
GOD's rich Pattern - A change to my world
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A change to my world I had learnt to walk at the age of thirteen, and I started to enjoy the freedom of movement. I had been partially sighted all my life due to oxygen damage of the eyes at birth. I had gone to an ophthalmic hospital for my usual check-up. The doctor seemed to t…
GOD's rich Pattern - A devastating moment
GOD's rich Pattern - A devastating moment
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
A devastating moment One morning I awoke to hear Ralph making some very strange noises, squealing and screeching sounds, and a noise from his mouth as though he were blowing bubbles. He couldn’t speak to me and he couldn’t move. My first thought was that he may have had a stroke.…
GOD's rich Pattern - One small step along the way
GOD's rich Pattern - One small step along the way
by SPCK - Dr Lin Berwick
One small step along the way Ralph regularly attended our local Methodist church. He had come a long way spiritually because now his visits were not just when I was preaching. When taking Holy Communion our minister always brought the bread and the wine to our pew and offered it …
The Things He Said - Ch. 9 - Late Afternoon - Peace be with you
The Things He Said - Ch. 9 - Late Afternoon - Peace be with you
by SPCK - Stephen Cottrell
The Things He Said - Part Two - Late Afternoon Chapter 9 Peace be with you What is peace? Is it the silence after the guns have finished firing? Is it the so-called security of knowing that my bombs are bigger and more powerful and more numerous than yours? Is it secured by guard…
The Lion's World - Introduction The Lion's World
The Lion's World - Introduction The Lion's World
by SPCK - Rowan Williams
Introduction The Lion’s World Not every reader has been charmed by C. S. Lewis’s Narnia stories, and the recent release of high-earning film versions of several of the books has renewed the controversy. Critics of Christian faith have been predictably vocal – though their comment…
The Lord and His Prayer - Forgive Us Our Trespasses