Recovering from Depression - Sorrow and sighing
Recovering from Depression - Sorrow and sighing
by SPCK - Katharine Smith
Sorrow and sighing Two boys are running along the top of quite a high wall. Suddenly they both slip, lose their balance and fall. One boy suffers some nasty cuts and bruises and is clearly shaken up. The other boy hits his head when he lands and his leg is badly twisted under him…
Cross words
Cross words
by Steve Boxall
Poem for Good Friday The tree that was made into a cross Cross words The tree, Part of God’s creation, spoken into existence. Full of life, holding life, supporting life, Once crowned with branches, leaves dancing in summer winds. Now straight, stark and still, No sweeping curves…
Times and Seasons - Wiping out the past
Times and Seasons - Wiping out the past
by Marjorie Dobson
Wiping out the past Wiping out the past is not an option. History has happened. Regrets alone will not scour the pages clean. The facts are known. Embroidered by memory, or malice, but their significance is plain. Mistakes are made and crimes committed. Errors of judgement cause …
Times and Seasons - Prayer: Human instincts
Times and Seasons - Prayer: Human instincts
by Marjorie Dobson
Romans 12: 9-21 Prayer: Human instincts Vengeance is a natural reaction and most children have the instinct from an early age. We have to be taught to share, to forgive, to live in peace with one another and to resist our automatic reaction to get our own back. So we pray: When o…
Times and Seasons - Psalm 31 – a responsive prayer
Times and Seasons - Psalm 31 – a responsive prayer
by Marjorie Dobson
Psalm 31 – a responsive prayer Where there is distress and tears are the deepest expression of sorrow – God, bring your comforting presence. Where there is pain and anguish that cries out for healing – God, bring your comforting presence. Where weakness and infirmity drain life a…
Times and Seasons - Poppies and snowdrops
Times and Seasons - Poppies and snowdrops
by Marjorie Dobson
Poppies and snowdrops A blood red symbol of the field of war, the poppy stands and bows its head before the wind that sweeps its petals to the skies, until the field is black and colour dies. A frail, white symbol of a winter passed, the snowdrop’s bud breaks through iron ground …
Times and Seasons - One hundred years ago
Times and Seasons - One hundred years ago
by Marjorie Dobson
One hundred years ago How brave they were, they thought, one hundred years ago. Enthusiastic, full of zeal and ready for the sport, one hundred years ago, they thought. How cheerfully they went, one hundred years ago, as town and village sent their companies of pals hell-bent for…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Mindfulness, God’s and Ours
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Mindfulness, God’s and Ours
by SPCK - John Goldingay
His Commitment Is Forever Psalm 136 A former student of mine served as an armed forces chaplain in Iraq for two years after graduating from seminary. One week he called me from there. He had felt compelled to preach on the idea of God’s steadfast love. He remembered my explaining…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Be Defiant in Spirit
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to Be Defiant in Spirit
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to Be Defiant in Spirit Psalm 138 This morning I received a message from a woman who a year ago was attacked and stabbed by a man while she and a friend were hiking in a forest; her friend was killed but she survived because the man mistakenly thought she was dead. She has re…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - His Commitment Is Forever
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - His Commitment Is Forever
by SPCK - John Goldingay
His Commitment Is Forever Psalm 136 A former student of mine served as an armed forces chaplain in Iraq for two years after graduating from seminary. One week he called me from there. He had felt compelled to preach on the idea of God’s steadfast love. He remembered my explaining…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to End the Day
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - How to End the Day
by SPCK - John Goldingay
How to End the Day Psalm 133-134 When my wife and I got married fifty-one weeks ago, we discovered the Episcopal Prayer Book’s “Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families,” four one-page sets of psalms, Scripture readings, and prayers that you can use when you wake up, at lunch…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Holy Wind
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Holy Wind
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Holy Wind Psalm 135 Two nights ago, we had a huge windstorm in our city, with gusts up to ninety-seven miles per hour. The wind felled hundreds of trees, including century-old oaks and tall palms. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power, and many still lack power. Schools and …
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Blessings and Atrocities
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Blessings and Atrocities
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Blessings and Atrocities Psalm 128-129 On the satirical Web site The Onion, one of last week’s headlines proclaimed, “Lack of Media Interest Makes Genocide Cover-Up Unnecessary.” The “story” explained that an African warlord had declared that global disinterest in the wholesale s…
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Peaceableness and Peacefulness
Psalms for Everyone Part 2 - Peaceableness and Peacefulness
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Peaceableness and Peacefulness Psalm 120-121 After a journey that took twenty-four hours, some friends of mine arrived yesterday in the capital of one of the toughest and poorest countries in Africa, which they visit from time to time seeking to help refugees there make their voi…
Praying for Jerusalem, Praying for Grace