Monthly Archives: May 2020

Holy Spirit, burn. Burn through our lives and rid us of all the things which need to become ash so we can rise from them. Burn out the rancid flesh so our wounds can heal. Melt away the impure elements so the pure can shine. Holy Spirit, burn. Holy Spirit, blow. Blow away the cobwebsContinue reading “A Prayer for Pentecost, Sunday 31st May”

I’ve been a little unwell this week. It had been building for a few weeks, what with a spell of physical ill health followed by a week of disappointing news and events which strained further the little resilience I had left. I’m over the worst, and getting better every day, as demonstrated by my bloggingContinue reading “Illness and Creativity”

Holy Spirit we need you. Be ever present in our lives and in our world at this time. There is so much despair, outrage and unfairness circling us, threatening to pull us down with it. We look to our leaders and are met with confusion at best, deceit at worst. We look to our familiesContinue reading “A Prayer for Sunday 24th May”

We would like to put together a track for Pentecost, our Musical Worship Minster said. The fear hit me like a tonne of bricks. This would involve a video, recording tracks, editing them to a good enough standard to send to proper music technology people who know what they’re doing far better than my incrediblyContinue reading “Music Tech for God!”

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend and fellow Christian about Jesus and anger. It stemmed from my new t-shirt designed by David Hayward, depicting Jesus turning over the tables in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13 and Mark 11:15-18). My friend was recalling the movement in the late 90s to wear WWJD wristbands, to remindContinue reading “Jesus and Anger”

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the early church, as depicted in Acts. One particular story keeps coming back to me, that of Cornelius and Peter in Acts 10. Cornelius is a Roman and, as we would now describe, a Gentile (although this is a concept and a term that was not yet usedContinue reading “Clean Sheets”

From Ancient Greek to Shakespeare to a starring role in Harry Potter, the Phoenix is a much used character and symbol of regeneration. It is even used as an allegory in 1st Clement, 25:1-26:1 (Lightfoot Translation), a letter to the early church in Corinth which does not appear in the Bible but is known asContinue reading “In Celebration of the Phoenix”

I’m not so well today. My family have mostly kept out of my way and I’ve had space and time to rest. Something I’m not very good at I must admit. To me, when I rest, all the crap fighting for my headspace has the chance to overpower me, and keeping busy stops that fromContinue reading “Rest”

Today, I remembered the main chorus of a song I’d had come to me in prayer last week but hadn’t managed to write down quickly enough – my memory is terrible! As I sat at the piano to write it down, the rest of the song came together, as it often does for me. ItContinue reading “Writing, but not as we know it …”

God, this is tough. We miss our friends and families. We miss human contact, a hug, a touch. We despair at the isolation of those we care about, living alone and aching for company. God, be at the centre of our pain. God, this is tough. We yearn for our old lives, for a normalityContinue reading “A Prayer for Sunday 17th May”