What fun it was as a child to lift the sea shell up and cup your ear. It never failed to surprise and delight. The sound of the sea surging, the roll of the rocks, the wrestling of the waves, their ebb and flow, oh the delight, which fed the imagination. Turning once again toContinue reading “The Shell”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Stubbornness of Gladness
For many of us it continues to be a hard year. COVID-19 has marked us, and some will carry open wounds, while others the sores will be forever internal. Add to this the ongoing struggle for justice, where every life matters, especially those lives which for too long have borne pain and insult from thoseContinue reading “Stubbornness of Gladness”
God’s breath across the land!
The photos above stir a response not only in our gut, but also in our soul! From the constant need to be charging our phones and laptops to powering our homes and hospitals, we become aware of our over dependence on finite resources. From those early days of coal and hydroelectric power stations we haveContinue reading “God’s breath across the land!”
The Center is not the middle!
Here is everywhere It doesn’t look right! What’s wrong? The world looks different when we view it from a different center. It takes our eye and our brain just a moment to interpret what we are seeing. It’s not how we see the world in our mind’s eye. However, being a little off-balance might restoreContinue reading “The Center is not the middle!”
Patch a few words together!
Many years ago I had the the opportunity to be in Jerusalem. I remember visiting the “wailing wall”. This wall of prayer for Jew, Muslim, and Christian has stood silently hearing prayers and receiving written prayers scribbled and pushed into the smallest of cracks in the stones. Prayers upon prayers, generation after generation. Some noContinue reading “Patch a few words together!”
“and never be the same”
Over many years, John Bell has been a friend and colleague in ministry. Many will know John as a wonderful poet and in particular as a great hymn writer and encourager of congregational song. Many years ago while I served my first church in the city of Edinburgh I was also a chaplain at aContinue reading ““and never be the same””
Welcome back the Trees!
Thursday April 22 is celebrated as Earth Day! How sad that we have to be reminded that it is all around us, above and below, to the left and to the right, and we are called to live in harmony with the earth which sustains us, nourishes us and delights us! Yes, the earth isContinue reading “Welcome back the Trees!”
“Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?”
As the light at the end of the tunnel draws closer, and begins to chase away all the surrounding darkness, we can each breathe a little more hopeful! At last, we can begin to step out beyond the walls of our homes and the paths of our neighborhood. It’s not so much a returning butContinue reading ““Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?””
Through the Ear of a Raindrop
Poetry at its best needs to be both seen as words upon a page and also read aloud so the shape of the words can be seen and the sounds of the words can be heard. Poetry wakens our senses, stirs our imagination, stretches our minds, and moves us into moments of pondering and playingContinue reading “Through the Ear of a Raindrop”
A Cup of Tea
Many of my days begin and end with a cup of tea, and in between a few other cups of tea. In Scotland, as a minister, drinking tea was an occupational essential. Of the many “tea” stories I could tell, I will settle on two. I recall the phone call 38 years ago as ifContinue reading “A Cup of Tea”
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 