Goodhand in Banbury

One of the pleasures of re-reading books, and new ones, is that they help to feed the heart and mind. They challenge and you have time to ponder. This is so important when it comes to matters of faith and what we may or may not believe or have come to no longer believe. That this should develop, mature and change seems to me to be what is required when we live within the flow of God’s Love.   To hold on to the things which no longer work or have meaning is foolish, though I suspect many hang onto beliefs when they no longer serve to sustain. It may well be that many play it safe and don’t think about matters of their faith. Maybe to be seen or heard to question the accepted norm makes it too an uncomfortable a place to be.   I just can’t help but feel in church life it has been dulled by hanging onto some traditions for the sake of it. Or joy has gone out of it all because Christians make it into an us and them. We have it right they don’t. How un-inclusive is that? Don’t get me wrong.

 16th Century mansion and gardens of Greys Court well worth a visit. Some days there is nothin more enjoyable than a gentle stroll around an old house and garden. Lots of sculptures to enjoy as we explored. I'd love these owls in our garden. Such a delightful walkway. Of course there is always a Madonna and Child to be seen. Now I always look at the bookcases and was surprised to see a couple of books by Pierre Telhard de Chardin. Took me right back to all the books I had read. He was a bit of a mystic who taught that 'the very physical structure of the universe is love' This amazing bird made from knives a reminder that for fourteen years we had lived in the Steel City.

Sights, smells and memories. I was cutting up a large orange for one of the grandchildren. As I did so making four quarters the memory of half time oranges came flooding back. All those football matches for the school team and oranges at half time. Just cutting one open and suddenly I was there. Winning or losing, gashes on the shins, energy consumed in a healthy way, coach trips to all the various schools we played against in Lincolnshire. The cutting and the smell took me back over 48 years ago. In trying to help reduce our cholesterol we are eating more porridge for breakfast. As I tuck into a bowl I’m suddenly back on Iona where every morning started with a bowl of warming and sustaining porridge. Conversations with diverse people, long walks in solitude, groups taken to gain new insights. The smell, the taste, the stirring and I’m no longer in my home but hundreds of miles away on a very tiny but special island. Walking into the garden early morning there is smell of freshness tha

The Sunday before the election and the Sunday after I attended services where no mention was made of this important moment in the life of the country. I really couldn't believe it. It's not about taking political sides, rather it's about showing we are not some holy huddle cut off from the rest of life.  If our worship is not rooted in everyday life we should not be surprised if people think we are irrelevant.  Knowing I would be leading the mid-week Circuit Thursday communion I had to write a liturgy for it.  I haven't attached the reflection that went with it, though it was a call for the church to live a new culture which is the Kingdom of God as revealed in the life of Jesus Christ. I even managed to make reference to Antonio Gramsci an Italian Communist who died under Mussolini. Gramsci understood how aspects of a culture , religion, politics, education etc all play their part in holding a society together. This allows a ruling elite to stay in control as people bu