It is now over three weeks since the appalling killing of George Floyd. The subsequent period has brought protests, questions about historical monuments and deep soul searching for many of us about our own complicity with the evils of racism. I had intended to write on this a while back- but my brain is slowing […]
It has been quite a weekend. I’ve spent far too much of it watching press conferences, seeing friends fall out on social media and writing (and quickly deleting) my own tweets. I am not sure anybody emerges from it with much credit. The Government has had a dreadful weekend. At one level, if the account […]
I happened to be speaking on the subject of singleness exactly a month before lockdown was introduced. With hindsight I might have included some material on singleness in a pandemic but I wasn’t a sufficiently good prophet to foresee what would take place. However, the experience of being on my own in a flat for […]
Back in March Boris Johnson talked about turning the tide on the virus in twelve weeks. To be fair to him, he didn’t promise life would return to normal by the end of June- but I suspect many of us assumed that would be the case. So we began to have in our minds a […]
Robust Christianity in the face of a pandemic requires an ability to multi-think. You need to hold two things in your mind at once. The depressing news and speculation about the length of time that social distancing will be required can be all consuming such that we lose any sense of God. But, on the […]
“How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!” Such was my thought whilst recently taking my exercise in Oxford city centre looking at the historic sites, normally packed with tourists and students now lying empty. And such is the first verse of the Old Testament book of Lamentations. This reflection prompted me to […]
In a parallel universe somewhere I am currently in Heathrow Airport, about to fly out to Kenya to speak at a couple of conferences next week. It is one of a number of events that I was looking forward to this year that will no longer happen. And my own experience in this regard is […]
What do you preach during a pandemic? I’m conscious that is probably not one of the most pressing questions for many people at this time. But I have been struck by how important our online services have been for people. We have even by joined by those who don’t normally attend church. As a result […]
The question is beginning to be asked: what should we learn from the coronavirus pandemic? There are wise answers around- we need to be better prepared for such eventualities. More profoundly we need to reflect on how we value certain groups. The vital individuals over the last few weeks have been cleaners, hospital porters, carers […]
“Two men looked through prison bars/One saw mud, the other saw stars” That little ditty has been running through my mind a bit over the last week. I suppose lockdown naturally brings jail metaphors to mind. To be honest I am beginning to regard Port Meadow as a fairly pleasant prison exercise yard. You wander […]