One day at a time

Just a quick post – I came across this lovely piece about a child’s Lent via Twitter. If you were making Lent fun for a kid, what would you do? You’d probably make it a mix of lots of different things, keep it simple, take it one day at a time, and make it fun. … Continue reading »

Giving up chocolate is for diets, not for Lent

It’s Pancake Day today and tomorrow Lent officially begins. I’ve never been that bothered about Lent. I’m not Catholic or Anglican so I’ve never been obliged to give anything up, and honestly I’ve never really fully got why people do give stuff up. Except as an excuse to lose weight. I get asked every year … Continue reading »

Another one bites the dust

Back to something more serious. Today the Dean of St Pauls also resigned, bringing the tally to three. Far from toppling the tax evaders and obscenely wealthy, the Occupy protest seems to have precipitated a huge crisis of conscience at St Pauls, centred around this one critical question ‘What would Jesus do?’ It’s impossible to … Continue reading »

The kingdom of heaven is like #occupyLondon

I’m fascinated by the fact that the occupy movement in London is camped outside one of the city’s most iconic churches. I’m not an economist and I wouldn’t presume to know enough to claim to be a committed anti-capitalist. But I do know that I feel unsettled about the times we’re living in, about the … Continue reading »

Greenbelt

Rucksack on my back I ventured out on Friday to Cheltenham on the train for a weekend camping with Christians. Not perhaps the most obvious way to spend the last bank holiday weekend of the year. All I really knew about the weekend were these three things: There wouldn’t be any big tent, revival style … Continue reading »

A Woman in Damascus 4

And so to everything else (with pictures)… The Ummayed Mosque – a super ancient place, the mosque was a church, and before that was a Roman temple to Saturn and before that was some kind of Hittite place of worship… The stones are all Roman, and on one side there’s an inscription to Christ, partially … Continue reading »

Flirting with the devil

Hallowe’en. London being full of foreigners and migrants, it’s not just the kids who get dressed up for Hallowe’en. Grown ups get to play too. Brits don’t normally do this kind of thing, but Australians, Americans and Canadians all seem to have celebrated Hallowe’en with costumes their whole lives. So instead of it being a … Continue reading »

12: the evangelist of the number 63 bus

I’ve mentioned before that I’m taking the bus these days instead of the Tube before. It’s quiet in the office at the moment so I’m leaving dead on 5.30, which means I can catch the 63 instead of the 45. All thrilling information I know. The 63 heads straight for the river down Farringdon Street … Continue reading »

87: interventionist God

I don’t believe in an interventionist God But I know, darling, that you do But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him Not to intervene when it came to you Not to touch a hair on your head To leave you as you are And if He felt He had to direct … Continue reading »

25 random things

It’s a facebook/chain letter/e-mail craze that’s been written about in Time Magazine and the New York Times. I’m joining in. 1. There are definitely more than 25 things about me that you don’t know. Hell, I’m fairly sure there are more than 25 things about me that I don’t know. I suspect that the people who … Continue reading »