Helping People to Meet God • Make Friends • Grow in Faith

Posts by Rusty (Page 21)

The blackbird’s call

I once spent some years working in an international organisation in a major European city, in a job often fraught with political tension. I found it a stressful environment, although it had many good and interesting features too. In such an environment it was easy to ‘forget’ God—the constancy of pressure was such that work-life became something of a blur. But one…

The healing touch of Jesus

Deep down in my soul runs a favourite hymn which we used to sing frequently in Nelson Cathedral when I was Curate. The congregation had a passion for it, and sang it with thoughtful sincerity. (Evensong has always been my favourite Sunday Service.) The hymn is based on Mark 1:32+. At even e’er the sun was set, The sick, O Lord, around…

All things bright and beautiful

A couple of weeks back we had a beautiful sunset. The sky was all orange and red and yellow and pink and changed colour every minute or two. We are lucky to have brilliant sunsets here in Canterbury. It made me think of the words of that beautiful old song ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’. Let me take you on a brief…

A thought for today

I normally believe and proclaim that today is by far the most important day of our lives. After all, it is when we get everything done. It is the one we live in. But who am I to argue with Hollywood legend John Wayne about that? He does make a very good point. The Duke once said “Tomorrow is the most important…

FLY with wings like Eagles?

This was the outside of our front door. It’s a fly. Earlier in the week I left for work and the fly was there. Since then we have had a southerly squall, torrential rain and wind. The next day I went out in the morning. The fly was still there. It had not moved. There is a lesson for us in this.…

These little ones

I decided to raise a political issue today, while we are all safely tucked away in our bubbles. By the time you see me again, you might forgive me for that. Anyone listening to my sermons closely might have noticed that now and then there are political undertones just beneath the surface. Indeed faith cannot be fully separated from politics.               Recently…

Encourage-mint 02.04.2020

Five Ways to Wellbeing There are lots of thoughts about what wellbeing is but let’s agree that it is when we feel contented and at peace with ourselves, others and our God. We can think about physical wellbeing, emotional, mental, family and spiritual wellbeing. The WHO (World Health Organization) has suggested five ways of achieving wellbeing. Giving. This can be giving of…

Encourage-mint 31.03.2020

A way to pray Our Lord himself gave us a format for prayer in Matthew 6: 9–13. It is an amazing prayer, with every aspect of our lives and needs sown into it. The Lord’s Prayer can be used as a basis for prayerful meditation, and provides a framework for prayer at any time. Try taking each step separately and pondering on…

Tim writes –

By now we are into the second day of staying at home due to the Alert Level 4 response to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. I am working from home and slowly setting up the office here. Having previously worked from home, I know that it is not that easy and that I prefer a separate office to go to so that I…

A non-anxious presence

We’re in a time when the threat of infection and the fear of death disrupts all normal interactions between people. It is wise to take all reasonable precautions. And that is different for each person. Those who are most at risk need may need to adjust their life radically. We all need to play our part in inhibiting the spread of this…