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How hopeful do you feel about our nation and our world today? As I write this, political parties across England, Scotland and Wales are coming to terms with their success or disappointment at the ballot box. Some hopes have been dashed, others raised. More widely in our world, it is hard to watch the continuing dramas in the Middle East, Ukraine and other places without a weary and depressing sense of inevitability. It is not easy to keep a spirit of hope for our world with s

Artificial Intelligence and AGI (Generative AI) is one of the latest technical innovations to impact our lives but, as Christians, how should we respond to this technology? AI is already all around us and we are likely to be using it, whether we know it (like it), or not. Every time we do a Google search, AI will be used to assemble and display the search results. Each time you ask Alexa a question it will be analysing your speech to interpret and respond to your request. Our

Today, for many in Britain, it is Election Day - the most significant of elections since the General Election of May 2024. Scotland and Wales will be electing representatives for their national Parliaments whilst many Local Authorities and Mayoral positions will be elected – 5000 seats across 136 councils. Candidates for these elections have been canvassing for wide ranging issues depending on the type of election be it local authority, mayoral and in the case of Scotland and

Preacher, campaigner for Wales and the Welsh language, and singer-songwriter, Dafydd Iwan is still going strong at 82! Indeed, his popularity across Wales has soared since he led the crowd singing Yma o Hyd, as the Welsh football team made it into the Euros. A year ago he finished touring with his band, but still he preaches, and sings at small gatherings up and down Wales. In the middle of April he joined our Porthcawl Welsh society as the guest speaker. He regaled us with s

Who are ‘church people’? Are they those we see every Sunday? Are they the righteous and the upright? Who are our ‘church people’? This thought occurred to me when I stumbled across a cover of Amazing Grace recently. Now, there is nothing unusual about that per say – anyone who is anyone has covered Amazing Grace. But this one was something different. This one was sung by a Heavy Metal singer. Not who you’d expect to find singing the hymns we are used to. And yet, the passion,

I have recently begun watching the show Suits on BBC iPlayer. A US legal drama I’d suppose you’d call it, although, as with all US TV, very dramatic, very over the top and very American. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable watch, and I’d highly recommend giving it a go. I say all this because Suits, a show completely new to me, came out 15 years ago and it has taken me that decade and a half to get around to watching it. But that doesn’t mean I get anything less out of it; noth

Isaiah 2:1–4 “...Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” On a recent trip to Cambodia, I realised that there are moments when history stops being something we read about and becomes something we feel. Visiting Tuol Sleng and the Choeung Ek Killing Fields was one of those moments for me. I had known the facts — the dates, the numbers, the headlines from my teenage years — but standing on that ground was different. The weight of it

Ptolemaictetradrachmus coins The story of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus is not a positive story, which posed me with a challenge. By habit, I prefer Bible messages with some element of hope and that could be difficult here but bear with me, I may have something. The first thing the historian inside me wondered was how much is 30 pieces of silver worth? Upon looking into it, it turns out I wasn’t the first person to wonder such a question and I spent a happy hour diving into all t

The title is not a mistake. Our dedication and devotion during Lent bring rewards. Chocolate is both symbolic and real. People give up chocolate for Lent but succumb to temptation as they approach Easter. So, giving up Lent for chocolate. Your symbolic chocolate might be spiritual devotion, and the same principle applies. Now, here is a word of encouragement. Completing the Lent journey of 40 days and 40 nights is hard but God is always there to help us and the Holy Spirit is

“…..even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” [Matthew 6:28-29]. Considering the various news reports that are current, any reasonable person is likely to decide that the most prominent topic is ‘worry’. Not only do we have the immediate themes of war, economic collapse, climatic deterioration and the like, but just below the surface lurks the reportage on social deterioration and injustice. Many people that I meet are simply worried, in a general way

We hear a lot in the news about the renaming of things – events, places, celebrations etc. In some cases in order to be more inclusive or as recognition of how society has changed and developed, or how our views and opinions around historical figures and their works have shifted with time. As part of the study of etymology, of how words are used and changed over time, is a fascinating subject which unfortunately we have neither the time nor the space to get into it. Neverthel

Occasionally, you hear or read something so good, you must share it. That happened today when a lady shared the following words and prayer, which she wrote 20 years ago. Before you say, “That’s not topical,” take a moment, relax, and read the words. I would argue this is even more topical today than it was 20 years ago. And if any of you remain sceptical on the timeline, remember that bible passages quoted in ASecludedPlace are probably even older. [N.B. – Some of the text is

The 26th of February is a bit of a special day for me. I didn’t know it was special, however, until I started researching for this article. But why, I hear you ask? Well, 26th February is the day when Victor Hugo was born. Now I hope Hugo’s name is not too obscure to most people, but for those who aren’t brushed up on their French literature, Hugo is the author of works such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame and of course, the infamous Les Misérables . Now some of you may know

Today is the topical strand. Fake news is topical and here is a definition: fake news is false information that is disseminated through various media purporting to be legitimate news for nefarious or political reasons. We all know who currently wears the crown as king of fake news ! Aside from fake news there is a phenomenon of the ‘half-life of facts’ which means that things we hold to be true can be debunked or updated. A fairly big example of this is Pluto; in 1930 this