"ASECLUDEDPLACE"

I have surprising amounts of empathy with Emily Bronte, not just because of Wuthering Heights, which is a novel much maimed by popular misinterpretation. She wrote a lot of poetry too and I would recommend a slow, thoughtful reading of No Coward Soul Is Mine. It begins with this verse – No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere: I see Heaven’s glories shine, And faith shines equal, arming me from Fear. From childhood, both the author and I wrest

It would appear that Witney Congregational Church is going bonkers! At a church meeting earlier in the year, it was decided that we would celebrate our HARVEST FESTIVAL in June! For many years we have supported the local foodbank at our usual autumn harvest festival service but all foodbanks need food for the long school summer holidays – when children who are normally in receipt of free school lunches, and sometimes even breakfast, are at home needing three meals per day and

Last summer, we spent out holiday on Shetland. After a 12-hour ferry journey, one of the first things we did on arrival in Lerwick was to stock up on food. We headed to Tesco only to find the shelves were empty. An overnight power cut at the store had meant that all the refrigerated food had to be thrown away. Disaster! What were we, and everyone else, going to do? The answer was, of course, embarrassingly simple. We just went to the Coop and stocked up there instead. We had

I read recently that butterfly numbers in the UK are in serious trouble. Data gathered over fifty years — more than 44 million records from hundreds of thousands of volunteer surveys — tells a story that is, at best, complicated, and at worst, deeply troubling. Of 59 native species monitored, 33 are in decline. The white-letter hairstreak, whose caterpillars apparently glow under ultraviolet light, has fallen in number by 80%. The pearl-bordered fritillary — a striking orange

Between Easter and Pentecost, the Church lives in a season of waiting—multiple resurrection appearances followed by days of prayerful expectancy. It is a time suspended between what God has already done and what God is about to do. And perhaps that is why a single tree on the edge of local HS2 works has captured my imagination. For years now, we’ve watched the landscape around us change. Fields once rich with crops, hedgerows alive with birdsong, and woodlands full of quiet b

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIVUK) Working in

One of my favourite seaside places is Hunstanton in Norfolk. There is just something about it – the sea air, the promenade, the sand, listening and watching the waves and not forgetting those spectacular sunsets. I think I have gone, either on a day out or taken a holiday there, for the last 10+ years. One of the tourist attractions is the Sealife Centre. It’s not very big, but it does have loads of different fish, sharks, seahorse, rays and penguins. And then there is Ernie,

Do we live in God’s world that he created perfect? Is it God’s world that was perfect until he introduced humankind into it? Or some other interpretation? And does our view remain constant or do we dither about what we believe every time we hear or see a news bulletin? Let us set aside (not that we can) the loss of life, the people who grieve, the injured, those who have lost homes and communities. Shooting down a drone causes environmental damage: hazardous materials, non-b

The Bible is full of universal truth and wisdom but some of it – as we know - does need interpreting or contextualising. Sometimes, however, some words cut through that are so contemporary you feel they could have been written yesterday. Help, Lord, for no one is faithful any more; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race. Everyone lies to their neighbour; they flatter with their lips but harbour deception in their hearts. May the Lord silence all fl

Before retiring, I had spent over 50 years in electronic product design. Much of the modern product design process is involved with testing. In particular, designing parts for the automotive industry requires many different stages of testing. This process goes from initial concept, through product design, production process and confidence and reliability validation. At each stage, the designs are subjected to many mechanical and electrical stresses and analysing and correctin

Children in Sierra Leone are learning the power of Yet. Education in Sierra Leone is a major national priority. Levels of illiteracy (approximately 48% in 2022) remain some of the highest in the world. To tackle this, the Sierra Leone government has made primary education both compulsory and free. It hopes that within a couple of generations, mass illiteracy (which is already mainly seen in older generations) will be a thing of the past. In the city of Bo, the charity EducAi

There is a book that many philosophy students fear; if we ever meet, I can explain further. It’s called “The World as Will & Representation”. When I encountered it, because of my being Christian, it bothered me less than it did others. The main point of the work is that what we perceive is not really what the world is like, and a major problem for us is that we are creatures that strive to change things - unsuccessfully. I don’t find that shocking because I’m used to the idea

“Just ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish in the sea speak to you. For they all know that my disaster has come from the hand of the Lord. For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being." - Job 12:7-10 (NLT) Browsing the BBC News website this week, an unusual job advertisement caught my eye. The British Antarctic Survey is

"By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return." - Genesis 3:19 NLT These words remind us of our fundamental connection to the earth. Today, on Ash Wednesday, as we begin our journey of prayer and reflection, we are invited to consider not only our relationship with God, but our relationship with creation itself. In many Anglican Churches – and other tradit