Formed to Flourish

Formed to Flourish

Formed to flourish? “…The Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed” (Genesis 2:8) It is going to be a good harvest of crab apples this year. I know because there was a lot of blossom on the tree in the...
Hospitality

Hospitality

They are everywhere… cafés; restaurants; Uber Eats deliveries; takeaways; fast food chains; coffee machines in the local supermarket and garage, and pop up coffee stations. They are there because hospitality is very big business with over 70,000 jobs dependent on it...
Silence – the good and the bad

Silence – the good and the bad

I recently attended a moving service at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast, that included times of silence as part of the liturgy.  It was arranged by Corrymeela and was entitled “Courage of Lament”.  After set prayers we were offered silence, to apply these prayers and let...
War in Ukraine

War in Ukraine

War in Ukraine; more than 125 days. From our Western perspective it is Vladimir Putin’s despicable effort to crush a fledgling democracy, using the full weight of Russia’s armed forces that have established their bombardment methodology in Georgia, Chechnya and Syria....

BLOWING BUBBLES

‘I saw a bubble blow past my window, fat and wobbly and ripening toward that dragonfly blue they turn just before they burst. So I looked down at the yard and there you were, you and your mother blowing bubbles at the cat, such a barrage of them that the poor beast...
At the Party

At the Party

It happens at social gatherings. First, the (almost) inevitable question: And what do you do for a living? Next, the deep breath followed by the fatal confession: Actually, I’m a Christian Minister, yes, a clergyman, one of those. The reaction varies but quite...