Blessing
Blessed are the broken. That’s the beatitudes in a nutshell but, of course, none of the blessings stop there. Blessed are the broken because things […]
the messy table
Naming Names
There are two bits that jump out of this week’s lectionary passage in the Gospel and both are connected to the naming of names. Maybe […]
Something New
I bought a sharp pencil yesterday to celebrate the New Year. And also because I’ve also just started a new job. That’s a little mad, […]
At the Christmas assembly
On Thursday morning, Plum and I went to church together for the school assembly. Twice a year, the students from the local primary school come […]
Maybe even beautiful.
Hard words this morning. Words that we’ve been trying to match up to headlines for generations. Words of Christ. Then he said to them, “Nation will rise […]
Remember, Remember
Yesterday was Reformation Sunday, next week is All Saints, and then we’re onto Remembrance Day. Remember, remember, it’s almost November. Perhaps it is the darkening […]
Third Time Around
Yesterday, Plum was baptised. It was a bright day with a clear blue sky overhead. I thought that it felt a bit like Thanksgiving. Maybe […]
The Wide, Wide World
Yesterday, it was the Cheerios box. At lunch time, it was sitting on the floor next to the table. Not spilt or thrown or even […]
Waiting but not watching the clock
With a title like that and a new baby in the house, you’d be forgiven for thinking I was focussing (again?) on patience or something […]
In Circles
It’s been a week since our newest little one arrived. He was born in the middle of our expat life in Edinburgh, at home in […]
Number Three is Here!
Good news at last! Our newest little one arrived just before elevenses on Friday morning. He’s gorgeous and all-occupying and I haven’t much else to […]
Wanting Pudding Perhaps
When he said it, I wondered if it was just about food. It may have been. But the conversation seemed to deepen, and I think he was speaking about something else.
Blue and I were sitting on the bench in our garden. He said that he was having that feeling again.
That feeling?
Yes. The feeling of wanting something… but not knowing what.
Miracle Monday
It is a miracle story – and as such presents a few problems when we read it today. We’re not quite sure what to do with miracles. Embrace them? Avoid them? Dismiss them? Wonder if they are anachronistic expressions of… what?
A splash of red
This is the moment for the church newborn. A rush of wind, a loud sound, the feeling of fire, the joy of voices raised. Such a great image – but a strange one and absolutely lacking in our usual mainstream Sunday morning decorum. I love stories like this that shake us up.
Tattie Apples and Wonder
Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be in the neighbourhood school again. It’s just across the road from our church office and manse, and I pop in from […]
Table talk
The Gospel of John is filled with amazing depictions of the intimacy between God the Father and Christ. It’s a textbook in how intimacy works and how close humanity and divinity can be. And then here, in the midst of the Farewell discourse, we find promise that this modelling doesn’t finish with the earthly life of Jesus. The Spirit – the Advocate – will be with the people to teach them and remind them.
All Good Gifts
Earth Day is today. Earth Day dates back to 1970. It started in the United States and became the launch pad for the environmental movement. […]
Prating piffle
“Much prating piffle has been spouted over this squall in a teacup.” There’s something very classy about editorial writing in the Scotsman newspaper… First, I […]
Love Talk
Lectionary reading is a funny discipline. Sometimes on Monday morning, it feels like it’s all about one verse. The others verses circle to provide context, but one verse demands attention. But today, it’s two whole stories, see-sawing back and forth, and I’m finding the balance in the middle.
Easter Monday Revisited
Last week, my dad bought an Easter lily. We’ve been visiting my parents in Ottawa and the kids were quite taken with the idea of the lily when it arrived in the house. It came in all wrapped up in white paper and with purple cellophane inside. But when we took the wrapping off, there weren’t any flowers to see. Just green leaves and four or five big fat buds, but everything was green and, as Beangirl pointed out, it didn’t smell right. I told her it would – just not yet. We’d have to wait.