June 2024
Ariane the Londoner
25/06/24 23:01 Filed in: Personal
Ariane made her London debut three weeks ago with the Pride Eucharist at St James’s Piccadilly. A lovely contemplative service with Taizé chants and beautiful music and liturgy. On that occasion she was accompanied by Penny and Paul from Farncombe. Today, Ariane went back to London, this time on her own, and this time for a double treat. It was, however, unfortunate to be wearing a long black dress, on what felt like the hottest day of the year so far. Read More…
Electiondategate: is Ariane implicated?
24/06/24 17:00 Filed in: Politics
On 24 May, I published a blog post entitled ‘Ariane will take your money now.’ In this post I explained that Ariane had correctly predicted the election date of 4 July, an hour or two before the Prime Minister announced it to the nation. Today, the Labour Party has written to the Gambling Commission asking it to name everyone who is being investigated in connection with Electiondategate, in particular any trans bloggers and any other person with no right of entry to women’s single-sex spaces. In view of this, I want to issue a statement on my own personal position. Read More…
Contemplation 6 – From singular to plural
22/06/24 10:44 Filed in: Christianity
When I first started to pray contemplatively, in the 1990s, I did so on my own. It was my discovery and my response. It did not take long for me to realise that other people were praying in the same way. Not only that, they were praying in the same way as each other, at the same time, and in the same place. So this post is all about the group experience of contemplative prayer. How does it work, what are its benefits, what does it say about our life in community? Read More…
Contemplation 5 – The ethical life
22/06/24 06:39 Filed in: Christianity
In an earlier post I drew attention to the close connection between prayer and life. Prayer changes us: we live differently. What does this mean in practice? What sort of people do we become when we pray? Is contemplation unique? Read More…
A little light conversation
20/06/24 06:07 Filed in: Personal
It was over two weeks ago when anyone last saw Ariane in person. I missed her so much. Where did she go? Actually she was there all the time – she was just being invisible. Her boy-mode diary was absolutely chocker and there was nothing she could do. The drought finally ended last night when Ariane turned up at a social event which she herself had organised. Read More…
Only connect
17/06/24 23:30 Filed in: Christianity
‘Only connect’ is the epigraph at the start of EM Forster’s novel Howard’s End. In the novel its primary meaning is that we need to connect the head and the heart – ‘the prose and the passion’ – in order to become unified human beings. A secondary meaning is that we should put our greatest energy into personal relationships. Our deep connections with other people are what make our lives significant. But I want to focus on a third meaning which has nothing to do with the novel. This is the capacity of the human mind to see connections and patterns between things which appear very different. So in this post: what connects the contemplative life, the Christian writer CS Lewis, and the attitude of the Church of England to matters of gender and sexuality? Read More…
Informal invisible
16/06/24 15:36 Filed in: Christianity
And now for something completely different. This lunchtime I went to a disused church building hidden inside a wood. I joined a small and diverse congregation who had come together by word of mouth for the sole purpose of praising and worshipping God. It brought back vague memories of similar experiences in other places but felt altogether fresh and new. It was as unAnglican as you could possibly imagine. Read More…
Contemplation 4 – Always and everywhere
14/06/24 20:55 Filed in: Christianity
If we are faithful in the practice of contemplation – if it becomes part of our life on a daily basis – then a number of changes will take place inside us. These are the fruits of prayer. They are not the direct result of anything we do. Instead this is the work of God, responding to us opening ourselves to him. So: what happens when we pray like this? Read More…
Contemplation 3 – Distractions
12/06/24 21:05 Filed in: Christianity
One of the main themes of contemplation is stillness – moving from stillness of body to stillness of mind and eventually stillness of heart. But in practice, many people experience something quite different. As soon as they try to be quiet before God, distracting thoughts and emotions fill their mind and take away their focus. Why does this happen? What does it say about our prayer? And what can we do about it? Read More…
Lily of the valley
11/06/24 13:11 Filed in: Personal
Flower preferences are subjective, although there is a language of flower meanings which depends on a shared understanding. White flowers are my favourite, and lily of the valley is the best of all. I recently gave lily of the valley to two people that I care about. This post is not about those relationships but about the flower itself and how humankind has reacted to it down the years. Read More…
Contemplation 2 – Basics
10/06/24 05:47 Filed in: Christianity
Those who are new to this kind of prayer might ask some basic questions. What do I do? For how long? When and where? What actually happens? There are no right and wrong answers. I can only speak from my experience and from what I have read. Read More…
Christian walking
09/06/24 21:29 Filed in: Christianity
A walk in the countryside is full of surprises. There is always something new to see – or discover. And so it proved today, on this 8-mile rolling route linking Gomshall with Abinger Common and Sutton Abinger. Read More…
Contemplation 1 – Introduction
07/06/24 01:05 Filed in: Christianity
Contemplative prayer is sometimes known as Christian meditation, or waiting on God in the silence. It is a form of prayer in which we open ourselves to God and seek to remain in his presence without words. We do not have to do anything. Instead it is God who does all the work, within us, in ways too deep to comprehend. Read More…
Home is where the heart is
05/06/24 10:56 Filed in: Christianity
For such a long time I have wanted to unite my faith and my sense of who I am. Now I have found the gold at the end of the rainbow. Read More…
Beautiful hair, beautiful life
04/06/24 14:12 Filed in: Personal
'Isn't it unnatural and disgraceful for men to have long hair? But long hair is a beautiful way for a woman to cover her head.' 1 Corinthians 11.14–15, Contemporary English Version (1995). St Paul clearly knew the difference between a man and a woman. Well, I'm going to muddy the waters. Read More…
My long-distance running secrets
04/06/24 09:19 Filed in: Fitness
What do you need for long-distance running? What keeps you going for mile after mile? I'm not talking lifestyle factors: healthy diet (yes), enough sleep (no), reducing your alcohol intake (maybe). I'm talking what happens on the run itself. And here I'm not talking speed, I'm talking endurance and efficiency. I have isolated two success factors in particular. Read More…