In the late 19th century a postcard came out in Germany that caused people to look twice. It depicted a beautiful young girl with fine features and a bonnet on her head looking away from the viewer. But if you looked closer, focusing on what you may have thought was the girl’s ear, another image came into view. This wasn’t an attractive maiden but an “old hag” with a protruding nose and a tear in her eye. Read more

Some of our families gathered last night in the church grounds for a Halloween event with a difference. The children dressed up in fairly bizarre outfits, including one who carried around with him the head of a martyred saint, and they, as a group, went knocking on selected houses hoping to receive a friendly response.
But among them there were no ghouls or grim reapers, only the saints of old (and a few angels); and there were no tricks dished out nor treats solicited from the hapless homeowners, instead they took with them a candle and a prayer to share with those they met. And they came back with empty pockets and smiles on their faces. Read more

Imagine a world where healings were as easy as that depicted in today’s gospel. Someone asks you ‘what do you want me to do for you?’ You reply ‘let me see’, or whatever it is you want. And without further investigation or a prolonged course of treatment, the other looks at you, they see what is inside of you, and without hesitation say, ‘Go; your faith has made you well’. Read more

‘Who among you is wise or clever?’ writes James in today’s epistle. (Other translations more helpfully substitute ‘understanding’ for ‘clever’.) ‘Who among you is wise or understanding?’ A good question. I want to make the focus of it not the wise individual so much as the wise congregation.

I wonder how wise this congregation is? When people come among us (as they did last Sunday), do they, like the Queen of Sheba coming to King Solomon, know that they have come to a place of wisdom? I’m not talking about cleverness or educational qualifications. Read more

President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech –  was one of the best.
Among the many profound things he had to say, he said this:
…… in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
It is a dramatic pronouncement on the way things were intended to be and to which his hearers should to turn their minds.
Equality, Freedom and Happiness. Read more

I have spoken these last few weeks on why we should come to church. I have shared how the liturgy, the words of scripture and the bread and wine of communion, shows us what it is to be fully human and draws us into the life of God. Within each of us, I have said, is a yearning for a relationship with the source of all life and hope and joy, and by participating in the Eucharist, by opening ourselves to each other and to God, we are offered a taste of life as it really is. Read more