Article in Stretton Focus, June 2012 I have been reading a book called ‘Finding Your Hidden Treasure’. It’s written by Benignus O’Rourke, who is an Augustinian friar. I was glad to hear him say that the Christian life can be an exciting adventure – because I agree! Although I’m just sorry that nobody ever told […]
A Wild Goose Chase
Article in Stretton Focus, July 2012 Thank God for books! And especially for those books, and their authors, which say clearly and precisely what you have been wrestling with and struggling to express for years. For me, one such book is ‘A History of God’ by Karen Armstrong. Another fine writer, A N Wilson, believes […]
Who are you?
Article in Stretton Focus, August 2012 In answer to the above question, you could give your name and address, and maybe produce a birth certificate. It all depends on who is asking the question. You could be asking it of yourself – who am I? That is the most profound question anyone can ask of […]
Focus on Faith – the logo
From ‘Focus on Faith’, Stretton Focus, August 2012 I designed the logo above for this column in 1988 on my new Apple Macintosh computer. Information technology has been behind a lot of change in the last 25 years and has helped Stretton Focus evolve into a radically different magazine from its early incarnation. The graphic […]
It begins to appear….
Article in Stretton Focus, October 2012 R.S. Thomas has a poem entitled ‘Emerging’, which is a poet’s word for the more scientific concept of ‘evolution’. Whether you’re a poet or a scientist, we all live in this one world where evolution is the basis of everything. Religion itself is part of ‘everything’, and so it […]
The Way to God
Article in Stretton Focus, September 2012 There are many ways to God. In fact there are as many ways as there are people looking to find a way. Every person is a unique and individual creation: therefore we need to be true to ourselves if we are going to find some way of relating to […]
Psst … It’s a Secret
Article in Church Stretton Focus December 2011 Psst . . Crosswords, both cryptic and quick, are part of our household relaxation. One of the recent clues was ‘Secret whispers’(4) and the solution turned out to be ‘psst’! I doubted if it would be in the Oxford English Dictionary, but I was wrong! Psst . . […]
Faith and Doubt
Article in Stretton Focus, November 2012 I usually listen to Thought for the Day on Radio 4 in the hope of picking up a few ideas for my own preaching. One day the speaker boldly said that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty! That set me thinking. Faith is trusting and hoping […]