The Big Picture

Article in Stretton Focus, February 2013 Some people of my age look back to their early years and describe them as ‘mis-spent youth’. One of the ingredients of my own mis-spent youth (which I thoroughly enjoyed) was going to the cinema. There, for sixpence, you could be entertained by Flash Gordon, Abbott and Costello, or […]

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The Census

Article in Stretton Focus, March 2013 The National Census of 2011 revealed its secrets to us in December 2012, and very interesting they were too. Over the last 10 years there has been a loss of 4 million people who call themselves Christian. And at the same time there was an increase in those belonging […]

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Growing through debate

From ‘Focus on Faith’, Stretton Focus, March 2013 Christianity first took shape in small church groups which multiplied around the Mediterranean and spread across the Roman Empire. As the churches grew debate also grew voicing new ideas about what Christian faith was, and what it meant. Debate shaped those early years. Then in the 4th […]

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All Things Come in Parables

Article in Stretton Focus, April 2013 Sometimes just a few words, like the title of my piece, can start an interesting and even exciting train of thought. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus’ teaching was only in parables (4:34). People had to ‘unwrap’ each parable and discover its meaning for themselves. This was […]

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Are you religious?

Article in Stretton Focus, May 2013 For some there would be a quick answer to that question. They would say Yes or No without hesitation. But many people would want to step back from the question and give it some thought. By definition, a religious person is someone who is attached to a religion. But […]

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The Art of Letting Go

Article in Stretton Focus, June 2013 It could be said that one of life’s important lessons is learning to let go. So I’ll say it, and try to show what it means! As babies we instinctively grab whatever is there, and hold on to it for comfort and security. Then through childhood we begin letting […]

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The Baby and the Bathwater

Article in Stretton Focus, July 2013 ‘Throwing out the baby with the bathwater’ is a well-known and very useful saying. It’s really a proverb, and like all proverbs it contains a nugget of wisdom in a minimum of words. In its literal sense the meaning is clear enough – take the baby out before you […]

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The Moral High Ground

Article in Stretton Focus, August 2013 If you walk up to Pole Bank or climb Caer Caradoc, you will certainly be standing on high ground. From there on a clear day the view can be quite breath-taking as you look at what can’t be seen from ground level. You can also stand on high ground […]

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Lights in the sky

From ‘Focus on Faith’, Stretton Focus, August 2013 Its a celestial year. A spectacular meteor and so far two asteroid ‘fly-bys’, and now coming up later this year the comet Ison is expected to be so bright that it will be visible to the naked eye in daylight. It will be a spectacle which only […]

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What is life …?

Article in Stretton Focus, September 2013 Some of you reading this article will recognise the title as coming from a poem by WH Davies. You may also be able to fill in along the dotted line with the words “…if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.” During his lifetime (1871-1940) […]

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