Reflections

Coming closer

These weeks leading up to the end of the academic year have a poignancy about them for us as chaplains. We have some students who seek us out to say goodbye after their one, three, or more years here. And…

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I am who I am

Today we’re reflecting on this encounter between Moses and God… Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There…

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Unless a seed…

Last Sunday our church was celebrating our patron Saints, St. Philip and St James, and it reminded me of this reading: Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who…

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The power of love

On the day we call Palm Sunday, Jesus enters Jerusalem with a big crowd of followers who are shouting out that he is the king who God has sent. As I thought about this, I imagined another triumphant entrance into…

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Longing for home

The Lord says to his people, “When the time comes to save you, I will show you favour    and answer your cries for help.I will guard and protect you    and through you make a covenant with all peoples.I will let you settle once again    in…

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Gardening tips

Jesus told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking…

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Self discovery

I visited the Chapel at Cheltenham Hospital this week and saw this poem by Ruth Burgess: The desert waits (an invitation to Lent) The desert waits, ready for those who come, who come obedient to the Spirit’s leading; or who…

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Ash Thursday!

Today we used a tradition at our Communion service usually used yesterday, Ash Wednesday. We used ash to make the sign of the cross on each other’s foreheads, saying the words: Remember that you are dust, and to dust you…

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