Meditation: Love is a Choice

The good that I would, I do not; the evil that I would not, that I doWho is to deliver me from this body of death? (Paul of Tarsus)Paul is speeking about the common condition of mankind - the tension between our everyday selves and the selves we aspire to be. We live with the tension by ignoring it,...

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Meditation: Refining

Divine BurningFrom CS Lewis' anthology of the writings of George MacdonaldHe will shake the heavens and earth, that only the unshakeable may remain. He is a consuming fire, that only that which cannot be consumed may stand forth eternal. It's just the nature of God so terribly pure that it destroys...

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Meditation: The Seed Shop

 The seed shop by Muriel Stuart Here, in a quiet and dusty room, they lie,Faded as crumbled stone or shifting sand,Forlorn as ashes shrivelled, scentless, dry -Meadows and gardens running through my hand.In this brown husk, a dale of hawthorn dreams,A cedar in this narrow cell is thrust.It...

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Four Loves

All You Need is Love the Beatles sang in 1967 but what is love, actually? To answer this question CS Lewis wrote "The Four Loves" as an exploration of the many shades of meaning behind that simple word. He used four Greek words to focus on four different forms that love can take in human life -...

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Paul McCartney: John Donne

 Paul McCartney's Dream  Paul was going through a difficult time, working hard and dealing with tensions in The Beatles that would eventually lead to the group splitting up, He writes:"I fell asleep exhausted one day and had a dream in which my mum (who had died just over 10 years previously)...

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The Way of Blessing

 This blog is part of a series looking at Jesus teaching to show how his words can challenge believers and non-believers alike to live a more fulfilled life. Instead of the word "God" I use "The Father" for two reasons, first G-o-d is not definable in any agreed way, and secondly because Jesus...

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A Personal Epiphany

First Commitment  When I was about 15 years old, I attended a service in which those who wished to commit themselves to Christ were invited to come forward during the singing of the last hymn. I think about three or four of us did. I can’t say I felt any great emotion at the time, it was more...

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Davy Vanauken - journey to faith

IntroductionThis is an account of how Jean (Davy) Vanauken became a Christian. It does not involve any great moment of revelation but was a process unfolding over a few years. To understand her journey we need to understand a much-ridiculed word. Sin. Suppose you were invited to a reception in which...

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Epiphany: NDE: Dr Eben Alexander

American neurosurgeon Dr Eben Alexander claims that he reunited with his sister in the afterlife.Full story here: Top doctor who fell into comaThe medic's life changed forever in November 2008 when he woke up one morning with a 'searing headache' while working at the Lynchburg General Hospital in Virginia."Within...

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Epiphany: NDE: Anita Moorjani

Anita Moorjani, a best-selling author and speakerAnita Moorjani, had a near-death experience (NDE) in 2006 while suffering from terminal cancer. During this experience, she encountered a divine presence and felt an overwhelming sense of love and understanding. This profound epiphany led to her...

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Epiphany: Novalis

Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801) also known as NovalisWikipedia entryFriedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg was a young, German romantic, searching for meaning. On the one hand there was religion, philosophy and poetic imagination, on the other were his studies...

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A World Beyond

IntroductionThe purpose of this blog is to ask:do human beings have a spiritual as well as a physical nature?do near death experiences and profound epiphanies point to a spiritual realm beyond the physical?does the persistence of religion in the modern world point to a spiritual reality?are there other...

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Who Am I?

 The Worth of a LifeIn 1742 one of the most famous poems in the English language was published - it caused a sensation and is still revered today. Some of its lines have been used as titles for films and books. It was written by Thomas Gray, a former scholar at Cambridge who was acquainted with...

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