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Thy Kingdom Come                         Word on the Week                   18th May 2019. It is the first time Jesus was asked by his followers to teach prayer so what he asked for should be of primary importance.    Like others they got it wrong.   They thought ‘kingdom equals territory’ – and much of our debate is slanted […]

The Saviour died, and rose again triumphant o’er the grave; and pleads our cause at God’s right hand, omnipotent to save. This verse takes the reader through ‘dead man’s cross and live man’s tomb’ and onwards and upwards to Christ’s heavenly session and present redeeming work. The first two lines, ‘The Saviour died, and rose […]

It is many years since the peace loving Basking Shark came to mind but there in today’s newspaper the species gets two whole columns to itself.   What prompted the article was not their presence but their relative absence from our waters. In the middle of the 20th century they were to be seen off the […]

The March 29th deadline for the UK leaving the EU has passed.   Eight separate votes were taken in the UK parliament this week, each motion exploring an alternative to the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal.   All failed.  Then the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal was voted on for the third time and it also failed, by 58 […]

Lent is the period of 40 days, beginning with Ash Wednesday and ending at Easter. It has traditionally been seen as a time of repentance and a more frugal lifestyle. The Ash is a reminder of “from dust you have come and to dust you will return” (Genesis Chapter 3 verse 19). Ash depicts our […]

Ireland is reputed to have 40 shades of green in its fields and forests. On the patron Saint Patrick’s day, the 17th March, this transforms into the greening of 450 landmarks around the world. Not a bad showing for a relatively obscure figure who lived around 390/461AD. History has not always been kind to the […]

It has been a bad week for the billionaire, Dennis O’Brien. Two court cases went against him. Both cases had involved the revealing in public what he considered his private affairs. One was to do with his money the other his reputation. The courts thought otherwise. The problem of being rich and famous is that […]

It has been called my pet aversion. It disfigured the wooded landscape as far as eye can see. It wraps itself around the tree covering up its beautiful bark. It grows so profusely that it could be a candidate for the National emblem! After all it is much easier to find than shamrock but perhaps […]

In a week that has seen turmoil in places as distant as Venezuela and as near as the House of Commons in London it was a relief to see the orderly assembly of Cardinals and Bishops in Rome. All seemed to be under control. The chain of authority is understood. In Venezuela there is a […]