Lent Blog 2021

Nothing in the Scriptures is there by accident.  The accounts of the death of Jesus make a point of telling us the time that Jesus died.  It appears that He was crucified at ' the third hour'  - according to scholars this equated to 9am  ( Mark 15:23) -  and He was still alive at ' the sixth hour'  - twelve noon. ( v 33) Darkness fell across the land between the sixth and ninth hour ( between noon and 3pm) and then Jesus died. I had not thought about it before, but today I found myself wondering why it was so important to note the time of Jesus's death.  Thinking about Saturday and wondering what was happening in spiritual realms whilst Jesus was in the tomb I thought Id work out just how long He was ' dead' for.   If He died at 3pm on Friday and was resurrected at sunrise on the Sunday ( sunrise tomorrow in Jerusalem will be at about 6.30am according to Google) then Jesus may have been ' dead' for forty hours.   And the number fort...

 Today I offer you this extraordinary animation.  Take four minutes to ponder anew what the Almighty has done. https://www.fullofeyes.com/project/it-is-finished-an-animation

 Apologies for late posting - migraine last night meant I had neither the inspiration or the ability to sit in front of a screen.  All good now though - so it's just the inspiration I have to find 😁 Today is Maundy Thursday where the church calendar remembers the Last Supper, the washing of the disciples feet and the giving of a new commandment to ' love one another'.  For Jesus and the disciples  the meal was a Passover Seder where the people of Israel remembered their freedom from slavery in Egypt.  The meal took a set format with specific food and prayers and scripture readings - a seat was left empty for Elijah in case he returned and was hungry. Candles were lit and cups of wine drunk in specific order to remember particular parts of the story.  If you ever get the chance to eat a Passover meal I strongly suggest that you do it.  It will help you see the Last Supper in a whole new light.  What we now call The Last Supper was, for Jesus and H...

I'm writing this sitting in the adventure playground in Hillsborough forest Park. It's a nice day. Most schools are off for Easter so the place is buzzing with small people and their adults. I'm watching toddlers attempting to run and falling over, 3 yr olds coming down slides into the arms of waiting adults, 5 yr olds being bold on wobbly rope bridges and older kids braving the high corkscrew slide. It strikes me that life is like a playground. It is designed by its creator to be fun. But it's also designed to stretch abilities, promote health and wellbeing, encourage interaction across ages, be a bit dangerous and scary and provide challenges for every age and stage of life.   The playground was designed by adults for children.  Your life was designed by God for you.  The date of your birth, the number of days you will live, the personality you have developed and the characteristics you have inherited in your genes have all been set in place by Him for your benef...

 There are a few people who come across your path as you go through life who are inspirational.  I've been blessed to have had quite a few in mine.  I had an amazing teacher in 6th form at school - Amanda Flint. She was in her twenties, spoke 7 languages fluently, had been round the world having amazing adventures and was just downright amazing to me when I was 16.  Then there was Harry Hutchinson at University.  He was supposed to be my Management Tutor but we spent hours discussing the meaning of life - he was on a quest to make sense of the world.  He was the most brilliant teacher - he managed to help me make sense of Economics and Maths enough for me to get a good degree, which was a miracle 😀  He left teaching to go into corporate finance I think.  Huge loss to education. Then there was Callum Morrison.  A friend of a friend who was the closest thing to Jesus I had, and have yet, ever met.  He just shone.  He was a simple guy...

 I've started to write this three times already and can't quite settle on what it is I want to say.  It's something about our perception of time and how it rules our lives.    Im working night shift on the day the clocks have gone forward.  So my internal clock is going to be well and truly messed up for a few days hence.    I will go to bed when everyone is waking up and sleep most of the day then try to go to bed at normal bedtime and try to sleep then too.  I will feel as though it is breakfast time at tea time and it will take two or three days for everything to work its way back to the normal diurnal routines. Found my house on Google! I've been thinking about this alongside thinking about the town in which I grew up ( School reunion talk tends to take you back there)  Oundle in Northamptonshire is an ancient market town and most of the center was built in the Tudor period.  Mary Queen of Scots stayed in the town's Talbot Hotel appa...