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Why Empathy
It is often easy to feel sympathy for someone, to recognise that they are in distress and feel sorry for them. Empathy goes beyond this; it is an attempt to (mentally) enter into their world and to share in their pain. It is a relatively recent word, first found in English in 1908 and being…
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The Summer Solstice
The summer solstice, the longest day, is upon us. Midsummer Day has always been celebrated; we are holding a concert in Glazeley Church as well a local history exhibition, as part of our festivities to mark 150 years since the church was rebuilt. In pagan times, Midsummer Day had particular significance for those who worshiped…
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The Moon Turned to Blood
On Thursday, just as I was on the point of giving up, I went out into my garden at 11pm and there I saw it; the “strawberry moon”, which I had read about on the BBC news website. It is full moon that stays very low in the sky; as such it appears larger than usual and…
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Moved by the Spirit
This Sunday, 8th June, the church celebrates Pentecost, or Whit Sunday to give it its traditional name. It celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit. In Christian belief, Jesus warned his disciples that he would be leaving them as he returned to Heaven, but he would send his spirit/the Holy Spirit/the comforter/advocate, depending on which passage…
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Open to All
A couple of weeks ago, I was at a service in one of the smallest of our local churches. Given the size of the village, I thought the congregation of five was quite respectable. Interestingly, it turned out that only two of us were actually Anglicans; one was from another denomination, two followed another faith. The Church…
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Rogation Sunday
This coming Sunday, 25th May, is Rogation Sunday. Historically this was a very popular festival. It probably has its origins in a Roman fertility festival, when the fields were blessed for a good harvest. This continued in the Christian version, where there would be a procession from the church, stopping to bless the fields in the parish…
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Dom Gregory Dix
Gregory Dix was a priest, a monk and a historian, remembered by the Church of England. His particular passion was the development of the service of Holy Communion, the Eucharist, where the church gathers together to take consecrated bread and wine as instructed by Jesus, in remembrance of him and because they represent his body…
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Choosing a Pope
My sisters and brothers in Christ in the Roman Catholic Church know how to put on a spectacle. Pope-making shows this in all its splendour. The cardinals are locked into the Sistine Chapel, the decision is conveyed by a plume of white smoke and the first words that are spoken are in Latin, by a…
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Masterful Inactivity
Thought for the week is currently on holiday in the Outer Hebides. It is a wild landscape: rough moorland, rugged coasts, sweeping beaches. A few years ago, on a similar trip when I was feeling especially pious I recall staring at the rock forms as I walked over a beach between two islands wondering what…
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Prayers
Give thanks for the life of Pope Francis, for his humility and leadership. Pray for all who mourn him as friend. Pray for all those who seek to reform the church, to make it more truly Christ-like. Remember the cardinals who are meeting to select a successor for Francis; pray also for the committee who…
Benefice of Highley with Billingsley, Glazeley and Deuxhill and Chelmarsh
Knowing Jesus and Making Him Known
