Reflections

Something Else I stole from someone else. What follows comes from someone who happens to have grown up in a different denomination from me, but their message, I believe, is for people of all faiths. I found it helpful. I hope you do too. " Brothers, sisters… I speak to you, especially to those who...Continue reading→

Where do I begin? Of Vincenzo and Elaine I'd like to tell you a story about a man who was born in Italy. Some of you will have watched him in the series called ‘The Piano’ on the ABC. His name is Vincenzo and he is 73. Growing up, he played in a band in...Continue reading→

What is the Flavour of love? Over the past little while, I have been speculating as to what hope and faith might taste like if they were food. Or to put it another way, what dish would best describe these essential life ingredients? This article completes the trio of reflections and speculates about what flavour...Continue reading→

What does faith taste like? This is the second of three articles trying to encapsulate what hope, faith and love would taste like. What sort of dish would best convey these three basic and essential ingredients of life? Last week, I flirted with the idea that hope was like a very small teasing taste of...Continue reading→

We shall follow the breadcrumbs, and they will lead us home. I invite you to recall the story of Hansel and Gretel. There are a few different versions of the same story, but basically here’s the plot. Hansel and Gretel are the young children of a poor woodcutter and his wife, who are working well...Continue reading→

What does hope taste like? Hope is an elusive commodity. It is something that tantalises and teases us. We all feel it from time to time, and when we don’t, we ache for it, which is itself a sign of hope. To be without hope is to be hope/less, which is a very repugnant flavour...Continue reading→

Peter Smith … not his real name. One of the regional towns I found myself in was a town called Bullamanka. Not its real name. And one of the senior elite gentlemen of the hoypaloy of the Bullamanka was Peter Smith. Not his real name. Peter did a lot for Bullamanka and, for a while,...Continue reading→

22/6/25 The Fear of Relapse. In 1976, I read the book The Exorcist. I was an impressionable youth, and I can still recall that today’s gospel is quoted in part on the flyleaf of the book. The story of the tortured naked guy living in the tombs of Gerasenes would make for great television, especially...Continue reading→

From the Priest to You Today's reflection is about no specific person but rather a collective collage of faithful people whom I have had the privilege of serving in the parish of Hamilton. Sunday by Sunday, day by day, you come and sit on hard wooden pews and in blithering, biting cold and stinking unforgiving...Continue reading→

Trinity Sunday My friends who are Glen. Many of you have patiently endured preacher after preacher, year after year, trying to explain the Holy and Blessed and Undivided Trinity. With great fortitude and resilience, you have watched and listened as preacher after preacher failed in spectacular fashion to reach the dizzying theological heights of announcing...Continue reading→

I was privileged to go to an exhibition on the history of the Notre Dame Cathedral last month. Normally, you would expect to admire photos and gaze at bits of information on easy-to-read plaques. Instead, we were given something like an iPad, and the process went something like this. You held the screen over different...Continue reading→

Jesus, the Scandal…and the Miracle of Pentecost. In today’s gospel, Philip's words could well be mine or yours. “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” We long to see the Father. We would ache to reach out, to touch, to know, to engage, to gawk and chatter. For most of the time, we...Continue reading→

How Do You Get a Life Like a … Seal? It was a superb day for a walk as we clambered along Cape Bridgewater. The walk has magnificent views, and it's got a bit of undulation to make sure you get a healthy amount of exercise. We paused at the end of a section and...Continue reading→

1 June 2025 Meet Tabitha and Elisha Today’s gospel has some outrageously good news for us. In fact, it is stonkering in what it claims. Today’s gospel is from John 17 in what we call the high priestly prayer. Jesus the High Priest is praying for lots and lots of different people and lots and...Continue reading→

It is a little-known fact that I sometimes volunteer to do ‘Finish Tokens’ at Parkrun. This is a very simple job and it involves handing out a token to each person as they finish their run. Some hearty words of congratulation are offered as the puffing person proudly crosses the line. Things like ‘Good golly...Continue reading→

25 May 2025 Reading the Room. There’s a modern-day phrase called ‘read the room’. It means that when you are going into a situation or a meeting, or a conference to speak, you know a little something about your audience and the mood they’re in. So, for example, when someone goes into a wedding reception...Continue reading→

It's Not About the Time? For the past few years, it has been my joy to chug around the lovely Lake Hamilton. Through the week, I use this space to try to sort things out in my brain. On Saturday, the whole thing shifts into a different dimension where there is a welcoming community to...Continue reading→

18/5/25  What’s Kintsugi? Of the 4 readings today, it is the New Testament reading from Revelation that captures my heart and elopes with it into the sunset. This reading works well at a funeral, particularly if the deceased happens to be a woman, and it works especially well in Eastertide. Listen again to the exquisite words....Continue reading→

Get on Board… She came to me in a different parish, in a different time. It transpired that her mortality was beginning to pinch. Things were not quite the same as they were when she was 27 and a half. There was a doctor's appointment, a referral, a test and the first wisps of fear...Continue reading→

Your next appointment with the Bogey Man In that ambiguous parish, in that mythical year, a person of no specific gender and forgettable name came to me. Over a cuppa, or was it a glass… This person poured out in delicious and refreshing honesty their ongoing relationship with the Bogey Man. That’s right! The Bogey...Continue reading→