behindthewillowtrees

Feed the birds – tu’pence a bag. It’s a very long time since Londoners feed the birds.

Actually I’ve been in London today enjoying my Christmas present, a day at Leith’s School of Cookery. Went on the train, and had the usual experience when we pulled out of Kings Cross – everyone went [...]

Talk to someone new at church …

Koinonia, now that’s a 1970′s charismatic word which seems to have fallen out of use, save in the realm of retreat centres. It’s often translated as “fellowship” or “partnership”, yet no single English word is adequate to express its depth and richness. It’s used 51 times in the NT.

Koinonia embraces [...]

I looked around the railway carriage as I travelled back from London yesterday. Everyone, except one person was on the telephone, texting, or blackberrying. The odd one was sitting sideways on eating a Big Mac and chips. What we need is a bit of quiet! Here’s the tranquility map for Cambridgeshire. You can find others [...]

Today’s Live Life Love Lent action is to Leave a £1 coin in the shopping trolley or where someone will find it. I’m going to try this at the supermarket this afternoon! It goes against the grain so I need a good dose of this to remind me:

The great Reformer, Martin Luther, said that “there are [...]

As Lent’s been going on, I’ve been thinking about the classic Pauline division between motivation and application, between grace and obedience, between Romans 8 and [therefore] Romans 12. Maybe in today’s quest for relevance it’s easy to get the the balance out of perspective. Maybe my last post does that – straight to the [...]

Take a look at this, said someone in an email to me recently:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/poll/poll-18791-details/ques-18669-id/%C2%A3100m+mosque:+Vote+now/poll.do

Take a second to cast your vote in the Evening Standard on-line poll to determine public opinion about whether a Mega mosque should be build for the Olympics. The vote so far is 61% in favour. It looks like the Muslim community is [...]

Found this from David Augsburger’s Caring Enough to Confront as a reflection on Ephesians 4:13-15, “Let us speak the truth in love, so shall we fully grow up into Christ”:

When I speak: I want to speak simply. To say what I mean in the clearest, shortest, frankest words I know. I want to reach out [...]

I’m trying to follow the Love Life Live Lent suggestions, although really starting this blog as a spiritual discipline. Vegetarian day today An challenging idea. Fortunately I was at a Quaker retreat centre so it ought to have been all quiche and herbal tea anyway. Ok so here’s the irony – the other party [...]