Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

Every year, thousands of people – including many children – are injured badly enough to require medical treatment following a fireworks-related accident. While some are injured trying to use professional-grade or illegal fireworks, don’t be in any doubt: small firecrackers and sparklers can also cause significant damage. No wonder, then, that the National Safety Council...

This year marks 60 years since the end of National Service. The Royal British Legion and the nation will be celebrating all that a generation of young men did for this country during those years, when conscription became just a part of growing up. National Service drew in a staggering number of young men –...

The two-hour window between 7am and 9am is the best time to go running or ‘work out’, if you want to lose weight. A recent study by scientists at Franklin Pierce University has found that early morning exercise can help you lose weight more easily, reduce your BMI, and slim down your waist.  It is...

In the season of Remembrance, we consider those who have heroically given their lives in war. However, Jesus calls all of us to a radical heroism in our daily lives: ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those...

For the first time in 28 years, there is a new kind of poppy for Remembrance Sunday this year: it is plastic free. Director of the Poppy Appeal, Andy Taylor-Whyte explains: “We are very proud to introduce the plastic-free poppy. It will not only enable people to support our Armed Forces community but also continues...

Danger of torture, assassination, lootings, floods, famines and epidemics… life in France in the 6th century was as turbulent and violent as many of the world’s hot spots are today.  In the midst of all this Gregory (539 – 94) was born into a senatorial family who lived in the Auvergne.  He grew up seeing...

For the last couple of months, we’ve been looking at seating in the church building. Perhaps you’ve noticed that on the more ‘special’ items there are dedication plaques to the person who donated the money to buy the item or in whose name the item was purchased. In some churches, pretty much everywhere you look...

What do you do with your negative feelings and experiences? Burying them and ‘carrying on’ has long gone out of fashion. Nowadays we are encouraged to express our fears and traumas, get them into the open, and not let them ‘fester’ in our subconscious. But now researchers at the University of Cambridge have found evidence...

If you have a craving for feelings of awe and wonder, you are not alone. When the huge American advertising agency, Wunderman Thomson surveyed 3,000 adults in the UK, USA and China, they found 75% said they ‘just want to feel something, to feel alive’. So, they wrote a report for the benefit of their commercial clients,...

Remember, Lord, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You, Lord, are good. (Psalm 25:5-7) I love the Psalms, as they cover every emotion and religious experience, from despair to praise and...

Here is a saint for any young person who has a generous heart and a desire to please God, but who gets rather badly used by adults who should know better. Elizabeth was born in 1207, a princess in the kingdom of Hungary. When she was four, she was sent to the court of the...

This Christmas, the Church of England is inviting choirs across churches, schools, and communities to ‘join the song’ alongside one of the country’s leading choral composers. The ‘song’ is a new interpretation of ‘The First Nowell.’ It has been given a brand-new melody by the well-known composer Bob Chilcott and is the centrepiece of this...