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It was: 700 years ago, on 8th Jan 1324 that Marco Polo died. This Venetian/Italian merchant, explorer and writer is best known for his book The Travels of Marco Polo, which detailed his travels along the Silk Road in Asia. 200 years ago, on 8th Jan 1824 that Wilkie Collins, British novelist and playwright was...

It seems that working into your old age can be very good for you. Certainly, there are increasing numbers of people in their 70s who are still going strong – and loving it. As one 77-year-old swimming coach explains: “It gives me purpose and satisfaction, and I get a real buzz from the interaction.’ As...

January is named after the Roman god Janus. He had two faces, so he could study the past and see into the future. At the start of a new year, we dispose of old calendars and diaries. No doubt, it is only natural to look back at the former year. Perhaps we recall occasions of...

Less than half of the UK population now want their death to be marked with a funeral. So says a major new research report called Love, Grief, and Hope: Emotional responses to death and dying in the UK, by the religion and society think tank Theos. The findings are based on polling commissioned from YouGov,...

Never under-estimate a deacon. After all, the first-ever Christian martyr was a deacon in the church of Jerusalem – St Stephen.  And the first-ever Christian martyr in Spain was a deacon of the Church of Saragossa – St Vincent. By now it was 304AD, and the Roman Emperor Diocletian was persecuting Christians.  When his edict...

‘Fragility of Freedom’ is the theme for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), as 2024 marks the 30thanniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust explains that only “49 years after the Holocaust ended, 19 years after the genocide in Cambodia, the world stood by as Hutu extremists shattered...

Special services of prayer and dedication asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples will soon be introduced in the Church of England on a trial basis, following a vote at the last General Synod. Synod voted in favour of a motion containing an amendment tabled by the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, to bring forward...

‘… this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord … (Psalm 27:4) The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is this month (18th – 25th January), so it’s probably a good time to meet...

Have you noticed that people tend to be either givers or takers? John the Almsgiver was a giver – on a grand scale. Born into a wealthy family in Cyprus about 560 AD John was married with children when disaster struck: both his wife and children all died. In his grief, John decided to go...

World Leprosy Day is always the last Sunday of January. It aims to raise awareness of a disease that is at least 4,000 years old, making it one of the oldest diseases known to humanity. Leprosy still exists! Around 200,000 people are diagnosed with leprosy each year, and many millions are living with leprosy-related disabilities,...

This month, on 25th January, the Church celebrates probably the most famous conversion of all. At least, what happened to a young man called Saul on the road to Damascus has become a byword for all instant conversions – what is known as a ‘damascene’ moment. Saul was a devout Jew, a Pharisee, a student...

It was only 60 years ago, on 11th January 1964, that the US Surgeon General published a report that would begin to change medical history in the West. For it concluded that cigarette smoking was very dangerous – causing lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. This was first official US government report on the health issues...