Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

I’m trying to stop saying the word ‘incredible’. It’s overused and has become almost meaningless. “We are incredibly grateful”; “I had an incredible meal”.  As the word really means ‘beyond belief or understanding’, it can’t actually apply – in either case. ‘Unbelievable’ is similarly misused. So is ‘fantastic’, which is meant to describe something belonging...

When you are out and about on the road far from home, ever feel tempted to pop in and explore an unfamiliar church?  If so, think of Donatus as your patron saint – and beware.  You don’t know what you may be letting yourself in for…. In 829 Donatus, an Irish monk, had completed a...

It was: 150 years ago, on 1st Oct 1873 that Edwin Landseer, artist and sculptor, died. Known for his animal paintings, and for his famous lion sculptures at the base of Nelson’s Column in London. 100 years ago, on 10th Oct 1923 that Nicholas Parsons, radio and TV game show host and actor was born. ...

Animals suffer. All over the world. One way in which you could help them is to support the work of The Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals (ASWA), which has been working for more than 30 years to promote animal welfare, and to make “Christians and others aware of the need to care for...

Do you value your Bible?  If so, Felix of Thibiuca (247 – 303) is a good patron saint for you.  The year was 303, and Diocletian was emperor in Rome.  In February of that year he decided that Christians were NOT a good thing. So he issued an edict:  all copies of the Christian Scriptures...

At the recent Coronation the King was given a Bible with the words ‘the most valuable thing that this world affords’. As Bible Sunday is celebrated this month, let’s ask why we should read the Bible? The Bible isn’t a single book, but a library of 66 books, composed by some 44 writers over 1500...

The Primate of the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphany (Dumenko) has praised the dignity and “self-sacrificing love” shown by Ukrainian soldiers. He said that God would help the country to “destroy evil”. He said: “We are fighting for fully understandable fundamental values: for our independence and territorial integrity, which the whole world has...

“Don’t grow old,” a parishioner of advanced years warned me some while back. “You won’t like it.” Sadly, that dear woman is no longer with us, and I’m a whole lot older than when she offered me that kind advice. But was there wisdom in her words? It’s true that generally people are living longer...

At the recent coronation the King was given a Bible with the words ‘the most valuable thing that this world affords’. As Bible Sunday is celebrated this month, let’s ask why we should read the Bible? The Bible isn’t a single book, but a library of 66 books, composed by some 44 writers over 1500...

Can you think of a politician who deserves to be called a saint?  If no one currently living politician comes to mind, never mind – there is always King Alfred of Wessex (871-899). This remarkable and best known of all the Anglo-Saxon rulers may have dozed off and let some cakes burn while a peasant...

Prisoners and their families need help, if they are to really repair and rebuild their lives. And so it is that Prisons Week has been growing steadily, year by year. It currently has 25 Christian denominations and organisations working together to use “all our skills and gifts to see God’s kingdom come and His peace...

Sixty years ago, on 15th October 1963, the term ‘Beatlemania’ first appeared in the Daily Mirror newspaper in the UK. It described the intense, frenzied reaction of fans of the Beatles and their music. The group – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – had been attracting wild adulation in the north...