Many of us will have seen the solar eclipse on Friday morning, or at least seen pictures of it later in the day. It was certainly an eerie experience to watch the sky darken and even to feel the temperature drop slightly. Can you imagine, then, what it would be like to experience real darkness
Read more“Give us today our daily bread.” We say those words every Sunday, some of us twice. Some of us may even use them in our own prayers during the week. They are magnificent words, and we sense the rightness of praying them, expressing as they do our dependence – every day – on our loving
Read moreThe actor Nick Nolte is now 74 and not enjoying life. “I cry every day,” he says. “It’s nothing tragic or anything – it’s just life. I cry when I try to get out of bed, because I’m in my 70s and my body hurts like hell. Once my joints are moving, I’m all right,
Read moreThe Archbishop of Canterbury was in town last weekend, and on Sunday afternoon he addressed the clergy of the diocese. When it came to time for questions, he was asked to comment on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. It would have been a tough question to ask a politician, let alone a church leader. Nevertheless, following
Read moreThe average life span of a mouse is 2.3 years. Mouse UT2598, which lives at the University of Texas Health Science Center, has already lived 3 years and is still going strong. Its secret is a compound called rapamycin, which appears to slow the ageing process. If – and it is quite a big ‘if’
Read moreI recently came across a very short booklet – only 12 pages of text – by American pastor and author John Piper, written just before he had surgery for prostate cancer. In typically robust fashion it’s called, ‘Don’t Waste Your Cancer’. What he has to say is pithy, wise, compassionate and deeply biblical, and could
Read moreYou may already have seen the video clip from an interview with comedian Stephen Fry, which is due to air on Irish TV show The Meaning of Life this evening. Fry is asked what he would say to God if he died and had to confront him. Part of his reply is to say, “How
Read moreThe actor Jack Nicholson, now 77, has a reputation for womanising, but he now lives alone in Hollywood, spending his days playing golf, taking long naps and watching films with friends. The sad fact is that he cheated constantly on his long-term girlfriend Angelica Huston before leaving her for another woman. Sadly, yet probably not
Read moreWho could have missed the T-shirts and placards a couple of weeks ago bearing the slogan ‘Je suis Charlie’ (‘I am Charlie’), expressing solidarity with the staff of the magazine Charlie Hebdo following the gruesome attack on their offices which left several of their colleagues dead and a nation in shock. Other similar acts of
Read moreWe are familiar with the idea that location is, if not all-important, at least highly important. Most of us put a lot of thought into where we choose to live, and then put a lot of energy into making our homes look as we want them to. The value of a property is affected dramatically
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