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Love your enemies
This is the sermon I preached for 24 February 2019 In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Almost exactly two years ago, I walked up the stairs to this pulpit on a Sunday morning and I saw something that I cannot see today. As I grasped the rail and walked up…
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How would you teach me to pray?
Popping into a church today I was reminded of a question someone asked me a few weeks ago. The church was somewhere that I happened to be passing. Somewhere a little off the beaten track in the middle of the bustle of a city. Not a particularly well known church but a known place to…
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Sermon preached for Epiphany 3
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Sometimes you have to actually turn up and see things with your own eyes in order to understand what you think you’ve always known. I’ve read this section of the gospel plenty of times and it always seemed straightforward to me. Jesus reads to…
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Anthropocene – Scottish Opera – Review – ***
It is a joy that Scottish Opera have once again commissioned a significant new work and included it in their main stage programme and it is unsurprising that they have turned once again to librettist Louise Welsh and composer Stuart MacRae. Their last collaboration The Devil Inside was a brilliant hit in 2016. This production…
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Sermon preached on Radio 4 for Feast of St Mungo
He quite took me by surprise as I walked down the high street. A friend of mine. Wearing a beanie hat and a beard. A sweatshirt and a casual jacket. But holding out his hand, on which was perched a robin. I was absolutely sure it was someone I know. He looked just like…
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Predictions for 2019
The UK will begin leaving the EU on 29 March 2019. It will take 10 years to leave, 10 years for it to be evident to the whole country how stupid it was and 10 years to get back in, with none of our current special measures. (Hope this prediction doesn’t come to pass but…
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Review of Predictions for 2018
On 1 January I made predictions for the coming year. Time to see how I got on. 1 – General Election in the second half of the year. Well, no we didn’t and the government linger on. Not right 2 – “…and as the polls close, our exit poll predicts that the Conservative Party is…
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10 Correct Opinions About Christmas Carols
Public service announcement. The following opinions are all correct. The first carol on Christmas Day should always be Christians Awake Salute the Happy Morn. It should be sung lustily and with the last line repeated. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night may be sung to almost any tune. It must not, however, be sung…
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Always the Inkeeper – a sermon for Christmas Day 2018
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. I, was always the innkeeper. I’m not sure how many times I was in a nativity. Nor am I sure how it happened. But somehow, I was always the innkeeper. And the innkeeper doesn’t get the best of lines. “I’m sorry, there is no…