• Sermon – Hagar, Ambridge, Church Abuse, Eid Mubarak

    If I think back to my grandfather, now long passed away, I have a number of memories. One strikes me in particularly today.

    And it was a particular devotion. Almost a religious ritual.

    It could be performed at lunchtime or it could be performed in the early evening. But the important thing was that it had to happen every day.

    I believe my grandfather may well have had some connection with country living in his youth though he was a city dweller for all the life that I ever knew him to have. But his devotion to an everyday story of country folk was a thing of legend.

    For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, I refer to the longest running radio soap opera – the Archers, broadcast now on Radio 4.

    Actually, it may be the only radio soap opera for all I know – it does not seem to be a particularly crowded field.

    It was a part of my grandfather’s life. He listened with a passion.

    In the way of families, my own father inherited no love of the Archers and only has to hear the cheery, bouncing signature tune to prompt him to reach for the off switch.

    For myself, I have found a good old-fashioned Anglican via media (more…)

3 responses to “5 things about exams that matter more than results”

  1. Matthew Pemble Avatar
    Matthew Pemble

    The important thing isn’t the results themselves, but whether you can carry on and do what you wanted to do, whether or not you need to take a little detour on the road. I was lucky and didn’t. Many people aren’t as fortunate.

    My heart goes out to all those older kids / young adults who are looking at their SMS or results sheet and think their life is in ruins. Really, it isn’t.

    1. Beth Routledge Avatar

      In the end, that little detour on the road is sometimes the thing that makes the journey better and prettier and more fun.

      I’ve been where those kids are today. It’s not the end of the world. It feels like it, but it’s really not.

  2. Imogen Vibert Avatar
    Imogen Vibert

    Lovely words of wisdom! As a school chaplain I’ll be in for A level & GCSE results days in England soon…think I might just print a few copies of this off to take with me. 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Congratulations to Isaac Poobalan and St John’s, Aberdeen

    Great blessings upon the Rev Isaac Poobalan and St John’s Church in Aberdeen for the story that has gone global from the Scottish Episcopal Church this week. Noticing that the neighbouring mosque did not have enough room and that people were praying outside in the cold, Isaac invited them into the church and made space…

  • Benediction

    A couple of people have asked me to give details of the service of Benediction which can be used in the Scottish Episcopal Church where a couple conduct a marriage which is a legal marriage but one which is irregular under canon law. The form of service that we are talking about is this one:…

  • My own response to the government

    Phew, just finished writing my own response to the current round of consultation on changes to marriage law in Scotland. This one is not about the principle of introducing marriage for same-sex couples but about how such proposals will be implemented. It is more complex than you think because marriage law is more complex than…

  • Passion Sunday Sermon

    In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. I realised yesterday before I wrote this sermon that I have no idea what spikenard smells like. That it is basically an essential oil derived from the root of a plant related to Valerion which grows in the Himalayas…