(Mark 1.1-11) – 10th January 2021Neil Millar As you probably know, in Advent we commenced Year B in the church’s three-year liturgical cycle. In Year B, the gospel of Mark has priority in our Sunday readings and today, before we launch into the detail of specific passages, I thought it might be helpful to offer … [Read more…]
3 January, 2021 – Bill Bush May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. This reflection is about words – the power of words. My starting points are two traditional sayings. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me and The … [Read more…]
Christmas (Luke 2: 1-8) Rev Neil Millar The story of Christmas is an old, old story; told and retold, sung and re-sung, year after year its elements are familiar, connecting and comforting. And especially in a time like this, when so much that was normal has flipped and been frustrated. 2020 has been a difficult … [Read more…]
Advent 3 – John 1.6-9, 19-37December 13 – Neil Millar Sign, sign, everywhere a sign blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind – Do this. Don’t do that. Can’t you read the sign? Who remembers that chorus from the early seventies? It was a hippie protest song, sung by long-haired, cool looking musicians (Five Man … [Read more…]
Advent 2 – Mark 1.1-86 December 2020 – Rev Sarah Bachelard How do you prepare for the radical intersection of divine with human life? How do you get ready for God breaking directly into our world, our experience, coming to be with us in person? That’s what the season of Advent is about and today’s … [Read more…]
Rev Roger Munson – 29 November, 2020 Thank you for the opportunity to share with you some of my long experience working with people who have mental health issues. This is an important day as everyone of us will know of someone who has mental health issues or your own lived experience. The good old … [Read more…]
22 November 2020 – Neil Millar Over the past five weeks we’ve been exploring different aspects of Celtic Christianity – its history and theology, the Celtic experience and understanding of the world. We’ve touched on their commitment to prayer and poetry, their appreciation of the physical world, and of life’s pattern and flow. This morning, … [Read more…]
15 November 2020 – Ann Munro From out the Hebridean mistsappears a vivid star:‘Bethlehem of the Isles’;small in stature,yetfor the Wild Goosea nurturing place;from whence,by Columbaand other faithful followers,Christ’s message soared afar.Bethlehem of the Isles: Iona, by the Scottish poet Kenneth Steven. The heyday of Celtic Christianity was from the fifth to the eighth centuries, … [Read more…]
8 November – Neil Millar These sonorous opening lines of the Altus Prosator, a somewhat forbidding poem attributed to Columba, paint a picture of God as primordial, foundational, utterly transcendent and awesome’ (Bradley 2018.67), and a similar emphasis on divine mystery and ineffability pervades many of the prayers and poems of the so-called ‘golden age’ … [Read more…]
1 November 2020 – Ann Munro The Celtic, pilgrim, sailor saints set out to find the promised land in open boats of skins stretched out on wood: the Cross and just themselves was all they carried. Carrying within their hearts the God they sought; exiles for the love of Christ, they hoped to reach their … [Read more…]