Think for a moment about the tragedy that is Gaza; Sudan; Ukraine, and also so many other places not making the headlines. Think now about Iran and the Middle East. How many have died; how many will live to benefit from a fragile peace if and when that peace comes? How many deaths do you… Read more

Who or what sustains you when all else seems to fail? What holds you up when you feel so very heart-and-body tired that your very skeleton seems unable to carry you further? What brings the promise of light for you in the midst of great grief? What sits at the very heart of who you… Read more

That well-known phrase, ‘to see ourselves as others see us’ was originally a line from the Scottish poet Robbie Burns’ famous poem The Louse. The poet had observed the creepy-crawly making its way across a posh woman’s hat in church, and his musings leads to one of his most famous pieces. In The Louse, Burns… Read more

As we enter this new year, many of us will have been thinking about making small or even big changes in our lives; considering what we might do a bit better or more consistently, or maybe just thinking this will be the year I plan a holiday, give up eating meat, or find that new… Read more

Who knew that I would spend the early days of my retired life bickering with far right Christian nationalists on Twitter? I know the site has been renamed X, but that sounds laughably James-Bond in its bad-guy-ness. But Twitter, with its suggestion of inane mutterings, somehow serves a more helpful purpose in deflating its collective… Read more