Five days on five quid. What would you spend it on? Last year I took up the Live Below the Line challenge, living on porridge made with water, lentil dhal and potatoes. Here’s what I discovered: 1. The less you possess, the more you need friends Obvious really, but this was a lesson in community… Continue reading Five lessons from Living Below the Line – by Alexandra Lilley
Category: Ethics & Christian living
Guilty by association: is this the end of R&R?
I have just taken 6 weeks off facebook, twitter and blogging to mark Lent. But one unintended consequence of not checking blog related emails was that I missed an important legal letter sent to me three weeks ago. On Good Friday, I found an emailed letter from lawyers representing a US company called AF BioCorp.… Continue reading Guilty by association: is this the end of R&R?
Farewell facebook, twitter and blogging. See you at Easter
Over the last year, I have written about busyness being the enemy of spirituality and reflected on my son’s feedback that I am a nicer person without my iPhone. But do I really believe in what I am writing? It is incredibly easy for those who write blogs to sound off on all kinds of… Continue reading Farewell facebook, twitter and blogging. See you at Easter
Being obedient to becoming more human – by Jenny Flannagan
“Because of our Welfare State, it’s hard in the UK for the Church to find social needs to respond to,” explained the young man to the group of European Christian leaders. “The local homeless project has asked members of the Church not to give money to anyone begging outside the church,” announced the Curate to… Continue reading Being obedient to becoming more human – by Jenny Flannagan
Giving up negativity for Lent – by Anna Whittaker
With Easter fast on its way (the Creme Eggs have been on the shelves since before Christmas), many of us will be marking the Lent period by giving up something which we feel we would struggle to live without. My past attempts at this have had mixed results, the most successful being when I gave… Continue reading Giving up negativity for Lent – by Anna Whittaker
It’s true – we ask Prince Harry to be a killer
Prince Harry killed people in Afghanistan. It's true. Soldiers not only die protecting the UK and us, they also kill to do it as well. Underneath, sometimes far underneath we all know this, but we leave the thought mostly buried under a fiver in the tin for Help for Heroes and a sad unease as… Continue reading It’s true – we ask Prince Harry to be a killer
Robin Hood ethics: should I rob the rich to feed the poor? – by John Bavington
Photo by George Chambers on Pexels.com I work in a boarding school where the fees are nearly £28,000 pa (or only £19,000 if you come as a day pupil). “It’s not the real world”, some would say. But they are wrong. This is a part of the real world. The world in which rich and poor co-exist,… Continue reading Robin Hood ethics: should I rob the rich to feed the poor? – by John Bavington
Reversing the mad consumerism of Christmas
Photo by Szymon Shields on Pexels.com Every day, on the way to work, I get a bus up Oxford Street. I get off just outside the famous department store, Selfridges, and walk round the corner to West London Mission offices. The Christmas decorations, sponsored this year by Marmite, have been up since October. Walking in the… Continue reading Reversing the mad consumerism of Christmas
Congo violence is closer to home than we think
Fighting in the Congo between the ‘M23’ rebels and FARDC government troops reached Goma on the border with Rwanda today. The city of almost 400,000 people, almost the size of Bristol, has so far escaped direct fighting. Hundreds of thousands have already fled their homes in the East of the country this year trying to… Continue reading Congo violence is closer to home than we think
Conviction and tolerance…in an age of bigotry
What theme could more appropriate on November 5th than religious tolerance? After all it is the night when we remember the failure of Catholic activists to blow up Parliament and kill the King. An event we have celebrated for over 400 years by gleefully burning effigies of the most celebrated conspirator, Guy Fawkes, who was… Continue reading Conviction and tolerance…in an age of bigotry
Grace + Truth 