Even wild gentleness too?

Photo credit Days of blistering heat and boredom.  Nights of bitter cold and silence.  And the word that flew a distant memory.  The dark comes suddenly in the desert.  Before you know it, the blackness is utter.  Complete.  The only sound the trickle of the wadi, slower now but still just enough.  Always just enough. … Continue reading →

The love of the telling

Photo credit I write for me.  That’s what I say when people tell me they liked it.  I write for me but I’m glad it touched you. Or some such Christianese.  You know the drill.  (Aside: could someone please come up with a Christianese email sign-off that doesn’t make me wince?  You’d be doing us … Continue reading →

So pants my soul for you

This post may need a contextual setting.  Elements of it were born in our chapel service on Tuesday this week, a deep musical reflection on Psalms 42-43.  I’d wanted to escape the room because I don’t love performed worship where I can’t sing too.  Whatever else my spirituality may be, there’s a healthy dose of charismatic … Continue reading →

As in heaven so on earth

He’d learned from the troubler of Israel.  He’d learned to hear the God of Elijah and he’d learned the power of the Name.  But now the man of God was gone.  He’d seen the whirlwind take him. Just as he had hoped, he’d seen it with his own eyes.  And now what he had asked was lying … Continue reading →

Dismantle all my defences

Dismantle all my defences, Lord. This, the cry of my heart.  Dismantle them, one by one.  All that holds me back from deeper union with you. Too long what is most true of me has been hidden, defended.  And though I seek now to remove the fences, to let you see what you have always … Continue reading →

Subversive prophetic

Subversive is not a word which figures often in my vocabulary.  Chloe is the quiet one, the one who prefers the way of peace and generally opts for compliance. Though some of you think me unafraid to say it like it is, I hold back.  More than you’d know.  I find a way to silence my own … Continue reading →

Done with obscurity

Elijah was done with obscurity.  He’d paid his dues.  Years in the silent rockiness of Gilead.  Faithfully praying.  Learning what it meant to stand before the LORD the God of Israel. Yes, Elijah was done with obscurity, for now he had stood before the king.  He had made that fateful declaration, the one he had … Continue reading →

Leadership as a prophetic reimagining

One of these days when the PhD is written – and bear in mind this may therefore be some time! – I’d like to think about what it means to be a leader characterised by the prophetic.  As ever, the A in the A&P of me longs to engage with theological rigour, to write an article … Continue reading →

A grace wilder and more violent

This is a wilder grace, and one more violent.  Over the last three months, I have prayed the same prayer three or four times a week, each time on my handmade prayer stool.  I have asked God to help me submit willingly to what seems like barrenness, knowing that the grace of God first kills before it makes … Continue reading →