tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-295567482024-03-07T07:49:23.357+00:00Anglican SpiritExplorations of an Anglican priestUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger145125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-1587117889376751032016-12-03T15:38:00.002+00:002016-12-03T15:38:55.889+00:00Daily Reflections for Advent 2016. Day 7: 3rd December
St Bartholomew's Hospital London
My reflection for each day in Advent celebrates examples of action in the world inspired by hope and the desire to bring closer God's kingdom of love, peace and justice. These examples are set within a reflection on a piece of Scripture the Church provides for reading daily.
One of the Scripture texts set for today highlights the centrality of healing at the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-85150572036663637002016-12-02T22:53:00.005+00:002016-12-02T22:53:41.275+00:00Daily Reflections for Advent. Day 6: 2nd DecemberIn today's short reflection I simply juxtapose a piece from the sayings of Jesus about God's kingdom and the story of the development of one of the largest philanthropic welfare organisations in the world, the Edhi Foundation of Pakistan
"‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-15084195046877621092016-12-02T17:03:00.005+00:002016-12-02T17:03:59.804+00:00Daily reflections for Advent Day 5: 1st December
This Advent daily reflection for 1st December is published a day late because yesterday I spent 9 hours on the road travelling to Yorkshire and back to meet our three-day-old grandson , who is a beautiful boy; as indeed is his two- and-a-half- year old brother. The journey was definitively worth it of course!
1st December is many things. For meteorologists it is the first day of the winter Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-23778943269435174742016-11-30T16:08:00.001+00:002016-11-30T16:08:14.385+00:00Daily Reflections for Advent 2016. Day 4: 30th November. St Andrew's Day.My reflection for each day in Advent will celebrate examples of action in the world inspired by hope and the desire to bring closer God's kingdom of love, peace and justice. These examples are set within a reflection on a piece of Scripture the Church provides for reading daily.
Today the Christian Church celebrates Saint Andrew. Best known in the British Isles as patron saint of Scotland, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-55422065155599535732016-11-29T23:19:00.004+00:002016-11-29T23:19:49.805+00:00Daily Reflections for Advent 2016. Day 4: 29th November
The Peaceable Kingdom - Edward Hicks
My reflection for each day in Advent will celebrate examples of action in the world inspired by hope and the desire to bring closer God's kingdom of love, peace and justice. These examples are set within a reflection on a piece of Scripture the Church provides for reading daily.
Sunrise this morning was the first dawn in the life of our fourth grandson, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-33872028418071627212016-11-28T22:55:00.000+00:002016-11-28T22:55:00.769+00:00Daily reflections for Advent 2016. Day 2: 28th November
Reflection for Advent 2016. Day 2 : 28th November 2016
from Canon David Hodgson, Rector of All Saints Wokingham
My reflection for each day in Advent will celebrate examples of action in the world inspired by hope and the desire to bring closer God's kingdom of love, peace and justice. These examples are set within a reflection on a piece of Scripture the Church provides for reading daily.
InUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-36326317121702002712016-11-28T00:04:00.002+00:002016-11-28T00:04:33.131+00:00Daily Reflections for Advent 2016. Day 1: 27th November
Today is the first day of the Christian season of Advent. This is a time when the mode of prayer and reflection in the Christian Church is one of hopeful longing. We are looking forward to the fulfilment of God's promised kingdom of peace and justice, when love will hold sway in the world. Advent brings focus to the quintessential Christian prayer "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-61185762977991281922016-10-04T11:06:00.003+01:002016-10-04T11:06:30.426+01:00Creation Time Day 33
Rivers have shaped the landscape of the earth, carving out valleys and creating floodplains and deltas. They exercise huge influence on human development. Rivers have provided water and fertile soil to support large concentrations of population. They have acted as vital transport channels for the expansion of human settlement into continental interiors and for the movement of people and goods Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-77789211347633208002016-10-02T17:02:00.004+01:002016-10-02T17:02:59.551+01:00Creation Time Day 32
No celebration of the creation would be complete without paying homage to the glory of green. Large swathes of the landmass of the Earth appear green because of its vegetation cover. The colour green has come to symbolise nature and the natural in human culture. There is plenty of anecdotal, and some scientific, evidence that spending time with, or even having regular sight of, plants or Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-76091371999133567172016-10-01T19:25:00.002+01:002016-10-01T19:25:23.379+01:00Creation Time Day 31
Creation Time Day 31
Today's photo of a cardoon approaching the end of the growing season introduces the theme of the seed. The diversity and resilience of plant life on earth is a result of the evolution of the humble seed. It allows for plants to await the right growing conditions before coming to life.
The myriad ways in which human life is dependent upon plants would Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-13227122102235101192016-09-30T10:41:00.001+01:002016-09-30T10:41:09.137+01:00Creation Time Day 30
If England's national tree is the oak then certainly the London plane may lay claim to be the arborial icon of its capital city. The London plane is believed to have been "born" in the city itself in the 17th century, as a natural hybrid of the Oriental plane from South-east Europe and the Western plane or American sycamore. It owes its existence to London's role as a global hub.
Now it Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-39584080400875784542016-09-29T20:19:00.001+01:002016-09-29T20:19:05.122+01:00Creation Time Day 29Today is the Christian festival of St Michael and All Angels. In the traditional cosmologies of Christianity, Islam and Judaism angels are part of the created order, though in its heavenly rather than earthly dimension.
Interest in angels and angelic beings continues into the present day. Though none will be found in any museum of natural history at the very least it may be said angels exist in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Wokingham, United Kingdom51.4134695 -0.8287565tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-41462649682323190772016-09-28T15:37:00.001+01:002016-09-28T15:37:21.015+01:00Creation Time Day 28
When did you last lie on the ground and simply look up into the sky? I have a childhood recollection of doing that one sunny summer's day, mesmerised by the infinitude into which I was staring. I've chosen today's image of a cloud to focus reflection on the atmosphere.
The earth's atmosphere is a vital element of the creation without which life in its current form and diversity, and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-42422959646936077512016-09-27T14:55:00.001+01:002016-09-27T14:55:25.419+01:00Creation Time Day 27
Today I return again to an image of a tree; in this case the most common tree species in Britain , the English oak. Familiarity need never be a reason to overlook the glory of the creation and the oak tree proves this truth. This photograph depicts an oak tree on a field boundary above the River Thames in Berkshire near the village of Wargrave. It was in early leaf on a sunny morning in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-32932561600091762582016-09-26T12:36:00.001+01:002016-09-26T12:36:08.189+01:00Creation Time Day 26
Creation Time Day 26
Today's image in celebration of the creation is an example of the popular South African flower Strelitzia, known as the "bird of paradise" or "crane" flower. I've chosen it to represent the theme of colour in nature. The variety and vibrancy of colour found in the natural world is an astonishing and uplifting aspect of its presence to the human mind and spirit.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-80668262789003895012016-09-26T12:31:00.001+01:002016-09-26T12:31:35.478+01:00Creation Time Day 25
Creation Time Day 25
The earliest recorded winter snowfall in London was on this day 25th of September in 1885. Snow is undoubtedly one of the most wondrous phenomena of nature. Children in areas of the world where it occurs infrequently are especially excited by it. Yet people of all ages enjoy leisure and sport in snow and the skiing holiday is popular in prosperous societies with access to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-31645060055329508932016-09-24T16:01:00.001+01:002016-09-24T16:01:28.990+01:00Creation Time Day 24
Creation Time Day 24
Thousands of spider webs coated in dew are revealed to plain sight on misty Autumn mornings. The phenomenon was famously written about by one of the earliest modern naturalists, Church of England vicar The Reverend Gilbert White in his seminal study A Natural History of Selborne published in 1789. Beginning with a carpet of webs draped everywhere the day in question - 21stUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-76645541463160749332016-09-23T12:22:00.002+01:002016-09-23T12:22:39.245+01:00Creation Time Day 23
Creation Time Day 23
Wild elephants will have disappeared from Africa within 25 years if more action is not taken to stop poaching now. Rhinos faces extinction "in our lifetimes". This was the warning given by Prince William at an event organised by conservation charity Tusk in London. Many governments, experts and conservationists are now calling for a complete ban on the ivory trade. The Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-14170023794602067492016-09-23T12:21:00.003+01:002016-09-23T12:21:25.639+01:00Creation Time Day 22
Creation Time Day 22Today is the Autumn Equinox in the northern hemisphere. It signals the end of the Spring and Summer half of the year and the start of the Autumn and Winter half; when the nights are longer than the days and temperatures fall. This is because of the combined result of the angle of incline of the earth's axis and its annual orbit around the sun.For today's photograph Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-52251828730042408242016-09-23T12:17:00.002+01:002016-09-23T12:17:14.150+01:00Creation Time Day 21
Creation Time Day 21Today I've chosen another photograph from the amazing Table Mountain area of South Africa which I took during a visit in 2005. This is a group of palm trees in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Cape Town; on the lower slopes of the mountain. The particular species of palm tree depicted here appears to be the Kosi Palm, Raphia australis, also known as the Giant Palm becauseUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-64359298767504912662016-09-23T12:16:00.000+01:002016-09-23T12:16:07.208+01:00Creation Time Day 20
Creation Time Day 20
Table Mountain in South Africa, rising to over 1000 metres above the city of Cape Town on the south-western tip of Africa, is iconic and well-known because of its unusual form, reflected in the name, of an extensive plateau summit falling away to steep cliffs. Recently voted in a popular poll as one of the natural wonders of the world , it is a global tourist attraction Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-4077501396438825872016-09-19T14:45:00.002+01:002016-09-19T14:45:22.568+01:00Creation Time Day 19
Creation Time Day 19
I return today to the topic of the bedrock and in particular limestone. This remarkable type of rock results from the accumulated sedimentation over millions of years of the remains of sea creatures such as coral and molluscs. Limestone is soluble in water and so landscapes across the world in which it is the bedrock are characterised by sinkholes and caves. Rivers and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-66548227880805366942016-09-19T14:44:00.000+01:002016-09-19T14:44:03.928+01:00Creation Time Day 18
Creation Time Day 18
Roasted sweet chestnuts for sale on the streets of London and other cities of Britain are one of the consolations to be enjoyed in the gathering gloom of our short winter afternoons. Today's image depicts windfall sweet chestnuts on a public footpath near my house. Free food!
The trees originate in the Mediterranean region and are believed to have been brought to the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-43643733301749350472016-09-17T11:16:00.003+01:002016-09-17T11:16:26.569+01:00Creation Time Day 17
This is a Crab Spider which I spotted having its dinner earlier this summer. Apparently quite common in southern England it was the first time in my life I had seen one. This species (Misumena vatia)
is capable of changing colour according to its background. It prefers white or yellow flowers and its body may appear white, yellow or green. The one depicted is a female, which is very much Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29556748.post-23095039762729140412016-09-16T10:16:00.003+01:002016-09-16T10:16:25.399+01:00Creation Time Day 16
In the south of England today we've woken up after, or maybe during, the most intense thunderstorm of the year with torrential rain and hail. Despite knowing we cannot live without it, we rarely welcome rainfall. In our culture, located on the Atlantic seaboard where generally we have as much rain as we need and more, rain is a nuisance. It stops play. It's associated with being cold since Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0