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- Dec24Happy Christmas“A very happy and blessed Christmas to you all. ”
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- Sep3023I'm still here...“Dear friends, thank you for the comments and queries. I haven't tipped over the edge ...”05
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- 2009“Where will this year lead?”
- Dec2924222006Working Five to Nine“A couple of lovely people have emailed asking if I'm OK, so in case you're ...”
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- Feb17Just show up“Calling all Elizabeth Gilbert fans! I've just watched an amazingly inspiring talk by the author of ...”0803
- Jan242014Overwhelmed“At the beginning of the year I set one of those timer countdown applications on ...”04
- 2008“A year of change and connection”
- Dec3129Peeling back the layers“On Christmas Eve, I went to Vigil Office and Midnight Mass (which was actually at ...”Let's...“I'm very excited because I just finished my first ever attempt at stop motion animation. It's ...”242018Ring the bells“This coming Sunday, 21 December, is special in so many ways. It's the final Sunday ...”1402
- Nov2924What is perfect?“I was encouraged to read in a news item today that more babies with Down ...”1808Emerging grace“Wow! I've just finished watching a 90-minute webcast organised by the Centre for Action and ...”05
- Oct3128Why life is like housework“It suddenly struck me that life is exactly like housework. You clean up and it ...”1815141208060201Sarah Palin blocks polar bear protection“Shock! horror! Disbelief! Sarah Palin uses oil money to block polar bear protection. Read it here.”
- Sep30292726Forget nationalities“I was leafing through a few books today, choosing which should go off to the ...”25Rosh Hashanah video“I found a post at Chai Time linking to a very affecting video interpretation of ...”2322201710 things I would have told my teenage self“We had a discussion in the office today about what we wish we'd known or ...”15Financial meltdown - why?“On this day of crisis in the financial markets, there's an interesting item on the ...”1413Book production back in the old days“Those of you who love books as much as I do will also be riveted ...”12Celebrity supercouples“I had a very depressing thought earlier: there is a whole generation of young people ...”1110Lolcats rule!“My favourite Lolcat of the week so far here.”08Be kind“"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is facing some kind of battle" - ...”Why saints today?“I recently read about an English nun who is being considered for sainthood. Sr Elizabeth ...”Violets“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks - Tennessee Williams”0402
- Aug3126201713Do you know any tramps?“In the comments to my post The Power of Austerity, Miss Eagle asked an interesting ...”1109Feeling more charitable...“After my charity rant a couple of weeks back, I was again in the supermarket ...”08060501
- Jul292726A charity rant“OK, so I'm in a lousy mood just now anyway because we finally have some ...”24Granny D“Over at Hudson's Notebook there's an excellent series of posts called Blue Highways (the last ...”2211Blogging break“I'm taking a couple of weeks' break from the blogging world, although I may pop ...”09Women bishops“So for what its worth, here are my observations and reactions to the Synod of ...”0604A few too many?“A little light relief today, as I can't resist sharing with you a British news ...”0301
- Jun2825222018171512Setting an example“Someone observed to me a while back that because I was "religious" (doesn't that sound ...”10GreenSpirit“Today I'm plugging an organisation I recently joined called GreenSpirit. This is from their ...”090802
- May31292827252421201916Catching yourself out“I amuse myself sometimes! Those of you who are kind enough to read my ramblings here ...”141211080402Away...“...for a few days. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, I look forward to catch ...”
- Apr30You know you're a nerdy bookworm when...“...you hear that your local library is implementing an upgraded computer system that will allow ...”29Happy is better than rich“Every year, the UK's Sunday Times publishes its famous Rich List, and this year's came ...”28272625In love...“A quick update on my post Of the body: Following lunch today, I am now in ...”232221201514130603
- Mar302826Death“I'll be taking a short break from this blog. I last wrote here about my beloved ...”232221Bearing witness“I've been a member of Amnesty International for years. They do fantastic work against torture ...”181614111009070604
- Feb2927Islam in America“Interesting news article today about the way in which some Muslims in the US, especially ...”26252119171512070605040301
- Jan3029Christian contradiction“A friend shared this quote recently. If (like me) you've often pondered the massive contraditions ...”272624Non-bloggers welcome!“A dear "real-life" friend asked me by email recently if it was OK for people ...”22212018Divided by a common religion“I'm responsible for diversity and inclusion issues in my workplace of 600 people, and I've ...”16141311090706040302Choicemaker“ When you see yourself as a choicemaker, you take on the role of protagonist in ...”01
- 2007“The beginnings of Anchors and Masts”
- Dec313025242322212018161514121110Human Rights“Today is International Human Rights Day 2007, and we are in the 60th year since ...”090806Wisdom in strange places“I am a big fan of detective novels. One of my favourites is Kathy Reichs, ...”04030201
- Nov26252220A day in the life“So Rebecca has tagged me for the 7 Things About Me meme. (Don't read her ...”1816A huge silence“Found while browsing at Faith House: If we were not single-minded about keeping our lives moving, and for ...”13111009The incense of winter“Yesterday afternoon there was a fierce rainstorm. Within minutes, the sky blackened, sheets of rain ...”0806050402How would you deal with it?“So General Tibbets, Commander of the B-29 that dropped the Hiroshima bomb, has died at ...”
- Oct3130292823222120Our path“ I'm reading Crones Don't Whine, by Jean Shinoda Bolen, about women getting wiser, not just ...”17Leaping in the dark“ Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The ...”1514The Earliest Angels“ The first angels were swarthy, stooped, hairy, with sloping foreheads and crested skulls, arms down to the knees. In ...”13A little light relief“Today I launched another blog, where I'll be collecting all kinds of strange stuff I ...”12Bravery“Yesterday I read about two different kinds of bravery. First via Barney's excellent blog I learned ...”11God as poet“Jean Cocteau died on this date in 1963. I found this quote of his today: The ...”10Alternate reality“I don't know about you, but I hate work-related socialising. I mean the sort of ...”0908Compassionate connections“Two days ago I wrote a post about anger and about nurturing compassion instead. One of ...”0706A finger pointing“I'm in the habit of scribbling down things I've heard. Today I came across a ...”050403
- Sep302928Happy at heart“News and images from Burma (Myanmar) have inspired and shocked us over the last few ...”26A working community“I went to a business conference today that I enjoyed far more than I thought ...”252423222018Starfish“I don't know about you, but I tend to be a bit all or nothing. Save ...”1614Objects of delight“I was reflecting some more on the Zen Habits post about gratitude that I linked ...”13The only prayer“Found today at Zen Habits: If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ...”12The circle becomes whole again“I've been thinking about circles today. The symbol of perfect wholeness, of no beginning and ...”11Six years on“The Archbishop of Canterbury is marking the sixth anniversary of 9/11 today by giving a ...”1008Madeleine L'Engle“A quick second post as I've just discovered that the writer Madeleine L'Engle died two ...”07Wake up and smell the coffee“A friend of mine went on a perfume testing evening recently. It's like wine tasting ...”0403Present imperfect“I'm borrowing shamelessly from The Velveteen Rabbi today. She wrote a wonderfully moving post recently ...”0201
- Aug3129The Forerunner“Today we commemorate the beheading of John the Baptist. Most people know the bloody grand opera ...”28The transcendence of prayer“There's a character in Elizabeth Goudge's book The White Witch called Parson Hawthyn. A village ...”262423A-Maced“Apologies for the dreadful pun in the title, which you'll understand in a minute. I ...”22Freefall“Found at Musings of a Discerning Woman: As swimmers dare to lie face to the sky and water ...”21Do our personalities change?“Brad at Enneagram Book kindly asked me to be a guest writer on his blog, ...”191817Honestly monastic?“After I posted my video Monastic life - a meditation the other day, I had ...”16Growing in religion“The wonderful Rabbi Lionel Blue often speaks on Radio 4's Thought for the Day, and ...”151413Spiritual type“As you'll probably have guessed if you've been reading this blog for a while, I'm ...”121110Acceptable sinners“The other day I had a conversation with a man I know who described to ...”0906Burrowing“Lucy wrote a great post recently about the rabbit holes down which her mind tumbled ...”050403Another Dalai Lama story“Barney posted a wonderful story as a comment to my Wednesday post. I want to ...”0201
- Jul31War“Today is the 90th anniversary of the start of the WWI Battle of Passchendaele, officially ...”30The power of the personal“John Simpson is a British journalist, now BBC world affairs editor. He's covered both Iraqi ...”2928Fluttering“Some drama in my house late last night: I was sitting here at my computer ...”25Fat hearts“I'm enjoying Abdur Rahman's poetry and was particularly struck by these lines of his last ...”23Nervous“I love this community of bloggers, there are such treasures lurking. Such as this piece ...”2219Contemplating blogging“A few days ago, Miss Eagle asked me something via the comments on my Contemplation ...”18Services advertised...“Joyce has a post over at Chronicles of Blunderview detailing her unease at certain 'Christian' ...”161514Faith Walk“Today I went on the Faith Walk in South London I mentioned a couple of ...”13Tridentine rite returns“In April, I wrote about the likelihood that Pope Benedict would relax restrictions on the ...”11Faith learning“Maya published a thoughtful post yesterday contrasting the Jewish and Muslim communities' dedicated approach to ...”09Contemplation“I have the following post up at Listening Point, in which I try to circle ...”05Guesthouse“ This being human is a guesthouse; Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, Some ...”04Freedom on the 4th“We were happy in the UK this morning to wake up to the news that ...”0302Critical alert status“Well here we go again, I thought last week as huge loss of life in ...”01
- Jun29Still singing and dancing“Found on Towanda's Window, I reproduce here the quote she uses from a documentary on ...”Serendipity, grace or challenge?“Have you ever noticed how as soon as you decide to do something that's a ...”2827Awareness“Someone asked me today about my work with the Enneagram system of spiritual and personal ...”252423Kindness“A brief post today because it's my sister's wedding day (more tomorrow in a special ...”22Wouldn’t it be awesome if…“Please go and read this post by Jen Lemen. And add some ideas of ...”21Comparative religions and ethical issues“ It can be difficult sometimes to identify what is going on with all the different ...”I’d forgotten“Busy, busy, busy, long hours, long commute. I thought I couldn't make time for meditation. ...”201918Ageing and melancholy“Yesterday, I ended my post with a video of the young Cat Stevens (now Yusuf ...”1716AKA“Since I began exploring the bloggy world, I've enjoyed aka Lucy's approach to life with ...”15Me times eight“The mighty Towanda has tagged me for an "Eight Random Things About You" meme. Straightaway I'm ...”12Monastic Sounds“I have a post up at Listening Point. It's a (probably not terribly good) poem ...”1110God says yes to me“Just back from my Enneagram weekend and posting this briefly before relaxing. We run an exercise ...”07A Tale of Two Masses“My post yesterday made me think of the other side of the coin: Masses that ...”06The aesthetics of worship“I've been struggling for a while with the practice of Sunday worship. As a Catholic I ...”05Passion for living“Yesterday, Lucy posted a wonderful story about one man's passion for his subject. She posed ...”04Small things“ We can do no great things, only small things with great love I'm not a completely unreserved ...”030201A ragged community“Yesterday evening (Thursday) at around 11.00 I got a call from my sister asking if ...”
- May3130Half the human race“Two wonderful quotes about women over the past couple of days. One at Onehouse quoting ...”28A community of volunteers“Most countries in the world, and certainly Britain, would grind to a halt if it ...”272625The power of words“I've waited some time to post this. A few weeks ago, several of us wrote on ...”2322212017Is urgent important?“I've been reading an article about a young woman who lost both legs in the ...”15Books and more books“Lucy put up her contribution to a book meme going around. I'm not going to ...”14Seven things about me meme“Me from Those Northern Skies tagged me for this meme. Such a thrill, as I'm ...”131009The Devil’s Gateway?“Yesterday, Lucy posted a startling video, Women in Christianity, created and originally posted by Jennifer ...”0706Sunday Collection 10“This week, I've been gathering some of the words in prose, poetry and song that ...”05
- Apr30There are the good days…“...and then there are the days like today. Days when I know I'm so full ...”29Sunday Collection 9“I was taken by the post Exuding Nunliness at A Nun's Life. Not so much ...”28Happy birthday S“It's my nephew's 17th birthday today. Time goes by so quickly. He's been the joy of ...”27Tradition?“I am rather unnerved by Pope Benedict's plans to relax restrictions on the Latin (Tridentine) ...”26Integrity - a good thing?“What does the word integrity mean? My dictionary says: wholeness; soundness; uprightness; honesty. Visual Thesaurus adds: an ...”25The Panchen Lama“The Panchen Lama, the boy identified as the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism ...”22Sunday Collection 8“Well I've neglected my posting this week because it's been busier than usual, but worse, ...”2118Violence“The senseless and tragic loss of life in Virginia has seen a lot of comment ...”161514Now is the time“I'd forgotten this beautiful fragment of poetry until finding it just now. What a wonderful ...”1311Reflections on Easter“The Easter Triduum I have just spent at Turvey Abbey is beginning to settle into ...”09And then the crash“Sometimes after being swung high by experiences during a retreat, there's an unpleasant crash in ...”Monastic silence“Spending the Easter Triduum at Turvey Abbey was a very special experience for me. ...”0804Deeper into Easter Week“Goodbye for a few days as I'm going into retreat for the Easter Triduum at ...”03What in the world are we doing?“Reading this post from Musings of a Discerning Woman reflects my own fear about what's ...”02Why is it different?“ Why is this night different from all other nights, from all other nights? For weeks now, ...”01
- Mar29I have a lot of blogs“Antony's post about books rang true for me. I also have a lot of books, ...”28No complaints?“I just realised there is one aspect of my behaviour I'm really fed up with. ...”2726A good night“The last few weeks I've been praying the Night Office most evenings before I go ...”2524Blossoming smiles“Christine at Abbey of the Arts has suggested posts about blossoming. I'm thinking about a very ...”23An apology: what’s the point?“With the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the UK coming up on ...”22Office community“I was reflecting on office politics (rife where I work). I have many more questions ...”21Looking backwards“This morning on the train to work I was in a window seat facing away ...”19181716Holy humour, Batman!“Today is Red Nose Day here in the UK, run by Comic Relief to raise ...”15Unguarded thoughts“Why is it that we often seem to have no control over our thoughts? Last ...”13Phoenix“ Are you willing to be sponged out, erased, cancelled, made nothing? Are you willing to be made ...”12Yes, but…“I was reflecting on the passage in Matthew (4:18-20) when Jesus calls the first disciples: As ...”1110Is cleanliness next to Godliness?“OK, so I have a confession to make: I'm domestically challenged. My house is untidy ...”08Fertile ground?“I get a train from my town into the City every day. I've been saddened ...”07Lenten progress“On Ash Wednesday I posted about my intentions for Lent, among them to give up ...”0403Scripture as literature“For the last couple of weeks I've been reading the New Testament. Just one chapter ...”01Nature -v- science“A story had been in the papers over the last couple of days about the ...”
- Feb2827Being dogmatic“I'm reading Karen Armstrong's A History of God, in which she traces the history of ...”25Sunday Collection 1“I'm so impressed and intrigued by the sheer quality as well as quantity of new ...”23Control Freak?“Last Sunday, the monk/priest celebrating Mass gave a characteristically thoughtful and warm sermon which I've ...”212019British Reserve?“Walking through London's Bloomsbury Square at around noon today, I saw a woman: black hair, ...”18Enneagram Community - Day Three“Well, talking to a few of our Enneagram learners today, it seems I over-romanticised the ...”17Enneagram Community - Day Two“Following on from yesterday's post, we are now at the end of the first full ...”16Enneagram Community - Day One“This weekend I am co-teaching an introductory Enneagram course at Turvey Abbey Benedictine monastic community. ...”1513Listen“The first word of the Rule of Saint Benedict is "Listen": Listen my son to the ...”12Acrostic“I was going through some writings today and found some prayer work I had done ...”11The journey“Danya Ruttenberg writes a wonderful and perspicacious post today about the process of starting a ...”100908The Joy of the Snow“This is actually the title of writer Elizabeth Goudge's autobiography, but I'm appropriating it for ...”0605Out of the mouths of TV shows“I just watched an episode of Law & Order which raised some questions in my ...”Getting started“Listening to "Thought for the day" on Radio 4 in the car this morning, I ...”

