An unamiable trade

I’ve fairly recently finished reading William Hague’s lengthy biography (500+ pages) of William Wilberforce, the independent MP and evangelical Christian who spent twenty years campaigning in Parliament for the abolition of the slave trade. His efforts eventually led to the Slave Trade Act of 1807. This...

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The day job

It has occurred to me that in nearly two years of writing this blog, I have never yet posted about the day job. The one that isn’t actually a job. Every Church of England church is supposed to have two churchwardens, even churches that don’t have...

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A review of the Review

Weekends have their rituals, and along with church, laundry and the daytime company of my son and husband, my ritual is the Saturday Guardian. The Guardian is a daily paper, available in print and online, but the Saturday version is the fat one. The one with...

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What is a child?

A lot of theological ink has been spilt on the following sentence from a book called “The Lost Message of Jesus” by Steve Chalke and Alan Mann: "The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse—a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for...

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Book Review 8: “Those Who Wait”

A few weeks ago a friend  on Facebook sent out a plea for people to review her book before it’s published next Monday (16th October.) I’ve never met Tanya Marlow, but over the last year I’ve become electronically acquainted with her in her role as Christian...

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Feminism for male chauvinists

A little more frivolous today. I’ve recently watched two improbable blockbuster films, of different type, standard and age. Each inspired me with various thoughts, but one thought was common to both. The films were “Valerian: City of a Thousand Planets”, recently released at the cinema; and “Kingsman:...

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Space is big

I’m taking a risk today, commenting on a TV programme I didn’t actually watch, although my husband did. On Monday night BBC 2 broadcast “The Search for a New Earth” Part 1. I quote from the description in the Guardian Guide: “With humans knackering up the...

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