Sermons And Gubbins

Essence Aleph (the First) I am made of stories. Crafted and freely told, borrowed and begrudging sold I am the speech of saints and sinners I am the words your forebears said  I am tales told by the winners  I am the whispers of the dead   A misremembered hazy night  A joke shared between kin and kith A mystery brought into light  People now consigned to myth  Hebraic mountains and Mithraic caves Sealed tombs and open graves  Stories of sweet summers, and epic plays   The first, the last, the end of days. Beth (the Second) I am made of songs. To lure to bed and lull goodnight  Swapped for suppers To bring the light The radio from a passing car  Sea-shanties and hymns of praise  The faintest beating of a heart  Last year's latest dance-hall craze  Football chants and infants' cries The pealing and the toll of bells Faltered prayers that fail to rise  The chamber-choir inside a shell  The notes that tarry...

This poem was written for our March monthly church poetry group. The theme was 'family' Inheritance I have my father’s nose Lopsided, looking broken Somewhat too big for my face I have my mother’s eyes They roll before I can catch them And I’m left to tidy up I have my uncle’s ears One higher than the other Leaving my glasses to predict a long-term downward trend I have my grandmother’s inability to finish anything she starte

  Social Media Influenza   Reality is virtual. The physical is cursed. I want my money back, can I please be reimbursed? Humanity’s a mess and it cannot get much worse;  Everything is  better  in the  meta verse. Put it up on Facebook for  likes  and  shares; Solving all our problems with ten thousand thoughts and prayers. X is a dumpster-fire but no one  really  cares; Gotta get a retweet from some nazi billionaires. Tagging you all here as my 54 best mates. If you each tag 20 friends then our reach now will be  great! A ‘like’ is pretty good, but what’s better is the hate; this is gonna make the most fucking  A  click-bait! Oh wow, I love your image it's so totally my vibe!  I’ve got to take a photo, as my words could not describe. I’ll share it to my Insta and I’ll hashtag it #mytribe. I hope you love mine too?  Like  and  subscribe ! Have you seen this? It's so  hawt , it’s the newest, lat...

  This sermon was given at our Sunday morning service on 15th February 2026. The readings were Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9 . I hope you enjoy reading it!   I’ve been thinking a lot – for various reasons recently – about Change. I swear I saw some of you almost shudder there. I think, deep down, none of us really like change. The American journalist, Sydney J Harris, once wrote: “ our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time. What we really want is for things to remain the same but get better ”. I can very much relate to that, can you? Wouldn’t it be excellent if things were different? Not the things I like, though…   The master of self-change and reinvention, David Bowie This morning’s readings are all about change. They’re probably the readings about change in the New Testament. This morning, we heard the story of the Transfiguration . And the story of the Transfiguration is a pivotal point in God’s story of how the world changes. ...