What makes you anxious?  And how do you deal with it?  Here’s a few of my own personal cisterns… Not having enough. Solution: binge-eating, stock-piling groceries, buying new clothes that are exactly the same as the old ones, plotting and planning. Having too much. Solution: giving everything away, clearing out (and binning) perfectly good crockery, books, clothes.  Refusing to open things that people have bought me (they’re too good, so I should save them for some imaginary future day), trying to do good stuff to ‘earn’ a ... Read More

I’m writing a training evening for church leaders on ‘Eating Disorders’. And I’m not quite sure what to say. Here’s what I think people (including me!) want to hear.  A short explanation of what eating disorders are and who they impact.  A description of the warning signs.  The names of specialists who’ll deal with the messy bits. A list of practical suggestions on how to support those affected. The problem – and then the solution. I’ve got these things in my notes. That’s what people ... Read More

source: kirby musuem We become what we worship. And we’re all worshippers. So if I worship a block of wood, then I’ll become unyielding and dumb. And if I worship food – I’ll always be hungry. It’s creation turned upside-down: instead of us imaging God, we make him in our likeness. We distort his gifts and  look to them to provide us with meaning, identity, purpose and life. The shape of each person’s idolatry looks different – but the same dynamics are at work. There’s always hunger – and ... Read More

Cartoon God by Jover What kind of God do we trust? Is He Personal or a cloud of divine stuff? If Personal, then in what sense? An angry Father, selfish and demanding?  A foreman, under pressure and understaffed? Does He wake us with a divine to-do list, drumming his fingers impatiently whilst we mess up our tasks? Does He need us: to bolster his ego, to do stuff and supply what He lacks? Do we need Him: or is salvation just a synonym for self-help? Does He take from us – or does He give? Does He do so reluctantly, with one arm in His ... Read More

Recently I’ve been feeling somewhat flat. I’ve been waking up with a vague sense of discontent, surreptitiously feeding it and then feeling sorry for myself and wondering why it’s still hanging around. I have, my friends, been coasting.  Treading the water of life and persuading myself I’ll be floating in the same place a few weeks later. Except that it doesn’t work quite like that.  When it comes to my relationship with Jesus, (perhaps as with all relationships), I’m either growing to love him more or ... Read More

Apparently the most popular song choice for funerals, is ‘My Way’ by Sinatra. In many ways, I can’t think of anything more tragic or appropriate – but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. Yes, it’s a powerful song and yes, the words are striking. But for me at least, it’s the power that accompanies exposure.  The jolt of familiarity as I’m struck by the pride and selfishness of my own heart.  And an unwavering insistence on doing it ‘my way’, even when ‘my way’ starts to look like hell on earth. Don’t get ... Read More

They’re not like us.  The rich, the talented, the beautiful.  They’re sheltered, strong, immune to the doubt and despair that assails the weak.   4 They have no struggles;    their bodies are healthy and strong. 5 They are free from common human burdens;    they are not plagued by human ills. (Psalm 73) Well, amen to that. I’ve been thinking it for years. And close on its heels bark the ’What If’s’. Not to mention the ‘If Only’s’. What if I could be like X?  If only I ... Read More

‘Better to burn out than fade away’. I heard this on the radio earlier and thought to myself, ‘What a pile of crap’. Sorry, but it is. As a line on a t-shirt it might look alright, but as a life strategy it stinks. It stinks if you’re comparing yourself to supermum, trying to take your kids to tai chi and maintain your sanity. It stinks if you’re director of the board, siphoning your strength into a company that’ll spit you out as soon as you’re past it. It stinks if you’re pounding ... Read More

When did Halloween become so HUGE?  Seriously, you can’t step outside the house without being accosted by some sort of ghoul or smothered in cobwebs.. (Actually wait – that’s inside the house – note to self, must dust. ( Next Year Job.) Nor is there one unifying theme.  Marks + Spencers, normally the bastion of shortbread and cosy respectability, seem particularly conflicted. Exhibit A – enormous chocolate halloween eggs, priced at £18.99. Look, I like chocolate as much as the next person. But at that ... Read More

‘Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things’. Sound words from Philippians 4:8.  And I agree with them – to an extent. But isn’t the idea of dwelling on the good a little bit – er, boring? Trite? I’d much rather find out what’s going down in the Big Brother house thanks. No, can’t say that.   Perhaps I’m ... Read More