On the pilgrim way: Prayer and pain

15/07/2013 | Reform

I treasure my early morning prayer time – when I shut my study door, light a candle and just sit/kneel quietly. When I choose a holiday cottage I look for a good view so that I can get up a … Read More

On the pilgrim way: Yearning for normality

22/05/2013 | Reform

My heart sank as I walked into church this morning: the chairs were all back to normal. The old straight lines had replaced our semi-circle, carefully arranged to improve the singing and bring the thinly scattered congregation closer together. “Back … Read More

On the pilgrim way: Ageing relatives

24/04/2013 | Reform

I am the youngest among all my cousins; and, as I see them up ahead of me in the journey of life, I find myself taking a keen interest in how they are handling growing old. Perhaps I can get … Read More

On the pigrim way: Revisiting some painful memories

25/03/2013 | Reform

I am re-reading the weekly letters my mother wrote to me from Scotland between 1964 and 1979. I approach 1974 with some reluctance.

For most of this 15-year stretch my parents lived next door to my eldest sister, Mary, and … Read More

On the pigrim way: The pros and cons of forgetfulness

20/02/2013 | Reform

Like many people my age (mid-70s) I am forgetting names and, increasingly, words. It is so frustrating – and sometimes frightening – not to be able to find a word I know perfectly well. However, some hours later, perhaps next … Read More

On the pilgrim way: Tripped up by prejudice

24/01/2013 | Reform

I have been caught out yet again misjudging someone. William called as a winter afternoon was drawing to a close and I groaned inside. William is a 50-something Irishman from East London who, for the past 20 years, has had … Read More