Devotions

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow... (Matthew 6:28) ​I have always loved nature. It is my happy place. Just as ecosystems thrive with a variety of animal and plant life, so too does the human ecosystem thrive with different brain types. We can learn much from this, and from the views of Indigenous cultures. The purely medical view may have its place and may help some, but this deeper view is frankly beautiful—  just like nature itself. In Māori, autism is called Takiwātanga—moving in one's own natural rhythm and time.   ​In Aboriginal culture, it is Dadirri—deep, inner listening to the land and spirit.   ​The Navajo have the term Hózhó—a unique thread in the natural harmony of the universe.   ​In biblical and spiritual reflections, patterns of seeing shells or leaves mirror the recognition of the logic of the Creator. ​Through a high sensitivity to wind, light, and sound, a quiet soul remains receptive to the still, small voice. ...

I remember when I was a child having a bookmark that was my Grandma Holdsworths, made by the Peace movement known as CHIPS. It had the collect for peace on it. I also had a small wooden Saint Francis that was hers and a picture NIV Study Bible. Though those items are long lost they speak to who I always wanted to be and what I knew early on I believed. Over the October break some people of faith are celebrating the world week of prayer for peace. Due to circumstances I won't be posting lots for this in 2026. However, here is the collect to get us started on praying and seeking peace. I also include some other peace prayers. A Collect for Peace  O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ...

When people think about the origins of Christianity, they often picture a long game of telephone—decades of silence followed by someone finally writing down the story of Jesus in the Gospels years after his death. ​While the full-length narrative Gospels ( Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ) were indeed written roughly 30 to 60 years after the crucifixion, recent historical and textual analysis reveals a surprising plot twist: the core beliefs, creeds, and hymns of Christianity were being written down and recited within months to just a few years of Jesus' life. ​Long before bound Bibles or formal church libraries, the earliest followers of Jesus were already capturing their faith in stone, song, and scroll. ​The Paper Trail: A Timeline to the Earliest Texts ​ 30–35 AD (Within 2 to 5 Years of the Crucifixion): The Jerusalem Creeds ​ The Text: Embedded formulas like the 1 Corinthians 15 resurrection creed. ​ The Significance: Passed down almost immediately by the ...

The rain falls gently on the old tin roof. Angels in the tabernacle? The rain, loud enough to merge with Psalms,  yet not to drown the word of God.  The precentor sings a line and the congregation follows. "To thee I lift my soul..." The precentor sings a line and the congregation follows.  The rain, loud enough to merge with Psalms,  yet not to drown the word of God. Angels in the tabernacle?  The rain falls gently.  - DTH -  More Poetry   Follow for poems in your inbox. 

As some may know, one of my favorite saints is Saint Francis of Assisi. Whilst I don't agree on all his teachings I have always admired this wealthy man turned poor Saint.  In a time animals were mere food or inconvenience he loved animals.  In a time of a huge gap between the rich and poor he loved and identified with the poor. In a time of religious corruption he was a reformer before the Reformation.  In a time of ruined and abandoned churches he was a master builder.  In a time where love had waxed cold he loved.  In a time of war and crusades he stood for peace at great expense to himself. His time is not unlike today in fact.  His example is relevant to us.  The Canticle of the Sun ​ (Translation by Matthew Arnold) ​O most high, almighty, good Lord God, to thee belong praise, glory, honor, and all blessing! To thee alone, Most High, do they belong, and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce thy Name. ​Praised be my L...

 

 

 

 

​ "My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it." - Brenann Manning ​If you grew up in certain Christian traditions, like I did, you were handed a heavy lens through which to view yourself and the world: the doctrine of total depravity. Under that framework, humanity is often portrayed as a crushed rose or a hopelessly shattered pane of glass—ruined from the core and inherently tainted. ​Yet, long before the first sin entered the picture in Genesis 3, there is Genesis 1:31. When God finished forming humanity in His image, He didn't look at us with regret or disgust; He declared that it was "very good." That original blessing is our foundational baseline. God’s stamp of approval came first . ​As Brennan Manning reminds us in Abba's Child , this is where our true identity must be found: ​ "Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Ever...

Recently I started a course called Wellbeing with Horses at Drum RDA in Edinburgh. I'm already a big part of the way through. The end result should be a healthier lifestyle and also just sheer joy at getting to work with animals. So far so good. Here are some snapshots of that journey:  Starting out: Learning to lead the horse and mindful grooming: Practiced getting a pretend horse 🐎 ready then doing it for real and leading them out the barn for a trot. Setting up a handy pony course and leading the horse around.... Today was the final day, which is rather bittersweet.

 

 

 

 

As the morning air turns crisp and the leaves begin to turn gold and amber, we find ourselves in the Season of Creation —a sacred time when churches worldwide pause to celebrate and protect God's living earth. ​Today is also Peace Sunday, aligning closely with the United Nations Day of Peace on 21 September. A group called the Fellowship of Reconciliation helps lead this day. They are Christians who believe Jesus calls us to love all people and protect creation rather than harm it. ​"Reconcile" is a big word. It means to heal a breach and become friends again after a fight—to restore harmony where there has been division. ​Paul wrote about this in the Bible. He reminds us that God's plan is to bring peace through Jesus, restoring right relationships not just among humanity, but across the entire web of life. ​He decided that Christ would die on the cross as a sacrifice. In that way, God would bring all things back to himself. Then everything could liv...

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This Sunday, September 20, marks Peace Sunday — observed each year on the Sunday closest to the United Nations International Day of Peace. Some churches across the world will pause to reflect on what it means to follow the Prince of Peace in a world that so often speaks a different language: one of division, suspicion, and conflict. The theme this year is simple but searching: a heart for peace. It's worth sitting with the question honestly. What makes or breaks your heart for peace? Is it the news cycle? A strained relationship? Weariness with how loud and combative the world has become?  Peace isn't just the absence of conflict out there — it starts as a condition of the heart in here. Scripture doesn't ask us to manufacture peace on our own strength. Jesus called himself the Prince of Peace, and He said,  " Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God " (Matthew 5:9).  Peacemaking is active — it's a heart that has been s...

A wildflower doesn't apply for permission to bloom. It doesn't calculate whether the ground is fertile enough to be worth the effort, or whether anyone's walking by to see it. It just grows — toward light, toward water, toward whatever small mercy the season offers — and that's the whole of its work. Jesus points to this in Matthew 6:28, and it's a strange thing to hold up as instruction. Not a parable with a moral to extract, not a lesson to file away — just an invitation to actually look at something that exists without justifying itself. Most days don't leave much room for that kind of looking. There's a logic to how attention gets spent: on what needs doing, what needs answering, what needs fixing. It's not a wrong way to move through a day. But it does tend to flatten the world into a checklist, and things that can't be checked off — a colour, a shape, a bit of unplanned beauty — get filed under "later" and quietly forgotten. Here'...