Reading the resurrection story in John’s gospel this morning, I found myself drawn to a few of the words in the opening sentence: “While it was still dark.” Isn’t that how it feels a lot of the time? Dark. Uncertain. Hopeless. It’s the moment we’re most tempted to cave in. The sun has set. Darkness is overwhelming. Fear surrounds us. I...

I stumbled across a beautiful short essay on friendship earlier today. It was an evocative reminder of the power of friendship and our need for it. It’s by the poet and Christian mystic David Whyte, and I’ve included the middle segment here: “Through the eyes of a real friendship an individual is larger than their everyday actions, and...

As soon as I heard Cal Newport had a new book coming out tackling digital messaging, I was sold. I’ve read two of Newport’s previous books – Deep Work and Digital Minimalism – and found them both stimulating and challenging. Do I agree with everything he says or suggests? No. But I appreciate his prodding me to think hard about life an...

Why is alcohol a taboo subject when talking about controversial issues in society? I wrote last week about what men can and should be doing to look out for the women around us. How we men can help women feel – and be – safer. But isn’t it interesting how the worst behaviour towards women happens late at night, after people have been dr...

For over a year now we’ve been talking about the things we’ll do, ‘when things get back to normal’. Whether at home, or at work, it’s been a recurring theme. But will that ever happen? Will, specifically, our work environments ever be the same again? Time only ever moves forwards, and I can’t envisage any scenario where our world goes ...

I had a bit of a dilemma yesterday. A notice went around various WhatsApp groups saying a doctor’s surgery near me was looking to use up Covid vaccine stock. They would have to throw it away if it wasn’t used by the end of the day. The surgery was hoping people in the vulnerable groups and the over fifties would snap them up. But they ...

I shared on Instagram several weeks ago that I was reading Learning to Pray. And, in that post, I wrote about my struggles with prayer in recent years: “I spent the first three quarters of my life with an understanding of prayer that was mostly about asking God for stuff. But... that fell apart for me as a method of prayer. And I've ne...

There was a good article in The Economist last week exploring the link between personality and success. It focussed on introverts and extroverts. And this advice for managers on the running of meetings resonated with me: “...managers need to think about the different personality types when conducting meetings. It is easy for meetings t...

Ever since Sarah Everard’s death, I’ve been reflecting on what I can do to help women feel safer. And, as Caitlin Moran writes in The Times (£), I’m not alone: “Violence will find women everywhere: in their home; at work; on a bus; walking home, at night... Sarah Everard’s death, though, seems to have changed something. Something has s...

I’ve been struggling to keep my fiction reading pile stocked up lately. I’m not sure why, but whenever I do some hunting around, little is seizing my attention. Thankfully, my friend Claire came to the rescue last week. She recommended The Catch. As soon as I saw it, it looked exactly the kind of quick, easy read I was after. (I enjoy ...

Who am I writing for? Does it matter if anyone else reads what I write? These questions came to mind when I stumbled across the words below from the poet Amanda Gorman. They’re from a recent interview in the New York Times: “Being an artist is about how and why you touch people’s lives, even if it’s one person. Even if that’s yourself,...

I love a good quote. And this from British novelist and teacher Amelia Barr is a fine one. In her essay, A Successful Novelist, she writes: “Everything good needs time. Don’t do work in a hurry. Go into details; it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush; but whatever is worth doing at all is w...

The Psychology of Money is one of those books that has been drifting on and off my radar for several months. I’ve seen various people on Twitter recommend it. And several authors I respect – Daniel Pink and James Clear – gave it a strong endorsement. I don’t get at lot of my reading ideas from Twitter, but in this case I’m glad I did! ...

In a recent meditation, Fr. Richard Rohr quotes Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, on the subject of ‘loving the “true you”’: “There is a Jewish proverb, “Before every person there marches an angel proclaiming, ‘Behold, the image of God.’” Unselfish, sacrificial living isn’t about ignoring or denying or...

Here in the UK, we’re approaching the anniversary of our first Covid-induced lockdown. And we’re currently taking tentative steps towards coming out of our third and, hopefully, last. Though the government keep telling us it is about ‘data not dates’, they have laid out a series of dates from now until June for granting greater freedom...

I picked up a copy of Girl, Woman, Other last summer. It’s sat on my reading pile ever since though. Almost every week I’ve been looking at it, remembering I want to read it, but finding something else grabbing my attention more. But, last weekend, looking for some fiction to read, I realised I only had one novel left on my unread pile...

On Monday 16th November last year I starting writing in my journal again. I’ve not missed a day since. Not even Christmas day. I’ve tried journalling many times over the years. But it never sticks. A few weeks later I lose interest, momentum, and it all grinds to a halt. So this is a record for me. And I’m trying to figure out what’s d...

For the first time in what feels like forever, I am working from home, alone. No one is asking for snack every half hour. My meetings are taking place uninterrupted. I can work from wherever I want in the house. And it all feels... strange! My youngest went back to her Primary school on Monday. And my eldest returned to her Secondary s...

If you’ve been reading my writing for a while, you’ll know I tend to only write about the books I enjoy. I rarely bother to jot down anything about a book I didn’t like. I’m not in the business of formal book reviews; I mostly want to holler about the books that mean something to me and, perhaps, trigger a reader or two to go out and g...

I’ve been reflecting on the words from Fr. Richard Rohr that make up the title of this post for some months now. It’s classic Rohr: Oodles of truth and cause for reflection in just a few words. I can’t recall the first time I heard him say it, but it’s fair to say it’s stuck with me. And when it came up again in one of his daily medita...

My wife, Rachel, got me I Never Promised You a Rose Garden for Christmas. Truth told, I’d never heard of Jonny Oates, or this book before. And seeing the names of people endorsing it – Nick Clegg, Laura Kuenssberg, and Gary Gibbon – I assumed it was a purely political book. This would have been fine; I’m quite happy dipping into a poli...

Yaa Gyasi’s second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, is now out here in the UK. Long-time readers of my writing will recall my admiration for Gyasi’s first book, Homegoing. And I was so looking forward to her second that I had it imported from the US, months ahead of its UK release. Here’s what I wrote about it in December: “Transcendent Ki...

I have news of a significant change to how I send out my email newsletters. For the last couple of years I’ve been using a tool called Substack to deliver my emails to you. However, I am moving away from there and from now on I will be using a new service called HEY World. I’ll explain why (if you’re interested) below. But, if you are ...