Viewing all items in Resource Category: Editorial

But they don’t live here any more The mother of a choice! How many friends should you have? Four tips to get fit for Spring What’s wrong with having time? Rebels with knitting needles What millennials look for in a job Good news if you want new clothes How to strengthen your family Do you...

Casimir is a good patron saint for anyone whose father drives them crazy.  For he did not let an unhappy background stop him from becoming the person he wanted to be.  Yet Casimir’s father, the King of Poland back in 1458, was no picnic as a dad. For if you think your teens were difficult,...

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another… (Romans 13:8) Suppose you move home and then start getting letters from a debt collecting agency about a person who used to live there? You then get people coming to your house or even the police looking for someone. You apply for...

I’m a March baby, the youngest of five children born to my parents in a small Yorkshire pit village in 1950. I think I was something of an afterthought, a surprise even, and the story of my entry into the world is quite amusing. In those days my mother, a stout lady, wore an apron...

‘A smouldering wick He will not snuff out…’ – Isaiah 42 The oil is consumed, the lamp burns low. Bright, dancing flame becomes a flick’ring glow. Exhausted, tiny, failing source of light almost overpowered by the night but its last efforts catch Compassion’s eye. He refuels the lamp that has run dry then cups His...

Ever wonder why we eat pancakes just before Lent?  The tradition dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when Christians spent Lent in repentance and severe fasting. So on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the church bell would summon them to confession, where they would be ‘shriven’, or absolved from their sins, which gives us Shrove Tuesday.  ...

Who will your Mothering Sunday card be addressed to this year?  If that sounds a silly question, consider this: last year, for the first time in the UK, you could choose between cards that called your mother Mother, Mum or – Mom. Paperchase was the company who brought in the American flavoured ‘Mom’, and the...

Eusebius is the saint for you if you believe in the Bible, and also in providing hospitality.  He was born of a good family in Cremona, Italy, in the fourth century, and felt called to become a monk.  As Eusebius was ascetic by nature, he sought out St Jerome in Rome, who advocated an austere...

Isaiah’s account of God calling him to be a prophet makes me ask, what does it mean to be ‘called’ by God? What does God want from me? Isaiah offered himself willingly when God asked whom He could send to speak on His behalf to Israel.   And Isaiah was given a difficult message to proclaim...

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.  But why ‘Ash’ Wednesday?  The reason has to do with getting things right between you and God, and the tradition goes right back to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the Israelites often sinned.  When they finally came to their senses, and saw their evil ways as God saw...

Have you ever stepped back and reviewed the friendships in your life? According to the anthropologist Dr Robin Dunbar of University College London, the maximum number of relationships we can have peaks at about 150, known as Dunbar’s Number. He then divides this into:  five close friends, 15 good friends, 50 general acquaintances, and the...

Spring is coming.   If you feel you simply HAVE to do something about your body shape, here are some ideas.  They will improve your fitness, energy levels and quality of life: Aim to work out two to five times a week.  Exercise for at least 20 minutes, lasting up to an hour.  Some days you...