shotleyfieldsforever

So far 2020 has been unreliable in a number of ways. The obvious sign of unreliability is the manner in which the wearing of masks has become enforceable by law. There have been masks worn, especially in urban areas as a protection against poor air quality, as a child growing up in Manchester in the days the City was engulfed by a dark and dirty smog, I would be cautioned by my Mother to wear, if not a mask, then certainly 'wrap a scarf around your face'. Certainly Masks and Japanese tourists have been a combination in many European resorts for some years. But now they are compulsory here in the UK when shopping or generally outside. The common sense is clear, it is completely logical to protect both yourself and those around you, both what you exhale and what you breathe in. But the unreliability has extended to the weather. There have been days when it has been impossible to plan. I have counted four seasons in a day. Low temperatures and rain in the morning, hig...

Sunday the 19th July 2020. It is a date. Not an especially significant date for many. It is the 6th Sunday after Trinity known as Proper 11. Whilst lots of things happened on July 19th's throughout history it is not an outstanding date, no wars broke out, no armistice's were signed, no great historic figures, sportsmen or women, no records were broken, no life changing discoveries made.  Generally a quiet day, in July in each year that passes or has passed, it remains quiet. But 40 years ago on this day my Son was born. We named him after my Grandfather and Father: William Joseph. So today I reflect on a life cut short. A death that happened before its due time. As a Father I had to bury my Son. So today is a day for quiet reflection, thinking about a life that has passed and didn't fulfil its promise. In the lesson we read to day from Romans, St Paul reminds us of this whole business of being born. in Chapter 8 vv 22 Paul writes...

Outside my house, high up on a wall, I have to use a ladder to reach it, is a Rowan Tree. It is rooted in the mortar that holds the wall together. It is in fact so deeply rooted that in order to remove it I would have to dislodge, if not completely remove, the coping stones and top two layers of stone. It is a remarkable, persistent tree that defies not only the normal terms of husbandry but the normal terms of logic and gravity. So if we are to approach the Gospel for Proper 10 Trinity 5, about the parable of the sower and the seed then my tree would also would defy the normal terms of theological discussion. I am indebted to Holly Hearon, Professor Emerita of New Testament, Christian Theological Seminary Indianapolis, IN for her inspiring hermeneutic of this so familiar parable. When I read the Gospel for today I thought, 'Oh Dear, what new thing could ever be said about such a familiar parable that I have read and preached on for so many years?' The reason for ...