Just a quick note for anyone who happens to follow this relatively dormant blog. As I try to re-start some writing, I wondered about revamping this site or starting something different. At the moment, I’m writing on Substack; I’m sure some of you will have seen me there already. So […]

It’s an interesting experience reading a book and discovering an author with the same reading list as yourself. I also share with Kevin McClone, who wrote The Road to Joy, a similar career blend of teaching and practical application related to psychology, with measures of theological reflection and contemplative spirituality […]

Welsh coast

Many years ago, I wrote a Master’s thesis on how communities could be a healthy and necessary context for individual wholeness. During my undergrad years, I had been enamoured with the ideals of “intentional communities” that had sprung up throughout the 60s and 70s. Their track records were very mixed, […]

cover painting of Brother John

I’ve always had a certain fascination for monastic life. A couple of my favourite movies (Of Gods and Men & The Mission) are all about monks, and I recently visited the monastic home of the inspiring Thomas Merton. So when I had the chance to review Brother John: A Monk, […]

[Apologies for the dormancy of my blog – I hope to give it a kickstart later in summer. But for now a book review]: As someone who has, for years, taught human sexuality at a university with many students who grew up with Kiss Dating Goodbye and virginity pledges, I […]

cameraman statue in Bratislava

The main reason I call myself a humanist* is because I believe God is too. Humanists put a high value on the freedom, beauty and experience of humanity, and this was true long before religious violence and oppression (especially in Europe after the Reformation) drove such a huge wedge between […]

book cover - a more christlike god

I remember a moment in my teens when I was struck by the simple verse in the Gospel of John: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14.9). I started asking myself some questions: Why had I formed an image of God in which a very distant and […]