Go on; it’ll do you good!  A conversation with a friend went like this:  Me: I heard you do a 24-hour fast every week!  Are you out of your mind? Friend: Probably. Me: WHY?  It’s a bit ‘Old Testament’, isn’t it?  Aren’t Christians supposed to be free from trying to impress God with religious rituals? Friend: You don’t have to […]

Fast: It’s not just another word for ‘quick’. Isn’t it weird how a word that is so full of energy and urgency can also be slow and withdrawn?  I’m no language scholar, and so I have no idea how this word came to have two opposite meanings.  I guess I could do some research online […]

You Can’t Spell VALENTINE without LENT   This Wednesday the calendar goes schizophrenic, and I don’t know what to think about it.  What do you do when the Day of Love coincides with the Day of Death; when the celebration of sugar and spice and all things nice clashes with slugs and snails and puppy […]

Lent. I’ve Found a Loophole! Good news, everyone! I’ve found a way to turn the hard work and self-denial of Lent into an opportunity to gorge yourself on snack food – and still have a clear conscience! I have an anonymous 7th century Italian monk to thank for this loophole. Apparently, he invented the ‘pretiola”, meaning […]

The joy and the frustration of being Episcopal   The late comic genius Robin Williams said there are ten reasons to be an Episcopalian.  Here they are: 10. No snake handling. 9. You can believe in dinosaurs. 8. Male and female God created them; male and female we ordain them. 7. You don’t have to […]

In place of the usual clergy article, this week we are pleased to welcome a guest writer: Pip the border collie. Happy New Year, St John’s! I bet you weren’t expecting the main article in the New Year edition of the newsletter to be written by a dog.  Well, we border collies are very intelligent, […]

 Another Weird Nativity    I first crossed that bridge when it was in its ‘experimental’ phase.  It wobbled.  In fact, it did worse than wobble.  It swung.  I didn’t like it.  I get motion sick.  I don’t like heights.  Neither do I like the prospect of falling into the icy River Thames.  Mercifully, I made […]