November 2018 Dear Friends, In 1918, at 11 o’clock, on the 11th day of the 11th month, the sound of gunfire ceased and what we now know as the First World War ended. The trouble is we know – not least from the addition of the title ‘First’ – that in 1939 the world was […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – April 2020
Dear Friends, They used to say in times gone by (BC – Before Coronavirus) that a week was a long time in politics. As I look back to what I wrote for Reflections a month ago, it seems like a completely different world. I didn’t even refer to Covid-19. How naïve and short-sighted! Within the […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – March 2020
Dear Friends, ‘All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.’ In a single sentence our greatest playwright summed up the essential character and vocation of human beings. We are destined to perform on the public stage and play many parts. Whether we are natural or reluctant players, there’s no escaping […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – January 2020
Dear Friends, Of all the images we have in our minds of Jesus, which dominate? The good shepherd? The healer? The crucified Christ? Christ risen from death? Traditionally at Christmas we’ve been encouraged to imagine Jesus as a plump baby surrounded by festive trimmings! If so, the Gospel reading we heard on the last Sunday […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – October 2019
Dear Friends, Nicola and I have entered a strange new world as our youngest son went off to university last month. We are now ‘empty nesters’. According to Wikipedia: “All parents are susceptible to empty nest syndrome… Symptoms of empty nest syndrome can include depression, a sense of loss of purpose, feelings of rejection, or […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – July 2019
Dear Friends, Below is an edited version of my address to this year’s AGM: Last week I had an interesting religious experience in the National Gallery. I was still recovering from 2 days of meetings in Leeds discussing all sorts of things about ministry in the United Reformed Church. The discussions were long and inconclusive […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – June 2019
Dear Friends, According to the spiritual writer David Adam, if spring represents the incoming tide, summer is the full tide of our lives, a time of depth and growth. It is the time when we achieve much and shape who we are. It is a time to seek to enjoy life and live it to […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – May 2019
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter Dear Friends, The Manse, over Easter, was the focus of intensive revision. Cam was revising for his university finals and Ross for his A levels. I, too, was in the business of revision – but not in the same sense as Cam and Ross who were swatting for exams. But their revision […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – March 2019
Dear Friends, I am writing this on Valentine’s Day, conscious that you will be reading this next month, at the beginning of Lent. The two events, separated by a few weeks this year, are very much related to one another, because they both celebrate love: God’s love for us, and romantic love. We can learn […]
Russell’s Monthly Newsletter – February 2019
February 2019 Dear Friend’s It is always good when you have known about something wonderful or fascinating, like a good book or TV series, that others eventually catch on to and enjoy as well. I discovered Marie Kondo and the ‘konmari’ method of tidying and de-cluttering a couple of years ago but now she is […]