Blog on the Learig

  5 September 2025 On 7 August 1974, Philippe Petit walked across a tight-rope strung between the Twin Towers in New York with an 8’ balancing pole. The Towers were 1,368’ from the ground. There was a distance of 140’ between them. On windy days, there was enough force in the wind   to knock a man down. Security was intense and there was a police station in the basement.   Despite the protests and threats from the police gathered in amazement on the roofs of the Twin Towers, Petit made eight crossings on the wire and spent no less than 45 minutes literally dancing with death. The live footage is breath-taking. Two moments stand out. The first is when Petit lies down on his back on the wire between the Towers and looks up into heaven. The second is when he kneels on the wire as if he is genuflecting in church. Suddenly, he raises his arm in the air with the flourish of a dancer in the Royal Ballet. ‘I observed the tightrope dancer because you couldn’t call him a wa...

  4 September 2025 Simeon, often known as Simeon, the Stylite, was the son of a shepherd. At thirteen, he read the Beatitudes and became a very zealous Christian. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.’ Before he was sixteen, he became a monk. He was notoriously austere. So much so,   the brothers in the monastery asked him to leave. He lived in a hut for a year and a half, praying strenuously, sometimes standing for long periods of time. He removed himself from the hut and looked for high ground. He sought out a rocky eminence in the mountains and began to live on top of   it. This aspect of his life   is hidden in the term ‘stylite’. It derives from the Greek word for ‘pillar’. As   you can imagine, people were curious to see the monk praying on the pillar. Pilgrims and sight-seers made their way into the desert. Simeon’s prayers were constantly interrupted so   he moved to a higher   pillar eventually living on top of one whi...

  3 September 2025 In one of my charges, a group of schoolboys began targeting windows of my parishioners on the way home from school. They would pick up a handful of gravel from the residents’ driveway and throw some of the stones at the living-room windows. This mischief was distressing to one older woman within the congregation. I went to visit. ‘I have contacted Environmental Health.’ she confessed. I was surprised and asked her, ‘Why?’ to which she replied, ‘It concerns the environment and it is affecting my health!’ Boys have been throwing stones for centuries. I threw some with my homemade catapult and on one infamous occasion, I penetrated our living-room window. My father was sitting in his chair. I just missed his ear. He was none too pleased but I didn’t end up in prison. Recently, I signed a petition organised by the charity, Embrace, and sent an accompanying letter to my MP concerning child detention in the Israeli occupied West Bank. The most common charge for...

  2 September 2025 The Book of Psalms ends with a glorious doxology in the shape of the final Psalm 150. It opens and closes with the words, ‘Praise the Lord!’ And, believe it or not, there are thirteen uses of the word ‘praise’ in my NRSV of this psalm. ‘Praise the Lord’ in Hebrew is ‘Hallelujah’. This is our Hallelujah Chorus. The Psalmist tells us where to praise God – in his sanctuary and in God’s mighty firmament. The former may refer to the Temple in Jerusalem. The latter refers to the heavens. The one is a reflection of the heavenly praises. Our worship here on earth reflects and is united with the worship in heaven. Why should we praise God? Two reasons are given – his might acts and his excellent greatness. The former refers to all that God has done not least in the crossing of the Red Sea and the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. The latter demonstrates the limitations of our praises. God is beyond comprehension. How have we to praise God? This is the f...