Two ways to live

What is your experience of the Psalms in the Hebrew Bible? Take a moment to reflect on the following:  Which psalms most readily come to mind? What memories do you associate with those psalms? What people and places do you think of when you hear a psalm? What Christian hymns and songs extend the reach …

How to be a philosopher

Bertrand Russell on how to be a philosopher: It is important to learn not to be angry with opinions different from your own, but to set to work understanding how they come about. If, after you have understood them, they still seem false, you can then combat them much more effectually than if you had …

What would George do? (Part 2)

G. H. Morling on the causes of suffering One unforeseen development in the present pandemic is the rise of the coronavirus meme, from the hilarious to the deplorable, shared like viruses on social media. Laughter is an important and effective stress reliever in these times, and many of these memes are extraordinarily good at lightening …

The fountain of private prosperity

Open a Bible near the centre, and you will find the Book of Psalms. In many ancient manuscripts, the first psalm in the collection was apparently unnumbered, untitled, and printed in red ink to indicate that it frames and prefaces the whole Psalter, Israel's primary songbook. Psalm 1 is both a wisdom psalm, showing us …

Sex, marriage and social change

A sermon by Rod Benson Itโ€™s fair to say that, around the world, marriage is in a mess. Many couples today cohabit for years before marrying, or never marry. Married people divorce, as I have done, and some go on to remarry. Same sex couples want to marry each other, and there is strong political …