Curate Conundrums

  I’ve nearly died twice. One time I can remember, the other time I can’t. Our reading today from Hebrews is all about death and what God does with it. And today we celebrate the presentation of Christ in the temple or Candlemas. It’s an important day, and I’ll explain a bit more later, but our readings are linked. Candlemas, That’s about death too, but also about light, life, unexpected joy and promises. When I say I’ve almost died twice, I don’t mean dying as in ‘I had a hangover and I felt like I was going to die’, or ‘I was so embarrassed I felt like I wanted to die.’ Because if that was the case, I would have hundreds of ‘near death’ experiences. No, I mean literal, near death experiences. The one I can’t remember was when I was about five or six years old. Some tree surgeons were cutting down a tree at the house opposite our house, so naturally, I wandered across the road to go and have a look at what they were doing. We lived on a quiet suburban road. And I was an an...

What do you do when you’re anxious? Is there a place you go to escape it? Do you try not to think about what you’re anxious about? My cat’s anxious, I should probably explain. My Mum and Step-Dad have just moved into my house temporarily with their cat. I can give or take them, but having the cat around is quite nice. The cat has been quite anxious and has taken to hiding under the bed inside a gym bag, we spent ages trying to find him, thinking he’d got out, but there he was, hidden away, somewhere he felt safe. When we discovered Mum in a rucksack in the wardrobe however, that’s when we knew things had gone too far. Perhaps we all have that instinct to hideaway in the safe places of our life, when things get tough, when worry seems to overwhelm everything in our lives and takes control.   For many of us, worry is a fact of life, so when St Paul says in Philippians, “don’t worry about anything”, I think, thanks mate, but that’s a little unhelpful. Have you seen what’s going on ...