Start:Stop-Checkmating God

Start:Stop offers busy commuters the chance to start their day by stopping to reflect for ten minutes. Reflections begin each quarter hour from 7.45am until 9.00am. Thank you to everyone who joined me today at St Stephen Walbrook. My reflection is below.

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. During Lent our reflections are inspired by Dr Jane Williams book The Merciful Humility of God. Today we look back to the Feast of the Annunciation, which was celebrated yesterday, with the help of St Teresa of Avila, who among other things is the patron saint of chess. We begin with a short bible reading which can be found on page 211 of the New Testament section of the bibles.

Start:Stop-Julian of Norwich

Pablo Picasso - Crucifixion (1932)

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. During Lent our reflections are inspired by chapters from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book “The Merciful Humility of God” by Dr Jane Williams. We begin with a bible reading which can be found on page 117 of the New Testament.

The Irreplaceable Human Being - Bonhoeffer in Lent

Bishop Martin Lind gives the Bank Churches Lent Lecture 2019  (Picture: Lutheran Church of Great Britain)

The 2019 Bank Churches Lent Lecture was delivered by Bishop Martin Lind, Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain and an expert in the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), the Lutheran pastor and theologian who resisted the Nazis and was killed in 1945 at the age of 39 in a concentration camp.

Start:Stop-Revealing the Underground Stream

Forgotten Streams by Crista Igelsias

Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a short bible reading which can be found on page 37 of the New Testament.

Reflection on Psalm 96

The Lagoon from the illustrated book Jazz by Henri Matisse, 1947

A haiku based on Psalm 96

Sing our song of love

In concert with all the earth. 

Keep on practising.

Reflection on Psalm 39

The Empty Tomb, Ghislaine Howard, 2000

A life tormented by a restless heart.

Is it burning in anger - or with love?

Which flames will fire my lips to speak?

How long must I endure?

Start:Stop-The Song of Songs

Marc Chagall, Le cantique des cantiques (The Song of Songs), 1975

Start:Stop offers ten minute reflections, starting each quarter of an hour, between 7.45am and 9.15am. This is my reflection from 12th February 2019. Thank you for joining us for Start:Stop. This reflection will last around ten minutes and you are welcome to come and go as your schedule dictates. We begin with a bible reading which can be found on page 652 of the Old Testament. 

Three Byzantine Saints Reunited with St Stephen - The Treasures of Byzantium

Akathistos by Nick Bicât - Performed by Cantata Dramatica with dancers from Middlesex University

“Chaire numphe anumpheute!” (Hail unwedded bride) sang out Pulcheria (Frances M Lynch) as she led her sister-in-law Eudocia (Hannah Scott) and Melania the Younger (Rhian Davies) around the altar at St Stephen Walbrook on 30th January 2019 at the opening of Akathistos by Nick Bicât. The piece was performed as part of ‘Treasures of Byzantium’ by Cantata Dramatica in aid of the charity Lepra. The community choir of St Stephen Walbrook was invited to join with the chorus at key points in the text. Whilst the performance was a world premiere, it wasn’t the first time that these three female saints from Byzantium had been associated with a church dedicated to St Stephen; disputes about their various claims on the relics of the first Christian martyr continued even after their deaths.

A reflection on Psalm 12

The Mock Marriage of Orlando and Rosalind (As You Like It - Act IV Scene I) by Walter Howell Deverell 

Have we made all the world a stage?

Addicted to our own applause? 

Do we owe our Sunday Best to a child refugee?

Who gave us virtues to be seen - or not to be seen : what is the answer?

We cannot ask the faithful - they have been cast out.

A reflection on Psalm 1

Pacino di Bonaguida, Tree of Life, 1310

A personal reflection and prayer based on Psalm 1, one of the psalms appointed for Morning Prayer today.

The Tree of Life.

Evergreen.

Rooted.

Strong yet tender.

Yearning for the Son.

The Cross of Jesus.

BOOK REVIEW - Phoebe : A Story by Dr Paula Gooder

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.” (Romans 16:1-2)