“English” language resources
The Gifts of the Magi: A Guided Meditation
The Gospel of Matthew tells us the magi brought the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn Jesus. Gold represented Christ’s kingship, his sovereignty; frankincense represented his divinity; myrrh represented his humanity, his mortality.
Let us consider how these gifts have manifested in our own lives over the past year – taking them in
A guided meditation on ways to well-being: connect, be active, take notice, learn, give.
(The New Economics Foundation created The Five Ways to Well-being in 2008 – as a set of evidence-based actions that promote well-being in everyday life. These are: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Learn and Develop, and Give.)
Breathing in, I connect. Breathing out, I am aware of my connections. Breathing in, I am aware of
Grace
Grace is a word I had some resistance to for a long time. I associated it with the line from the song, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” Saving, wretch, all that stuff does not compute with me. But some time ago I had an experience of grace, when
Sacred
I had my first spiritual experience at about ten years old, on a family holiday on Rousay in Orkney. There are few people on this wild island, but there is archaeological evidence of ancient human habitation in abundance. One evening I left the holiday cottage for the Neolithic burial chamber in the field nearby. I
Trust
‘Trust is something that must be earned’ is a common phrase, but if we expect others to earn our trust, we place the responsibility on them. We only take responsibility for ourselves when we give trust freely.
For me, trust is something that must be learned. This lesson has not been easy for me. My subconscious
Truth
I grew up in the Anglican Church, but the ‘sin and salvation’ side of Christianity never resonated with me. At school I became fascinated by the different approaches of world religions to ‘the big questions’ and decided to study Theology and Religious Studies at university. The more I studied world religions, the more I understood
Faith
Unitarianism is a creed-less faith. It is hard to describe my faith, beyond that it is a faith in love as our ultimate purpose. What I can tell you is what it means to me to be a woman of faith; how my faith compels me to try to treat others with respect and compassion;
Blessing for those who find Christmas difficult
If this time is tough, may you find comfort
amid your sorrow and healing amid your pain.
May you know that you are the light of the world.