Thought for the Day
A one-minute read to inspire or challenge. Written by members of the church and updated every few days.
22nd April 2026
Tomorrow is St George’s Day. Nobody seems to know why St George became the patron saint of England. He was born in Turkey and is popularly thought of as having slain a dragon. I have been to Turkey a couple of times but didn’t see any dragons – so maybe he slew them all!
In reality he was probably a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity and was martyred for his faith at the time of the Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century.
Then we have the flag of St George, with its red cross, as the flag of England. Writing in The Times last Saturday, the Archbishop of York pointed out that the red cross signifies sacrifice and the white background signifies purity and love. As it is flown over many churches and public buildings to mark this day, it will be misunderstood by many. In recent years this flag has been hijacked by people protesting against immigration and, in the more extreme cases attacking immigrants and the hostels where many of them live. And again this has been taken even further by some who attack people of certain races who are perceived as unwanted incomers to this country.
I see this evil as being embodied in the figure of a dragon, so perhaps we should see the St George’s flag, not as a symbol of misplaced ‘patriotism’, but as a reminder that the ‘dragon’, an evil thing, needs to be slain.
David T Roberts
17th April 2026
The return of the Artemis II crew last Friday following their record-breaking flight to and from the Moon was surely a source of satisfaction for many of us. Apart from some minor difficulties with the on-board toilet, the mission seems to have gone rather well. By coincidence, fifty-six years ago today, the world was celebrating another safe return from space, but that happy outcome had been far from certain. Commander Jim Lovell’s famous words, ‘Houston, […]
15th April 2026
Finding God in the Stillness In the busyness of life, it’s easy to move quickly past the quiet invitations God places before us. Yet again and again, scripture reminds us that his presence is not found only in the dramatic or extraordinary, but in the stillness, when we pause, listen, and trust. Often in the […]
10th April 2026
At Easter we recall the story of Jesus, risen from the dead, joining two of his followers walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Last month the new Archbishop of Canterbury undertook an 87-mile, 6-day walking pilgrimage from St Paul’s Cathedral to Canterbury Cathedral in preparation for her installation. BBC TV has just aired the latest series […]
8th April 2026
Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in […]
1st April 2026
In John’s account of the crucifixion Pilate asks, “What is truth?” Perhaps a deep philosophical question or perhaps trying to find what the Jewish leaders were claiming. The Romans had a goddess of truth, Veritas, and considered truth a virtue. Truth seems to be increasingly under threat. There are those (mainly celebs) who make statements […]
30th March 2026
Let us join the disciples as they follow Jesus during the week that will lead to his crucifixion. I encourage you to read the whole of John chapter 12 and imagine yourself in Jesus’ presence as the story unfolds. The week begins in Bethany, at the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus – yes, the […]
27th March 2026
From the writings of Martin Luther King: “I’ve seen hate on too many faces to want to hate, myself; every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must say to our most bitter opponents: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our […]
25th March 2026
Have you noticed an increasing tendency of people and businesses offering their services to say, ‘We’re passionate about . . .?’ It can be a ‘passion’ about anything from car maintenance to plumbing to landscape gardening to . . . whatever. I confess to finding this somewhat annoying. When I look for a job to […]
20th March 2026
I have recently been reading a novel – Peter Abelard – by Helen Waddell. It is about a cleric in France in the 12th century. As a priest he is supposed to remain single, but he secretly marries and, while he manages to avoid being condemned by the church court (which could have meant excommunication), […]