Thought for the Day
A one-minute read to inspire or challenge. Written by members of the church and updated every few days.
28th January 2026
Sunday 8th February has been designated as Racial Justice Sunday.
I am dismayed that, over fifty years after Martin Luther King Jr became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (at the time), we still need to set aside time each year to explore what it means truly to love our neighbour. In recent times it seems that we have slipped back toward an earlier age with politicians and commentators using inflammatory, racist language to stir up fear and hatred. They do this without shame and with no concern for the harm their words inflict. The targets of their rhetoric might be asylum seekers, migrants or just people who happen to be black.
So how should we respond? Jesus calls on us not to tolerate or accept our neighbours but to love them, regardless of their race, colour or beliefs. This is not an easy task, it will make us stand out from many in modern British society, apparently, but the task is urgent. We could start by spending some time with the materials the Racial Justice Sunday writers’ group has put together. It is free and available on the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland website.
Nick Parsons
23rd January 2026
Curiosity. That’s a word that has caught my attention this week. It has popped up at work, as one of those skills that the company seeks to encourage in its engineers. Mindfulness meditations encouraged me to be curious about the sounds around us and the sensations of the body. As I caught up with some […]
21st January 2026
At Swakopmund in Namibia, once a German colony, there is a historic steam locomotive abandoned there in 1895 and known to the locals as Martin Luther because “Here I stand, I can go no further”. I am writing this in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. At least in England the churches stance about […]
16th January 2026
I’m writing on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s birth in 1929. A Baptist minister, his prominent part in the 1960s Civil Rights movement is honoured on this day as a federal holiday across the USA since 2000. A favourite time for me in teaching was playing to pupils a recording of MLK’s ‘I have […]
14th January 2026
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity. W. B. Yeats’ words, penned in the turmoil following the 1914-18 conflict and war in Ireland, ring tragically true today. […]
7th January 2026
CHANGE AND CHANGELESSNESS What a world of change we live in. I find it remarkable that to send a letter by first-class post, even a short distance, costs £1.70, whereas an email can circuit the world for practically nothing. We may well be amongst the few who still use details of TV Channels to determine […]
31st December 2025
We’ve reached the turning of the year: goodbye to 2025 and hello to 2026. TV, radio, newspapers and magazines invite us to review the year that’s departing – the past 12 months’ political headlines, major news stories, sporting events, gossip from the world of entertainment, scandals, obituaries and the like – before going on to […]
19th December 2025
BLUE CHRISTMAS 2025 There are times when you get the same message twice. I came across this from Paul Lavender, the minister of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Northampton, the day after Sam’s sermon last Sunday. I have edited it a little for length. Many thanks to Paul. Christmas speaks most clearly to those who […]
17th December 2025
Advent can be a wonderful time of anticipation and reflection, but it can also be hectic with a tendency towards life beginning to feel somewhat chaotic as we try and squeeze ever more into each 24 hours as Christmas approaches. I’m listening to Miranda Hart’s book, “I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You” in which […]
12th December 2025
Everyone knows Kings College Cambridge Nine Lessons and Carol Service broadcast worldwide on Christmas Eve. Few know that there is a similar service every year on Advent Sunday. In origin, before radio etc, the Christmas Eve service was “a gift to the City of Cambridge” whereas the Advent Service was (and is) for the University. […]