Articles

J.C. Arnold has collected a number of stories from survivors of the Enschede and Volendam disasters in a book called “To retaliate or to forgive”. In the advertisement for this book our options – when confronted with injustice and suffering – are described differently, “We either keep harbouring resentment or we forgive the other person. [...]

The words “blessing” and “to bless” are used a lot in Church, and in a variety of meanings. But what is the essence of these concepts, and where do they come from? The English word “blessing” comes from the old Teutonic (Germanic) word ‘bletsian’, meaning “blood sacrifice”. But its meaning changed when it was used [...]

In these dark times before Christmas we traditionally pay attention to glimmers of light heralding the great light that came into the world. But as Halloween, All Saints / All souls, Remembrance Sunday and even Advent demonstrate, we also pay some attention to darkness and death itself. After all, we are expecting something that is [...]