Faith, doubt and change

Last week I was lucky to be in Assisi, a place I love. I identify with Francis of Assisi - his deep care for nature and creation, his appreciation of quiet spaces, and his love of community and life. Because running in nature is one of the ways I connect with God and myself, I usually like to explore new places on foot. This time, I climbed Mount Subasio, the mountain where Francis would go to pray above the city. Although I’d set off early in the morning, it was already warm

There are moments when words become a kind of interference. Perhaps you know this feeling. You arrive somewhere carrying something enormous, something that does not yet have a shape, and the last thing you need is someone trying to give it one: A faith that has shifted beyond recognition. A relationship that has broken. A loss that is still too close and too raw to be spoken about coherently. Someone, with the best of intentions, reaches for words. Explanations. Encouragement

Sometimes we can find ourselves thinking about something over and over again, with a sense that something isn’t quite right or needs to change. It can be hard to know if we’re overthinking as we go round the same mental loops, or whether our intuition is trying to tell us something important. We ask ourselves, ‘Is this my anxiety, or is this something I need to listen to?’ but it can be hard to find an answer as our thoughts feel unsettled and we lack peace. Perhaps there’s a

The Journey of Spiritual Growth What do you do when the rhythms that once held your spiritual life no longer fit, but the longing for connection is still there? For much of my life, my days and seasons were shaped by the steady patterns of faith. Church on Sundays was a given. Our Wednesday night small group was a staple ingredient of every week. There were daily practices, familiar prayers, and well-worn words. The year itself had a rhythm. Advent gave way to Christmas. Lent