Tagged: righteousness

February 10, 2020

Shine as a light in the darkness

Relationships between couples can be problematic. However hard we try sometimes things don’t always work out. Every couple wants happiness, but sometimes it’s rather evasive.

So it was with, I’m sure, the best will in the world that around a hundred years ago Woman’s Weekly gave regular advice to wives on how to keep their husbands happy. In those days, of course, it was rather one way! And so Woman’s Weekly gave lots of tips to housewives that would enable them to make sure they had a happy husband and therefore a happy marriage.

Advice such as:

Make your own clothes
How to use up leftovers – including a recipe for rhubarb dumplings
How to pack a holiday trunk
Talk less

They also had reams of helpful advice for housewives on how to keep the home, and yourself, ship-shape because a ship-shape home and a ship-shape wife meant a happy husband and a happy marriage. Things like:

Stir mushrooms with a silver spoon to identify the poisonous ones – actually completely untrue, it doesn’t work!
Store your lemons in sawdust.
Brush your hair for ten minutes each day to cure insomnia

Thankfully things have changed, and today, of course, we recognise that what creates a good relationship is not a matter of following those kinds of rules that people once thought important. And we know it’s not about one person keeping the other happy by doing all the right things.

Continue reading →

February 20, 2017

Don’t worry!

65277879_m

Genesis 1.1-2.3; Matthew 6.25-end

What do you worry about? What keeps you awake at night?

Well, we worry about all kinds of things, but I wouldn’t mind betting that one thing most of you worry about at some time or other is money.

Mintel is a market research company. And a while ago they carried out a survey about worrying. And according to their survey 8 out of 10 people worry. I couldn’t help wondering if the other 2 people worried that they didn’t worry.

And what are the things we worry about? The survey showed that top of the list – and no surprise – is money! Then comes, in order, problems with family and friends, health, stress at work and then in fifth place, job security.

Today’s gospel reading gives us Jesus talking about worry! And the Church of England has done a very interesting thing with our reading this morning. Jesus starts by telling the crowd that they are not to worry. Easier said than done, of course! But look at those opening words of Jesus: Continue reading →

February 15, 2017

How do we know what is right?

40355395 - depressed businessman sitting under question marks

Ecclesiasticus 15.15-end; Matthew 5.21-37

One of the most popular and famous television programmes of the last 20 years was Who wants to be a Millionaire. Each contestant had to answer just 12 questions correctly to win a million pounds. During its run – which I managed to avoid completely – it made five people into millionaires.

At its height over 19 million people watched it. And one of the factors that made it famous was its use of what were called ‘lifelines’ which contestants could use if they were stuck on a particular question. I’m sure you remember the format – each question had four possible answers and if you got stuck you could use a lifeline. You had a choice of three.

One of these was Phone a friend, a phrase which has now entered the language. The second was 50/50 where the computer would remove two answers leaving you with one right and one wrong answer. The third lifeline was … ? Continue reading →

February 13, 2014

What I said this Sunday – 4th before Lent (Proper 1)

Here’s what I said this Sunday past.

Isaiah 58.1-9a; 1 Corinthians 2.1-12; Matthew 5.13-20

Relationships between couples can be problematic. However hard we try sometimes things don’t always work out. Every couple wants happiness, but sometimes it’s rather evasive. So it was with, I’m sure, the best will in the world that around a hundred years ago Woman’s Weekly gave regular advice to wives on how to keep their husbands happy. In those days, of course, it was rather one way! And so Woman’s Weekly gave lots of tips to housewives that would enable them to make sure they had a happy husband and therefore a happy marriage.

Advice such as: