This is a review of the book “Enabling Church: a Bible-based resource towards the full inclusion of disabled people” by Gordon Temple with Lin Ball (London: SPCK/Torch Trust 2012). This short-ish paperback is a workbook for churches, small groups or individuals seeking to learn more about disability and inclusion within the church. It includes real-life […]
Making Time
January 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I wrote once about the amount of time mental illness takes from us, about the waste of our time and resources that our ill-health can bring. Mental illness can cause us to feel like we are wasting our time, being idle, not making the most of our opportunities. I urged that we think of our […]
I Ease You
January 28, 2013 by 3 Comments
A short poem today, by George Herbert. Jesu JESU is in my heart, his sacred name Is deeply carved there: but th’other week A great affliction broke the little frame, Ev’n all to pieces: which I went to seek: And first I found the corner, where was J, After, where ES, and next where U […]
Liturgy and Mental Illness
January 26, 2013 by 1 Comment
Not all that long ago I moved from one end of the country to another and with it, moved church. I moved from a church which generally held an informal worship service to an Anglican church with a more formal style. Nevertheless my old church did, from time to time, hold a more liturgical type […]
8 Good Things To Say to a Depressed Person
January 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I have seen lots of the sort of lists I’ve made, saying what some of the worst things we can say when someone we know is depressed, but I haven’t seen quite so many about what we can say. I wrote a piece called 8 Ways To Help When Someone is Mentally Ill, which I’d […]
4 Things Not To Say to a Depressed Christian
January 18, 2013 by 6 Comments
Following on from my last post, 10 Things Not To Say To A Depressed Person, I thought I would cover a few of the things people say to Christians in particular. One of the worst parts about suffering depression is the level of stigma surrounding it. Some of that stigma comes from the wider world, […]
10 Things NOT To Say To Someone Who Is Depressed
January 12, 2013 by 10 Comments
I have posted before about a few things that are unhelpful to say to someone who is experiencing depression (here and here) and I thought I would draw together the ten least helpful things in one post. Similar lists can be found all over the internet, of course! 1) Pull yourself together. This, and similar […]
Flat-Pack Furniture and the Body of Christ
January 10, 2013 by 4 Comments
A particularly strenuous bout of flat-pack furniture making and carrying said furniture up the stairs has led me to reflect on weakness. The Bible is very clear that we all do different things within the body of Christ – that we all are different parts of his body, and all equally valuable. Paul wrote, in […]
A Good Enough Christian
January 4, 2013 by 1 Comment
My mother told me about a book she read some years ago about being a “good enough” parent. She said that, amidst the conflicting advice and all the well-meaning instructions about childcare, this book emphasised only being “good enough.” No one can be the perfect parent, and people can wear themselves out trying to be, […]
New Year, New You
January 3, 2013 by 4 Comments
The signs are everywhere, in the magazines, in the newspapers, online. Those signs which say that if you just resolve to do so, 2013 will be a different, better time. You can be thin, more beautiful, meet a new man, get that job, get some money, things will be better than they were before. Religious […]
Believer's Brain 