Tag Archives: love

Seasonal affair

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

The seagulls are returning from wherever it is that seagulls go when the lake, luminous lover, has frozen them out, but they seem chastened; they sound subdued, touch her gingerly, testing the waters.

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Blue Christmas 2013

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is a scene in the extended poem by W.H. Auden, For the Time Being, that has never left me since I first read it. The language is so visual I can almost see it. Transplanted into contemporary England – … Continue reading →

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Martha, Mary and the midwife’s advice

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

Here’s how I’d like the story to go: Martha: lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” Jesus: “lads, Simon, Andrew, James, Whatsyername, you … Continue reading →

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Maundy Thursday: the sacrament of love

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

Ambrose, Bishop of Milan in one of the early centuries of the church, believed that the washing of feet instituted by Jesus was as sacramental, as important and as necessary as the two sacraments that the churches have all ended … Continue reading →

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Aflame

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

Aflame with a passion which has yet to be quite requited, reaching out tongues of everlasting fire to melt the perennially hard-hearted with the patience of Time itself, burning with love, yet unconsumed.

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Year B Proper 27: Loving and giving

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Naomi had lost everything. I mean, everything. It is just too hard to imagine, to think about Naomi’s loss. When she came back to Bethlehem, she wouldn’t even answer to her given name. When her old neighbours recognized her and … Continue reading →

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God-parenting

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Many years ago, when my first daughter was a baby, I heard a sermon which took parents to task regarding their Christian responsibilities to their children. There were various points, and a story. The story involved the preacher’s own infant … Continue reading →

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Year B Proper 17: preaching the Song of Songs

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Perhaps the most bewildering question about the Song of Solomon, or the Song of Songs, or Canticles – the book has gone by many names – is how it ended up in the Bible, a sacred text. Historical criticism insists … Continue reading →

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Troubling comfort

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” Matthew 6:34 Today’s Daily Office reading does not promise that “all shall be well, and all manner of things shall … Continue reading →

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An apology

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

To those hurting and heartbreaking, angry and frustrated after yesterday’s vote in North Carolina: I’m sorry. I’m sorry that as a woman married to a man I am part of a majority that has said, “My love is sacred and … Continue reading →

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