There is a television story,  Reasonable Doubts, about a woman defence lawyer representing a man convicted of brutal assaults. This man was asking the Parole Board to release him after serving a 14 year prison sentence.  The lawyer was successful and the man was  released.

A policeman who was present at the original crime scenes gave the lawyer a rough time after the hearing, telling her she shouldn’t represent such people. This man was nothing but scum.

Subsequently, the police officer discovered that the lawyer’s mother had died from cancer the day before the hearing. So, the next time he saw her he apologised.  I’m sorry, if I had known your mother had died I would have been easier on you. Continue reading If Only I Had Known →

Sunday 23 October 2022

We’re coming to the ending of the Church Year, and with this comes what we call the apocalyptic readings with their dramatic pictures of endings and calamities. That word ‘apocalyptic’ has been somewhat distorted by dramatic films about the end of the world, but that’s not the word’s meaning in the scriptures. It does include the end times, but it doesn’t stop there. The theme underlying apocalyptic scripture is that of the reversal of privilege and oppression – a message that Jesus continually hammers out. But apocalyptic scripture doesn’t stop with doom and destruction; it also sings of restoration and renewal – of God’s new creation. Today’s reading from the prophet Joel fits into this latter category very well. Continue reading Ending – or new beginning? →