Philo Trust

Prayer in the early hours

I have recently returned from Singapore and am jet-lagged and not sleeping well, so an article on the BBC website caught my attention. The myth of the eight-hour sleep gives a great deal of food for thought. The writer points out that scientific and historical research suggests that the current trend for a single spell of sleep overnight – on average eight consecutive hours – is relatively recent and may not actually be ideal. More traditional is a pattern of sleeping for a couple of hours, being awake for another hour or so and then sleeping again for a longer period. Many people who have been troubled for years by the fact that they find themselves waking up in the middle of the night and are then unable to get to sleep for an hour or so have been greatly reassured by this. They are normal after all!

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Why we need Lent

This Wednesday is what is called Ash Wednesday in the church calendar and it marks the start of the forty-day period of Lent that runs up to Easter Day. There is a longstanding tradition and practice that some Christians follow of fasting during Lent. The principle is that during this period you voluntarily deny yourself something such as chocolate or alcohol – or even Facebook or television. It has to be something that you like (there is no merit in giving up something you dislike!) and it has to be something good; after all, if it’s bad you ought to give it up permanently, not just take a break from it. Now this whole idea strikes many people today as bizarre or even medieval.

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Whitney Houston

The death of the singer Whitney Houston, at what is now considered a young age of 48, has shocked many people and generated much comment. No one disagrees over the fact that, in an industry filled with manufactured talent, she was the genuine article; an awesome voice that overflowed with beauty and soul. Sadly, she let drink and drugs destroy that talent. In fact, Whitney herself is reported as saying 'the biggest devil is me'. We, of course, don't know the details about Whitney's personal hurts, habits and hang ups that drove her to drink and drugs.

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Real Love

It's easy to be cynical about Valentine's Day – or about love generally. We struggle with what exactly we mean by love; there are alternatives calling themselves love that are, in fact, intent on hijacking the real thing. There are those who ‘love’ but are really only interested in sex and those who ‘love’ because it gives them a much-needed sense of self-worth. So how do we identify ‘real love’? The answer is surprisingly straightforward. In real love the other person always comes first. It is about caring and giving rather than demanding and taking. There is a selflessness about real love that is absent in its imitations. Real love is a priceless gift that can make us generous and selfless. Almost everybody who falls in love is made better by it. In a cynical age we need to defend the value of real love.

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The Queen: ruling and serving

Almost unbelievably it is 60 years since the accession of Princess Elizabeth to the throne on the sudden death of her father, King George VI. I am an admirer of the Queen and have appreciated her quietly stated but firm Christian commitment, but reflecting on her long reign I find myself particularly struck by the seriousness and faithfulness with which she has fulfilled her responsibilities. This responsibility and commitment is even more striking when you consider that she did not choose to become Queen, but had the solemn duty thrust upon her. I wonder whether she has ever found herself identifying with Frodo in Lord of the Rings who, as the one entrusted with the ring of power, finds himself forced to bear an appalling burden alone. Three thoughts about her reign come to mind.

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Leaving a Legacy

It is fascinating to read the ‘Wills’ column in the newspapers and see who has left part of their wealth to charitable causes. These people have obviously thought seriously about supporting organisations that they were interested in during their lives. Unfortunately, not many people get around to doing this. Indeed, too many people die without making a will at all. Others make a will and think it cannot be changed.

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New Year’s resolutions: yesterday, today and tomorrow

New Year is an opportunity to take an inventory of our lives and make resolutions for the year ahead, but most of us realise how unrealistic we are in those first few days of January, and how undisciplined we are at keeping resolutions. This can bring feelings of failure and disappointment before the year’s even started. January is named after the Roman god Janus, depicted as a two-faced man looking towards both the past and the future.

As we think about New Year’s resolutions we can look in three directions: at yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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Have you overlooked something this Christmas?

There was once a successful businessman who came from a large, close-knit but hard-up family. One year, when it came to December, he realised that he was far too busy to buy his relatives presents. So he decided to send each of them – there were twenty of them – a £100 cheque. He bought a pile of Christmas cards and a cheque book into his office and, between answering the phone and holding business meetings, managed to write a single sentence in twenty separate cards: ‘I thought you should buy your own Christmas present this year!’

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Having That Gratitude Attitude

No US holiday is as distinctive as Thanksgiving, held on the last Thursday of November. In our busy, deadline-fixated age, expressing gratitude to our heavenly Father is too easily squeezed out of our lives but it is important. Firstly, I think human beings are ‘hardwired’ to do this. Even atheists seem to have unsettling moments when they feel an irresistible urge to thank someone ‘up there’. One of the problems with atheism occurs when pain is avoided or pleasure gained – having no one to give thanks to leaves you with an itch you cannot scratch.

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Losing the plot at St Paul's

The troubled stand-off between the anti-capitalist protesters of the ‘Occupy the London Stock Exchange’ and the management of St Paul's Cathedral has put Christianity into the national headlines for all the wrong reasons. The first closure of London's great landmark since the Blitz of the Second World War and the succession of resignations that have followed has perplexed many. What is going on? Who's right and who's wrong?

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