We pray for those not with us,those still on their way here,pray for those hurrying to join us this morninglet them find calm despite anxiety,respite in their rush. And we pray for those who are joining us online,still looking for a charger,whose audio is still connecting,those who are about to tune in this morning,maybe still … Continue reading those not with us

NB: Prior to this sermon, our congregation had explored the Metta Sutra or loving KIndness prayer of Theravada Buddhism in two variations; first saying the prayer in its usual version which is in four parts: May I be well, May those I love be well, may the one I don't know be well, and the … Continue reading The deeds and suffering of light

We are in our winter of listening; of attending inwardly despite all the temptations to focus on the outer noise:the carnage of a failing empire will always be a vexatious distraction - its interesting isn’t it when language catches up with behaviour; last week I was doing something, and then this week I discovered there … Continue reading Another Kind of Light

After hearing this poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44122/a-nocturnal-upon-st-lucys-day We listened to this extraordinary rendition of an epiphany carol Slava Rozhdennomu by Natalka Polovynka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5DQv2nIDlA&feature=youtu.be "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." Gospel of John 1:5 Earlier we heard John Donne’s great poem A Nocturnal on St Lucy’s day. Perhaps this great metaphysical … Continue reading Winter-light finding sacred time: a meditation on John Donne’s A Nocturnal upon St Lucy’s Day

Happy New Year ListeningIn The winter of Listening David Whyte says..."What is preciousinside us does notcare to be knownby the mindin ways that diminishits presence."... So as we begin to listen, listen to our deepest selves; which is to say we pray, I ask in words of Pema Chodron: “…what frees you and helps you … Continue reading New Years Day – (a short meeting to catch up and tune in)

This service was given on June 28th 2020 during lockdown restrictions for Covid19: Today we heard a track from I'm New Here by Gil Scott Heron - "...this the closest thing I have to a voice of reason..."Gil Scott Heron was one of the heroes of my youth, a genuine cross-over artist who introduced punks … Continue reading Turn around, turn around, turn around (metanoia in a time of meta-crisis)

Our services of contemplative, spiritual worship here at Mill Hill Chapel are acts of resistance to the prevailing culture; We stand between the worlds of finance and retail here in Leeds and offer an alternative narrative to both. Our services are acts of resistance to the prevailing culture because they intentionally acknowledge and centre the … Continue reading ‘As time goes by’ : re-enchantment in time of crisis…

A few weeks ago I noticed how every year the changing of the hour does something weird to all of us; because we see reality slip just slightly, we see that the time is constructed by all of us and when we change it we all have to agree to a reality shift.I once visited … Continue reading My ghost/your ghost

“We wouldn’t treat people the way we do if they had souls”… In an interview recently https://youtu.be/C-mJnYmdVmQ?t=2379 the psychologist Gabor Mate said: “For this society to function it has to separate the soul from the body - because we wouldn’t treat people the way we do if [we believed] they had souls. Post-enlightenment rationalism means … Continue reading The Over Soul of All Souls

This world of blissful surprise,of ecstatic imaginings ofbaby cry and lover’s sighand cloud roll into thunderheadand rain falling on the tongue (and the lips and the teeth)This world prays within you -and turns your blood vivid blue as it oxygenatespulses and electrifies neuronsthrough synapsesand then releases blood-red rushingin your ears and your nose, temple bells … Continue reading The world prays within you