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| Home » Writings, Speeches, Broadcasts » Thought for the Day » 2009 |
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| Sukkot is about the resilience of the human spirit |
| 2/10/2009 |
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First came the tsunami in the South Pacific, then, less than 24 hours later, the earthquake in Sumatra, claiming hundreds of victims. The scenes have been devastating, of shattered buildings and broken lives. And our thoughts and prayers must be with the people of Samoa and Tonga and Padang as they struggle to come to terms with tragedy and loss.
This latest series of natural disasters has reminded us yet again of how small we are in the face of the elemental force... |
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| Forgiveness liberates us from being held captive by the past |
| 25/9/2009 |
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Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which begins on Sunday night, is the holy of holies of Jewish time, when even the least committed Jews are to be found in the synagogue. Which is odd, because it's the hardest day of the year. A day entirely spent in prayer, penitence, and confession.
What's more, it's a fast -- and a Jewish festival without food is a rare thing indeed. ... |
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| The Shofar is the satellite navigation systemof the soul |
| 18/9/2009 |
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Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins tonight. And on Sunday in the synagogue we’ll blow the shofar, the ram’s horn, as a kind of summons to us to get back on track in our lives. Asking God to write us in the book of life helps us remember our aims and aspirations in life. And we need such moments of reflection, individually and as a society, because otherwise the sheer pace and pressure of events can stop us noticing that for all our efforts we’re still no nearer our desti... |
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| We must recover the idea of fatherhood |
| 19/6/2009 |
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This coming Sunday is father’s day, and fatherhood has been in the news this week. First there was the report that the number of fathers staying at home to look after the children has gone up 80 per cent in a single year. Partly of course it’s due to rising unemployment; but it’s also due to a real, and very necessary, change of attitudes.
That change is also reflected in a new film produced in America called The Evolution of Dad. There too there’... |
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