Lately I've been watching the rather wonderful BBC series 'Coast' on DVD, so the sea was on my mind yesterday as I sat down with the Bible, my sketchbook and my journal. At present I'm reading through Isaiah. In Isaiah 41, I found the verse:

'Listen to me in silence, O coastlands, let the people renew their strength; let them approach, let them speak; let us together draw near for judgement'. 

The idea of Christians as the coastline appeals to me. The shoreline is different. It…

This week, as I approach the start of the Quaker Basics course, I've been reading about simplicity. To a new Friend, this is a challenging concept. I was concerned that it made a virtue out of not thinking and this troubled me. Many years ago, as a new Christian, I remember being told that Christians should accept all they are told without question. Even as a teenager, I thought that was ridiculous. How could I separate the two ideas? Simplicity, as it was presented, seemed at first to mean…