27 August 2025 – Wednesday

I am fond of Saul and the story of his dramatic fall on the way to persecute the new Christians in Damascus. Caravaggio painted Saul falling from his horse, that symbol of dominance and power.

That moment of painful realisation, when we see we might be on the wrong path, is familiar. The reality is that it can be humiliating when we are forced to look from another perspective.

These profound changes of heart also have their complications. A new convert to anything can feel the need to convince others to join their cause; in part, to justify their own position.

No matter how persuasive people are, it is still important to be gently curious about what they want us to believe and why.

It matters, too, that we continue to value and explore our own spiritual pathway, without being overly swayed by those who claim to have the truth.

I Thessalonians 2: 9-13

28 August 2025 – Thursday

Paul’s enthusiasm for his new faith mirrors his earlier zeal within Judaism. In a twist of fate, the persecutor has become the persecuted, finding companionship with others who share this spiritual journey.

It can be appealing to let go of what has previously sustained us, especially in the first rush of enthusiasm to embrace a new way of being.

One of the dangers of that approach is to end up compartmentalising different parts of life; to push down and out of consciousness what we think we are finished with.

We may try to leave the past behind, only to be surprised when it inevitably rises for attention at the most unexpected moments.

In Paul’s case, I wonder whether seeing his new understanding as a redevelopment of faith, rather than a rejection of the old, could have helped him and us to treasure our rich Jewish heritage.

1 Thessalonians 3: 7-13

29 August 2025 – Friday

Who needs Netflix when we have the beheading of John the Baptist in the Gospel of Mark. It is family dynamics on steroids; whether you see it played out on screen or recognise that all the characters could be represented within our own psyche.

An ego-driven Herod rides high in the polls but remains subject to political pressures. At the same time, he is strangely drawn to the wise old prophet. He wants to keep listening to that inner voice of calm wisdom.

But seductive forces within begin to overwhelm him. An ethical and moral struggle unfolds until the outrageous possibility of annihilating the wise seer within becomes a reality.

With one slice, the executioner separates the truth teller; and we are left bleeding on the floor, trying to put ourselves back together after whatever disaster we have created for ourselves.

I love Bible stories because they repetitively tell the truth about being human.

Mark 6: 17-29

30 August 2025 – Saturday

Given the current level of agitation in the world, Paul’s suggestion “to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands” has real merit.

His encouragement is bound to be unpopular, given our human propensity to give advice that no one really wants; in the ongoing mission to fix things lest the world fall into disrepair.

I reflected on this as I was doodling. This is my apparently useless pastime of using black pens on art paper. Just to be clear, I am not an artist and have no idea what will appear before I begin.

Sometimes it takes days or weeks, but eventually I know I am done with a particular doodle. In the process, all kinds of things shift within me; and that inward shift means I operate differently in the outer world.

I think it is a form of prayer.

1 Thessalonian 4: 1-8

31 August 2025 – Sunday

As far as I know, the Vatican astronomer, Brother Guy Consolmagno, has not yet spied God riding the clouds. That does not stop him, and others, from being inspired by the poetic biblical language describing God as a cloud rider.

It is inspirational, ethereal, powerful, and strangely comforting; to imagine that a power greater than us has a grip on this vast universe in which we find ourselves adrift.

But Yahweh is not alone up there. Baal was also seen as a cloud rider. Surya, the Hindu sun god, rides a chariot pulled by seven horses. Ra and Horus from Egypt had a solar barge. The imagery is of power and might.

Imagining the journey on, this psalm also depicts God as an advocate for the suffering and powerless. It is an important balancing act that brings us back to earth.

A reality worth singing about.

Psalm 68: 4-5, 6-7, 10-11

1 September – Monday

Faith does not abolish grief, but it transforms its horizon.

Paul reminds us that mourning must be woven with hope, for death is not the silence of nothingness but the mystery of passage.

Hope is not naïve optimism; it is trust in a reality that transcends our vision.

It is the courage to believe that love endures beyond the grave, that the communion of souls is not broken by time or space.

Our task is to accompany one another in this tension between absence and promise. To comfort one another is to whisper that even in the night of loss, dawn is already approaching.

First Thessalonians opens a space where faith and grief may dwell together. In that space, death is not denied but held within God’s embrace. The promise of resurrection is not tomorrow’s dream; it is already shaping how we love today.

First Thessalonians 4: 13-18

2 September – Tuesday

Faith calls us to live awake, attentive to the mystery unfolding in every moment. Paul reminds us that the day of the Lord is not predictable; it breaks in when we least expect it.

To be children of light is not to escape the night, but to remain watchful within it. We learn to recognise God’s presence even in the shadows, trusting that no darkness is absolute.

This vigilance is not anxious waiting. It is a posture of openness, a readiness to be surprised by grace, a willingness to see the ordinary illumined by God’s promise.

Paul urges us to encourage and build one another up. Hope is never a private possession; it flourishes in community.

First Thessalonians calls us to live as if eternity has already touched us, carrying the quiet courage that light will always overcome night, and love will endure.

First Thessalonians 5: 1-6, 9-11