I can't do Paul being Peek Paul first thing in the morning. #MorningPrayer

I'm finding that Lent, for me, is more than anything about this daily repetition of Ps51 and the collect for Ash Wednesday. www.everypsalm.com/listen?searc... It's more than the words; it's a sort of mental shorthand for the season. 🕯️

Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.

Ms Twomey urged women who feared violence from their partner to seek immediate help and support. She said that, with the benefit of hindsight, she realised her husband had been planning the attack for a long time

holy shit

I don’t think people can fathom quite how hard this would be to implement. I suspect almost all of the senior judiciary would resign immediately, as would a large proportion of the rest of the CJS.

Religion note: Remember the bishop who told priests to get their wills in order and “we are entering a new era of martyrdom,” referring to resisting ICE? He’s the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, and he mentioned the fight over this ICE facility when I spoke w/him religionnews.com/2026/01/15/t...

Belated #AshWednesday thought. We are dust, but that dust is the earth of Eden.

2026 basically

Actual photo of the Holy Spirit checking in on folks as they begin a #HolyLent @unvirtuousabbey.bsky.social 🕯️

This is the Gov looking for your input on the BBC. It takes a while to complete (15/20 mins) but it’s pretty comprehensive and covers most aspects. Please share. I’m surprised many people haven’t seen it yet. www.gov.uk/government/c...

Ramadan Mubarak

This is very good. #AshWednesday

On #AshWednesday, we begin our Lenten look at 'Community' with Vincent van Gogh's Potato Eaters, in light of Genesis 3. Ben Quash writes that the young couple on the left '... must live as Adam and Eve had to live when they lost the bounty of paradise.' Take a look here: thevcs.org/adams-curse#...

I mean ya. Jesus was offered a way to bypass the cross and establish a pax Christos... but that's not the kingdom. Using the tools of empire just creates another empire.

Disturbing results: with 2-degree increase "noticeably fewer beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, which left plants less able to acquire nutrients or buffer themselves from environmental stressors like freezing temperatures & drought" #OneHealth #SoilHealth #Fungi theconversation.com/warming-wint...

There's always something rather lovely when Ramadan and Lent overlap, but to have them start together is proper lovely. ⚓

Discernment is hard. #JustSaying. 🕯️

So when is @churchofengland.org going to add these guys to their list of prohibited organisations along with the BNP? #CofEPeeps #Anglican

Do it now. If we want democracy we need a reliable source of truth. If we want truth we need it to be independent of multinational billionaires. The BBC is crucial and must not be privatised or run as a commercial company interested only in profit.

To help combat loneliness, we need to breathe new life into our high streets and community centres so people have somewhere to turn up, join in, and share the things they care about with others.

What? No! How is this even a possibility?

Well, it makes a change from rain. 🥶

When we refer to the Liberal Democrats, we generally shorten it to “LibDems”. So why don’t we do likewise with ReformUK and refer to them as REFUK? It would have the added benefit of succinctly conveying what they stands for! .

I firmly believe the second house should be a People's Assembly - like jury service. Everyone is potentially called up to service for 2/3 years scrutinising the work of the Commons, equipped by civil servants. (Side effect, it would level out the maternity penalty for women.)

Over 50 academics have written to the government to warn that the current voting system risks producing distorted results on an "unprecedented" scale at the next general election. www.politicshome.com/news/article...

You have to wonder about the minds behind that nasty Dilley stunt. You can almost hear the sniggering - like kids of a certain age teasing the dog. Is this a kind of collective regression, or did they never stop finding this funny?

Remigration by stealth? The government’s settlement proposals will mean 10 or 15 years extra to settle - but are they designed to make people leave? The reforms combine with other policy changes to mean many people here would have no route to stay in/beyond 2030 ukandeu.ac.uk/remigration-...

Some feedback from a recent APR bursary recipient: 'I enjoyed the garden, the gigantic trees calling me to reach out to God... the spirit of the place embodied worship, hospitality and service'. Could the APR help finance your next retreat? Find out more, or donate, on promotingretreats.org/bursary

Discover the unexpected and highly-skilled roles that have been occupied by talented women here at Exeter Cathedral across the centuries 🔍 Hatter, seamstress, blacksmith, glazier, librarian, Chapter Canon… who else will you uncover with our Cathedral Librarian and Archivist? ✦ 9 March | 1pm-3pm

@dogsfoodflowers.bsky.social 👋

🎶 it's raining again, ooooh it's raining again...🎵

I like churches that give their flowers, after the Sunday service(s), to the sick, bereaved or struggling members of the congregation. That seems to me to be a good and moral thing to do.

It was less than 10 years ago that this was considered impossible. And from what I read there wasn't much dissent. Everyone accepted this was the reality. Time to update some assumptions.

A valentine's card for bibliophiles. For @theguardian.com books. Download a printable version here: www.tomgauld.com/valentine

Tell me again to be thrilled about more LLMs and large data centres in my life, yes?

"Yet, rather than examining these collective factors, the dominant narrative blames women, who are expected to compensate – with their bodies – for the system's failures. ... Women's bodies are not a matter of national demographic policy."

Ha! One of my old stomping grounds has joined the blue sky! Hello @churchatcastle.bsky.social 🤗

How is Tuesday going for you? These folk found in MS. B.2.25 have been waiting for a tea break since the 14th century. mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/B...

@church-poverty.org.uk 👋

As Christians, we are called to seek justice and challenge injustice. But making that a regular part of church life isn't always easy. Check out the "26 in 26" project: an interactive poster with 26 ideas for churches to try throughout 2026. See https://ow.ly/fvo150Y1k2w for more information.

always so funny to me when people are like “how am I supposed to explain Gay to my kids?” my kid asks me way harder shit all the time. “why did they build the road this way? why are some people bad?” I don’t know. please ask me about Gay

This is the frustration with people resisting safeguarding training. "I'm not going to hurt children!" says Mrs Jones. "No, Mrs Jones, I didn't expect so, but we need to makes sure we (collectively) don't do this 👇."

"Sexual predators with wealth or status rarely act entirely alone. They benefit from a network, sometimes intentional, sometimes passive, that shields their behaviour. These layers of protection may include: 1. Recruiters and enablers..."

Huzzah!

it's like our entire sense of morality has been filtered through the act of consumption, and the highest good we can imagine is feeling good and clean and pure as individuals, unpolluted by the obvious evil are around us meanwhile, real change requires the kind of work you need a drink after

But, sure, Brexit was a great idea, really stabilising for us.

Applying for posts is a process of endless emotional whiplash. It's "Ooh, God is calling me to THIS ... no this, *this* is ME, I was made for this!" interspersed with what feels like "GO DIE IN A HOLE, REJECT!" And in between is the chore of writing your soul on a piece of paper over and over.

The radical tea towel company on Narayan Meghaji Lokhande and workers rights in Colonial India. us3.campaign-archive.com?u=817aab17e9...

Higher education should be about opportunity, not lifelong debt. A generation starting work today is being weighed down for decades by a system that keeps getting worse. #GenerationDebt #Education.