Nicholas Baines

LATEST ARTICLES ( 599 )

• Small Source of Comfort

  

  I have been reading some pieces by famous people about to whom they turn when isolated or stuck. I turn to Bruce Cockburn.In March 2011 he released Small... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• You Can’t Have It Both Ways

  In An Introduction to the Political State of Great Britain Samuel Johnson, commenting on the behaviour of British colonists in America, wrote:No people can be... Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• A Walk in the Park

  

  Navigating our way through this current virus-induced catastrophe is not exactly a walk in the park, is it?I went for an actual walk in an actual park... Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Never Waste a Crisis

  This the script of a radio Thought for the Day which I didn’t broadcast yesterday:“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it’s just... Read more

  Posted on 18 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Cattle Dip Thinking

  

  This is the script of this morning’s Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:“April is the cruellest month” is how TS Eliot began The Wasteland –... Read more

  Posted on 17 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• There’s Hardly Time

  According to Emily Dickinson, “to be alive is so amazing, there’s hardly time for anything else.”I think I know what she meant. Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• How Long, O Lord?

  

  It’s at times like this that the Psalms come into their own.The thing about reading the Psalms every day, regardless of how we are feeling, is that the poets... Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Resources Along the Way

  

  We never walk alone. One of the things discovered by many people in the recent strange weeks of Covid-19 lockdown is that we have the time and space for a new... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• The Journey Continues …

  

  Easter Monday. All sorted, then. We’ve had the glorious light of new life and the future is all bright.Well, not quite. Like everything in life, the end is... Read more

  Posted on 13 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Drawn by Hope

  

  Easter Day. The day when Christians rise early, watch the sun come up and join together in numbers to celebrate the resurrection. Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Empty Saturday

  

  . The worst.You know what it is like when you have been bereaved. You somehow get through the hours that follow and life is thrown out of kilter. There is a... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• So, Where is God in All This?

  

  Good Friday. Darkness. Loss. Suffering. Death.When I was a vicar we used to start at the church door on Good Friday and walk around the building, re-telling... Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Denial

  

  Maundy Thursday. It’s all closing in. Jerusalem welcomed Jesus and his friends when he rode in on Palm Sunday. But, the tension is growing, the drama... Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Betrayal

  

  Wednesday of Holy Week. One of the friends of Jesus is Judas Iscariot. I have sympathy for him.I grew up with the notion that Judas deserved what he got. He... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Hard of Hearing

  

  Tuesday of Holy Week. Why does Jesus have to make it so complicated?As he walks towards what will become his place of execution, he keeps talking to his... Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• People Like Us

  

  Monday of Holy Week. We continue the walk with Jesus and his friends, thinking about what all this stuff means in a pandemic-shaped western society. Read more

  Posted on 06 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Facing Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)

  

  Palm Sunday. Normally Christians would be walking through the streets with a bemused donkey before beginning Holy Week in church. Not this year. Read more

  Posted on 05 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Back to Exile

  

  I seem to spend most of every day on Zoom. It is brilliant to see and hear people and we get a surprising amount of work done, too. Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• The Missing Bits

  

  I have spent most of today chairing or participating in Zoom meetings. Each one was efficient, disciplined and we did the necessary business. Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• A Passion for Hope

  

  So, Bob Dylan has released his latest epic. 17 minutes of references to the last sixty years of politics and music. Brilliant stuff. Called ‘Murder Most Foul’,... Read more

  Posted on 29 March 2020 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY