The Parish Magazine March 2024

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32 The Parish Magazine - March 2024 THE SCIENCES Dr Ruth M Bancewicz, church engagement director at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge considers the science of. . . History Was it really? . . . Nikki Zalewski , dreamstime.com We may all have rather mixed feelings on reaching March this year. On the one hand, it is lovely to see the onset of Spring, but the wars in Ukraine and Israel- Gaza grind on, as does the cost-of-living crisis. We may need to find new ways to keep going, so here are some suggestions that draw on both science and Christian theology. Getting outside: Time outdoors in a natural environment is very good for you — and you can’t argue with the happy hormones produced by exercise. Attending to the details of nature can also inspire awe, which has been linked to positive mood, and increased life satisfaction. Enjoying Creation can also help us connect with God. Looking outside: If you are truly stuck indoors, try putting bird feeders outside your window so creation comes to you. This is also an act of kindness (see below)! Lament and praise: The Psalms are a rich resource to help us express both our grief and our thanks to God. Try reading one or two each day. Writing: Keep a journal of thoughts, experiences or practices you have engaged with during the day. Constructing a personal narrative or story is now recognised as a very powerful psychological and spiritual tool for building resilience. It is also a vital learning tool that we can go back to when tough times return. Acts of kindness: Helping or encouraging someone else is obviously a good thing to do in itself, but it also has a very positive effect on the giver — spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Whichever way you look at it, finding new ways to show kindness to others can be a very effective way to help ourselves feel better. Gratitude: This is another natural drug – in a sense – that can help us feel better. Try keeping a grateful diary, adding a few things each day. Laugh, sing, make music, dance: These activities are deeply rooted in our physical and mental makeup. You may have forgotten how great they feel, especially in times of sadness, but we can learn from children who do them very naturally. I hope these ideas may help bring us closer to God, each other, and his creation. The Triumph of St Thomas Aquinas with heretics, doctors, Virtues, personifications and learned of the sciences and liberal arts, detail, fresco by Andrea di Buonaiuto, Spanish Chapel in Santa Maria Novella Principal Dominican church in Florence. Zatletic, dreamstime.com . . . 750 YEARS AGO on 7 March 1274 that St Thomas Aquinas, Italian Dominican friar, Catholic priest, philosopher, and theologian, died. . . . 500 YEARS AGO on 19 March 1524 that Florentine explorer Giovanni de Varrazano became the first European to reach the Atlantic coast of North America. . . . 250 YEARS AGO on 16 March 1774 that Matthew Flinders, British navigator and cartographer, was born. He led the first inshore navigation of Australia. . . . 150 YEARS AGO on 30 March 1874 that Charles Lightoller, British naval officer, was born. He was second officer on the RMS Titanic, and the most senior member of the crew to survive the sinking in 1912. He was also a commanding officer in the Royal Navy during WWI, and took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in WWII. . . . 125 YEARS AGO on 6 March 1899 that the German pharmaceutical company Bayer patented aspirin. . . . 100 YEARS AGO on 25 March 1924 that Greece became a republic. The monarchy was abolished, and the Second Hellenic Republic was proclaimed. . . . 90 YEARS AGO on 9 March 1934 that Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut, was born. He was the first man in space. (Died 1968) . . . 80 YEARS AGO from 24-25 March 1944, that the Great Escape took place when 76 Allied prisoners of war broke out of the Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp near Sagan, Germany after digging three tunnels. Three of the prisoners escaped, 73 were recaptured, and 50 were executed. . . . 75 YEARS AGO on 10 March 1949 that the 1948 Arab- Israeli War ended with a Israeli victory. . . . 70 YEARS AGO on 1 March 1954 that the USA tested the most powerful nuclear device it has ever detonated – a thermonuclear hydrogen bomb codename Castle Bravo, at Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. Due to a design error, the 15-megaton blast was 2.5 times greater than expected.
BOOK REVIEWS FOR EASTER The Empty Tomb - A Story of Easter By Brian Sibley, SPCK, £6.99 This easy to read and engaging retelling of the Easter story is a perfect introduction for 6+ year-olds to the stories of Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the death and resurrection of Jesus, his Ascension, and Pentecost. They are written to be read alone or read aloud. Learn about the procession of the singing crowd as Jesus entered Jerusalem, and the moment Jesus shared the bread and the cup at the Passover meal. Discover how the disciples sorrow turned to joy and wonder when they saw Jesus once again in their presence after his death, eating and drinking with them. Be immersed in the excitement of Pentecost and Peter's inspiring speech that led to the baptism of 3,000. Practicing the Way - Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did By John Mark Comer, SPCK, £16.99 Do you feel like there's more to life than this? You're right. This book will help you discover and cultivate the counter-cultural practices to connect you with a vibrant lifelong faith. John Mark Comer, The New York Times bestselling author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and Live No Lies, shows us what is holding us back from authentically following Jesus. It reveals the counter-cultural practices to connect us with a vibrant lifelong faith. We all have experienced unwanted parts of our spiritual journey: distance from God, gaps in our character, the fear that our lives will be trivial and empty. Jesus is calling us into more. Calling us to be shaped in his likeness. To experience his abundance of life. But how, practically, can we do that? By becoming his apprentice. By practicing the Way. Outlining the timeless process of being with Jesus, becoming like him, and living as he did, bestselling author and pastoral voice John Mark Comer delineates God's vision for the journey of our soul. Candle Youth Bible SPCK, £11.99 The Candle Youth Bible provides an ideal introduction to accessing and understanding the entire story of the Bible. When viewed as a whole, the Bible is a wonderful story full of images and drama. 90 key Bible events are featured that show how the Bible's story unfolds and is connected, conveying how the Gospel of Christ and the Kingdom of God binds all of Scripture together with carefully selected Bible stories. The Parish Magazine - March 2024 33 12 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Easter By Bob Lepine, 10Publishing, £3.99 The perfect, light-hearted book for showing a friend the true meaning of Easter. It pops up in a seemingly random Sunday each year, easing you gently into spring. The promise of candy and chocolate eggs makes it popular with kids, but it’s hardly in the same league as holidays like Christmas. But perhaps it should be? Here are 12 weird and wonderful facts, spanning all the way from its origins through to the present day, that show the enduring significance of Easter for Christians. The Wonder of Easter - an Easter Journey for the Whole Family By Ed Drew, 10Publishing, £5.86 This flexible, easy-to-use Lent devotional will allow the whole family to celebrate the limitless wonder of Easter. It is a discussion-based resource with differentiated questions for 3-4s, 5-7s, over 7s, teens and adults. At just 10 minutes each, these devotions are an achievable joy, not an unrealistic burden. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, Zondervan/10Publishing, £7.19 This book is a journalist's personal investigation of the evidence for Jesus who asks: is there credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God? Retracing his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith, Lee Strobel, former legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools such as Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis that are recognised authorities in their own fields. He asks questions such as: How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence for Jesus exist outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event? Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award and twice nominated for the Christian Book of the Year Award, the author's tough, point-blank questions read like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it’s not fiction. It’s a riveting quest for the truth about history’s most compelling figure.
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