John Partis
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“Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth” (Hebrews 11:13)
The death of Archbishop Thomas Becket On the 29 December 1170, 855 years ago, Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. Quite soon people started to visit his resting place in the cathedral and his tomb became a shrine, a place of pilgrimage. People journeyed from all over England, and others travelled from Europe…
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Come and See!
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see you lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;The hopes and fears of all the years are met in you tonight. Across the valley, its houses spilling down the hillside, the night lights…
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Verse 5: O Come, O Come Thou Lord of Might
Can you picture a particular place where the scenery and weather have combined to fill you with awe? A majestic place perhaps, that makes you feel small, maybe even insignificant. I can picture such a place. Last February Jill and I travelled up the coast of Norway, crossed the Arctic Circle and reached the northernmost…
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Verse 4: O Come thou Key of David, Come
For me keys have two ideas associated with them. First they are a symbol of authority and power. And second, they unlock doors! More than twenty years ago now Jill and I set out on a project that even now I have to pinch myself to believe we actually carried out. Redundancy from my well…
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Verse 3: O come, Thou Day-Spring
The description of Jesus Christ as “Day-Spring” in this third verse is taken from the prophetic word given by God to Zechariah in Luke’s Gospel (Luke1:78,79). The verses before give some context: “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His…
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Verse 2: O come, Thou Rod of Jesse
A couple of years ago I returned to visit my childhood home, a farmhouse on the North Downs in Kent. From the outside it looked just as it did when I was a boy. It still had the half timbering that it had when it was built 600 years ago. In my youth I remember…
