Seeking the Truth and Grace of God together

Photo from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland

Thoughts during The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Last week at a funeral, I met a relative of the girl who had died. It was a Christian funeral but he was a Muslim relative. He was amongst members of the family who came from France but he had been brought up in Algeria.
Despite the language and faith differences we managed to have quite a chat! Inevitably we touched on our differing faiths but soon found level ground when we talked about Abraham, known biblically as the ‘father of the nations’. The Muslim faith together with the Christian and the Jewish faiths all have Abraham in common. We can all trace our roots back to him which is why we sometimes refer to being Abrahamic in origin.
I always enjoy these chance encounters because, if we concentrate on what we hold in common, they are often very enriching. God, Prayer and worship are the bedrock of all our religions.

Later, I thought about the many conversations and dealings I have had with those of other faiths. For example, I support a small charity named, Abraham’s Children in Crisis, which touches the lives of a group of children and young people living in the West Bank of Israel. Most are Muslim but there are no barriers and some are Jewish.
They are supported in their education and medical care by Christians here in Britain.
I know their names; what they look like; how they are struggling and how they support each other. I thought of them often during these troubled times. In a small way I try to share their fragile lives.

Some time ago now I was at a wedding which was a double one – in that it was held first in London at the Cyprian Orthodox Cathedral because the husband was an Orthodox Christian. We then travelled to Kolkata for a Hindu ceremony because Rumi was of the Hindu Faith. Both ceremonies were fascinating and very moving. I was enriched by the experience . One of my special Internet blog friends is KK who is also an Hindu so I feel a sense of closeness to him because of Rumi’s wedding.
Another Rumi has a special place in my life because I am deeply inspired by his poetry. He is the famous 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic.Within Christianity I have discovered and engaged with many differing believers in Jesus Christ, whom we claim as our Lord and King.
My own journey of faith began with its roots partly in Roman Catholicism. I was then sent to a Methodist Sunday School and I am now a strong adherent to the Anglican practice of the Christian Faith. Who knows where I’ll end up!

I am pondering these thoughts because this week, followers of Jesus Christ are keeping Christian Unity Week.
Many things have happened throughout our history to divide us and even within particular denominations there is much brokenness and need for repentance but there is, at heart, a God who loves us and cares for us as His children.

It sometimes feels that what gets in the way of Unity – the sense that we are united as all God’s children- is because every church or group seem to think that they alone have the truth.(Bit like some world political leaders just now!)
How false is that!
I think that’s why I love and respect what the former Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, says that only in heaven is there Truth. On earth there are truths. God is the only real truth and all over the globe people are seeking to answer that profound question of Pilate to Jesus at his trial – what is truth?
Truth on earth, Rabbi Sacks says, is not, nor can it aspire to be, the whole truth. It is limited, not comprehensive; particular, not universal. What propositions conflict is not necessarily because one is true and the other false He suggests that the difference is because we are coming at something from different angles but both are only part of the truth
I believe that we can only look to God for the real answer and anyone who claims to hold THE truth exclusive of others, is bound to be mistaken.  We can only learn truth if we listen to others and share our insights with each other and, of course, listen to God together in prayer.
There is so much to learn and be excited by the story of people’s journey of faith and the joy and encouragement that brings to my own journey. We all have so much to share with each other and so much to discover about God.

There is much in Judaism I admire and there is much in Islam that I respect.  My Hindu hairdresser in the North taught me a lot about prayer in the family.  I love the joyful and convincing hymn-singing and biblical insights of the Methodists.  I like the ritual and devotion of the Roman Catholic Church.  I love the ceremonies of High Anglicanism; the intellectual honesty of Anglican theology; the exuberant praise worship of our evangelical brethren. 
I draw strength from Celtic insights into the sacredness of places and people; I enjoy the simple rhythm of Taizé; I find enrichment in ancient prayer forms like the Labyrinth; I adore the Orthodox Liturgy. 
I am reduced to silence by the witness of monastic places like Bec  in Normandy, where prayer is the breath of the place;
I like the simplicity of worship in a quiet rural church and my heart soars during Anglican Cathedral Evensong. I am loving being spiritually fed by Pope Leo!
I find talking and listening to other believers fascinating. 

And God is in all that and in much, much more.  He is bigger than all our concepts of Him or He would not be God. 
Wide Vision goes with deep exploration. God is always teaching us something new. 
Evelyn Underhill spoke of all our differing expressions of faith as ‘Chapels in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit’. I like that.

We are all part of the Universal People of God. What gives any church real authenticity is if, in the words of Michael Ramsey, we are filled with the grace-giving presence of Jesus Christ.  Grace-filled churches have no need of labels.  They simply reflect God and so try to live in close friendship with GOD, the  giver of Grace and Truth. 

[Mr G. 2oth January 2026]

Year of Saint Francis

St. Francis Window, Transfiguration Chapel @ the Parish Church
of St. John the Baptist, Epping. Design picture by Piers Northam.

Pope Leo has proclaimed, this week, a year of Jubilee for Saint Francis to commemorate
the 800th anniversary of his death.The year will run from now until January 10th, 2027.
The Pope encourages the faithful to use this time to follow the example of St. Francis as
models of holiness and witnesses of peace.

Here is a poem I wrote in 2023 about St. Francis.

Dearest Francis,
You were led from your raucousness and debauchery.
As leader of the pack
they gathered around you, your followers,
attracted by a charisma that lit up their lives.
Of course, your pockets held the wealth
which made living as free spirits so easy.
You took it all for granted.
The centre of your life was within you,
focusing on that self which has ruined so many.

But another Charisma sought your energy.
Different followers waited to be your disciples.
Different values, to be ripened by true joy.
Perplexed, perhaps that you were losing direction,
uncertainty gripped that carefree heart
and nothing satisfied.

From the centre of things, you were called to the margins,
where your destiny would discover you.
Kneeling, questioningly, in the dereliction of Damiano’s chapel,
You were led to examine your own crumbling life.
In the midst of your despair, Jesus spoke to you,

“Francis, rebuild my Church.”

At first, a physical task,
drawing others to your side as only you could,
but there was so much more to come.
You did not always get it right. None of us do.
That is why God comes among us often,
casting his grace over us, like rose petals at a wedding.

It is said that, near death, Jesus gifted you with stigmata,  
scars, wounds of Christ, as marks on your own body.
But you had received these on your heart long ago,
when you walked as a companion of Jesus.
The Way of the Cross gave you Stations of prayer
by which you were able to shepherd poor, unloved,
uncared for humanity; vulnerable animals;
dancing birds, whose capricious flight was a sign of God’s joy.
And you did not forget the rich,
who more than most need to walk with you, into heaven.

[Mr G. revised January 2026]

The King’s Cake

Galette des Rois photographed by Gill Henwood, cooked by her daughter, Kathleen.

This photo of an amazing and mouth-watering cake was sent to me by my friend Gill Henwood. It was made by her daughter Kathleen for the delectation of her two sons.

The cake is known as Galette des Rois, literally the Kings’ Cake. The name derives from the Kings or Wise Men who visited the infant Jesus in Bethlehem, having seen a bright star in the East. These Magi (Wise Men) travelled taking their bearings from the Star. The Gospel account recorded by Matthew in Chapter 2, verses 2 to 12, tells us of their journey, their visit to King Herod and then the arrival at the home of Jesus. Here, they knelt to pay Jesus homage and presented Him with three gifts ~ Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
Each of the gifts had a significance. Gold was given because Jesus is worshipped as a King; Incense to celebrate His Divinity (God) and Myrrh which is used to embalm the dead. It was a foretelling of the Crucifixion when the Son of God died for the well-being of humanity and opened the way for us to turn aside from sin and so live for God and in the depth of God’s love for us.

The feast of the visit of the Wise Men is known as the Epiphany – the showing forth of God’s Glory. There are other Epiphanies during this extended Christmas season to Candlemass (February 2nd). The Epiphany to the Magi is kept on January 6th, which coincides with Christmas Day in the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Because the Wise Men brought three gifts it is commonly held that there were 3 of them and because they travelled from the East over desert lands, it is believed that they rode on three camels.
Later documents increased the number of kings – St John Chrysostom even suggested that there were 12 of them!
The Venerable Bede, writing in the 7th Century named them and that has become fairly definitive – Balthazar, Gaspar (Caspar) and Melchior.
Many other legends and customs grew up around them.
The Galette des Rois is one of them.

In many places on the night before the feast of Epiphany, a special cake would be served with three beans hidden inside, two white beans and one black one. Whoever found the beans would be the King at the Epiphany feast. Dressed in fine robes, they would preside over the feast and before leaving would hand out small gifts, equivalents of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In the royal courts of the Middle Ages, Epiphany Cakes would contain a bean for the king and a pea for the Queen. Whoever found the bean and the pea would be the King and Queen of the feast. A more recent variation is that the figure baked into the cake (especially in France) is a tiny plastic or ceramic statue of Christ. An alternative name for the Cake is therefore Christ cake. Whoever found the statue would be especially blessed throughout the coming year.

There are many recipes available for making the cake, especially in France, from where it takes its name. It is as popular in France as the Christmas Cake or Pudding are in Great Britain. The cake itself can be made with puff pastry, though often it is brioche. It is often filled with frangipane, an almond paste. As you will see on Kathleen’s cake, it is decorated with crowns and small figures of the kings. There are hearts representing God’s love and in the centre, a circle of pastry which tells me about this love of God which is eternal.

Though we are beyond January 6th it is not too late to bake a Galette des Rois. In France it is quite common to eat this cake throughout January.

A Prayer for the Galette des Rois

O God, guiding light of the world,
As we share this Galette des Rois, we remember the journey of the Magi,
Who followed a star to find Your Son, Jesus,. 

Bless this cake, a symbol of our gathering,
And bless each person who shares it with us today,
May we find the hidden bean, and in that simple joy,
Find a reminder of Your grace,. 

May we be guided by Your light through the darkness,
May we share our blessings and our love,
And may the sweetness of this moment bring us closer to You,
And to one another.

[Mr G. 9th January 2026]