"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139.23 "Examen" is a Latin word referring to the tongue on a set of scales. It is, of course, the root from which the English word "examination" is derived. But it also has a spiritual application, as a form of reflective prayer. I have it on the wall of my study, encouraging me to be conscious of the presence of God and to exercise my conscience in the light of God's presence. The purpose is to

"Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me." Psalm 42.7 It happened to Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah - even Jesus! So it happens to the best of us. Times when God overwhelms us and, more frighteningly perhaps, times when God feels entirely absent. I say "feels" because, of course, God is always with us but, sometimes - and we don't know when and why - he chooses to withdraw from us. When that happens, what do we

"Give us today our daily bread." Matthew 6.11 All Christians aspire to live by prayer. Many fail to make it beyond the foothills of prayer onto the mountaintops because they mistake prayer for a technique to be mastered, rather than the relationship that it is. If you insist that, before you can turn to prayer, you must read every book, attend all the available courses, arrange your circumstances and clear your diary, then you are putting the cart before the horse. The end of

"Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near." Isaiah 55.6 Last night I tuned into the annual Open Doors conference 'Standing Strong through the Storm', which was happening online rather than in a hall faraway. I was just going to dip in, get an idea what it was all about and then get on with the more important work of preparing for today. How time makes fools of us all! I was riveted, couldn't tear myself away and stayed for the duration. Why? The progr

"In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines." Proverbs 18.17 The intellectual battle between the scepticism of David Hume and the pragmatism of Thomas Reid has had wide reaching consequences in both philosophical and scientific realms. So it has influenced both how we think and how we apply our thinking. While both would approve of the inductive approach to scientific inquiry as being rational, they part company in what they wo

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24.32 In contrast to Thomas Reid's three First Principles, David Hume and his acolytes allow just two: that of the experience of the person in question, such as the reality of the screen you are reading this on, or the coherent relationship between ideas, as in scientific laws or mathematical formulae. This may explain the story about Hume being observed by one of

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1.20 Thomas Reid insisted that there exist aspects of life that: Are universally true - except for lunatics and philosophers; Cannot be affected by logic or reason or argument; Are instinctive to the way that our minds work. These he called First Principles. Not surprisin

"Taste and see that the LORD is good..." Psalm 34.8 When it comes to the matter of perceiving, 18th century Scottish philosopher, Thomas Reid, makes three points: we believe something to be true/ real about that which we perceive; we are therefore convinced of its existence; and that is by instinct and not reason. Reid allows for two exceptions: lunatics - because they are mentally unstable; and philosophers - because of their insistence upon over-thinking everything, which d

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus..." 1 Timothy 2.5 Thomas Reid was an 18th century Scottish philosopher, who taught at Aberdeen and Glasgow Universities. He stands more in the tradition of Aristotle than Plato, yet operated apart from both as an independent thinker, in similar fashion to his better known predecessor Rene Descartes. Reid is best known for his pragmatic attitude so that, rather than playing around with ideas a

"Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves." 1 Peter 2.16 Today has been designated Freedom Sunday. Who decides? On this occasion it was the initiative of the International Justice Mission, a Christian organisation whose vision is to identify and liberate those who are trapped in slavery, whether in the sex trade, through exploitative working conditions, or for any other reason. IJM works through local justice systems, encou