Three Ways to Reflect on Your Life
In his famous poem The Four Quartets, TS Elliott says "We had the experience, but missed the meaning." How true! Too often life can become one long series of unrelated events - a conversation here, an appointment there, walking the dog, working through our to-do lists - and we miss any deeper significance they hold. If you're anything like me, 2020 is ending in a rush
Grief is the Honour We Give to Those Who Loved Us Well
Earlier this year, before Covid made things complicated, I attended a thanksgiving service for a much-loved member of our church. We lost Eileen to cancer at just 68 years of age. As the service began, more chairs had to be put out to accommodate the number of people arriving. And it led to a lesson learned
Listen For the Voice that Can Only Be Heard in Stillness
Stop. Breathe. Interrupt the rush. There is deep meaning to be found in our everyday lives, but we won’t find it if we don’t pause to reflect, listening for the Voice that can only be heard in stillness. This is video five in a special series adapted from my new gift book, Reflect with Sheridan.
The Day I Met My Seventeen Year-Old Self
What would you say to your seventeen year-old self if you met them face to face? One strange afternoon I had such an experience. Drawn from the new gift book Reflect with Sheridan, this is the third of a five-part video series exploring the book’s themes of joy, wonder, meaning, belonging, compassion, callings, seasons, change and
Why Beauty Leaves Us Breathless
A vivid sunset, a misty horizon, the vibrant life of a colourful coral reef. In the presence of such beauty could we in fact be glimpsing something more? Drawn from the new gift book Reflect with Sheridan, this is the second in a five-part video series exploring the book’s themes of joy, wonder, meaning, belonging, compassion,
Don’t Be Ruled By Your Fears
What are you running from? Where are you running to? This short story will have you longing for the freedom of wide open fields. Drawn from the new gift book Reflect with Sheridan, this is the first in a five-part video series exploring the book's nine themes: joy, wonder, meaning, belonging, compassion, callings, seasons, change
What Autumn Tells Us About Life and Work: There’s a Time to Bring Something Good to an End
Autumn is a time of beauty, of harvesting and of shedding the old. I think it has something powerful to tell us about our careers and callings too: autumn isn't just a time of productivity, but of completion and transition. It asks us to consider if our work is done and it’s time to move
You Need to Play More. Here’s Why
If there’s one member of our household taking these uncertain times in his stride, it’s our black-furred, silver-pawed cockapoo, Rupert—whose playfulness is getting him through heatwaves and lockdowns alike. Rupert’s joy seems based on the fact he has legs and he can run, and with his tongue out and ears flapping, he dashes through the
Here’s Why You’re So Tired Right Now – and What to Do About It
I thought I was getting through this Covid crisis OK—until a couple of weeks ago. That’s when chores started taking longer to do, broken by spells of staring at walls. Articles took longer to write as I doodled instead of typed. I stopped posting on social media because I couldn’t focus my thoughts, and I
Sometimes You Must Tell Your Heart to Beat Again
I recently heard a fascinating story about a heart surgeon. At the end of one operation, he returned his patient’s heart back into the chest and began gently massaging it back to life. But the heart wouldn’t restart. More intense measures followed, but the heart still wouldn’t beat. Finally, the surgeon knelt by the unconscious