David Sheen ☩

The Collect for the First Day of Lent commonly called Ash Wednesday. pbs.org.uk

A wonderful time of song & merriment was had by all in hall following dinner this evening at Brasenose College.
#BrasenoseCollege
#AleVerses
#ShroveTuesday

A fantastic time was had by all. Thanks to Dr George Owers for delivering the 2026 Runcie Sermon last Sunday.

A Silent Rebellion — Earth and Altar

Earth & Altar + SSJE are launching a new collaboration: A Silent Rebellion — an every other week series featuring writings from Anglican religious orders.

Reflections on community life, kindness, commitment, and the freedom found in limitation—rooted in vowed life, offered for the whole church.

What’s on the minds of Welsh voters ahead of the Senedd election? Kyle Bright It’s easy to forget in the midst of analysis and speculation what’s most vital to any election: what are voters thinking, and what do they want to see from the seventh Senedd? New opinion ...

All eyes are on what promises to be a historic Senedd election, with Labour in decline, a battle between independence and unionism, and a new proportional voting system. But what do voters actually want from the seventh Senedd? ✍️ Kyle Bright

This Sunday in Brasenose College chapel at 6.00pm we welcome Dr George Owers as our preacher for the 2026 Runcie Sermon at Choral Evensong. If you are in #Oxford this Sunday you are welcome to attend.

Today’s Daily Cartoon, by Tom Chitty. #NewYorkerCartoons

Front page of Royal Historical Society blog post with image of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, photograph by Rudolph Simon, 2013, Wilkimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Text reads: "On Holocaust Memorial Day we need more history, not just more memory' and abstract: In this post, Andy Pearce – Director of the Centre for Holocaust Education at UCL – considers the current levels of knowledge of the Holocaust among UK secondary school students. UCL studies, in 2016 and 2026, reveal a troubling and enduring divergence between popular understandings of the persecution and murder of Jews in Europe, in the 1930s and 1940s, and the findings of scholarly historical research. 27 January 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain. As Andy argues, prevalent and popular misperceptions risk being sustained if the Holocaust becomes a subject for remembrance and memory, rather than of history and historical scholarship. It is only though ‘more history’, shared widely and publicly, that we may seek to redress error, distortion and denial."

"On Holocaust Memorial Day we need more history, not just more memory" bit.ly/4t6wPx6

Dr Andy Pearce, Director of @uclholocaust.bsky.social, writes today on the RHS blog.

#Skystorians

Lovely to cross the square and celebrate the Holy Eucharist in @hertfordcollege.bsky.social chapel this evening. Thanks to the choir & organ scholars.

Why populism became popular Say what you like about the tenets of populism, it certainly seems to be, well, popular. But what are the tenets of populism? It’s easy enough to say what a centre-left party is likely to stand for…

Why populism became popular
timharford.com/2026/01/why-...

Cardiff Half 2026 Running Rev, Cardiff alumnus, & former Chaplain at Cardiff Uni. I'm supporting cancer research at Cardiff University. #TeamCardiff fundraising supports Cardiff University's neuroscience and mental

I'm starting my fundraising early this year for the October 2026 #CardiffHalfMarathon. I'm raising money for cancer research at #CardiffUniversity. To support this and donate, follow the link. Diolch! Thanks! #running #halfmarathon #fundraising

cardiffhalf26.enthuse.com/pf/david-sheen

There is Beauty in Science | Brandon Vaidyanathan What if beauty, awe, and wonder are an active part of scientific understanding? What if experience of beauty, awe, and wonder are crucial for scientists' well-being? Dr. Brandon Vaidyanathan and his t...

Beauty in Science and Beyond: Science is often framed as purely rational, but beauty, awe, and wonder play a vital role in how scientists think and work. This project explores how aesthetic experiences shape scientific understanding, motivation, and well-being.
@templetonrelig.bsky.social

‘The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.’ #HannahArendt

Six New Poems By Wendell Berry The great American writer addresses the thinning partition between this life and eternity.

Six new poems by Wendell Berry appear in @plough.bsky.social! “Here plowing (and not just in a metaphorical sense—remember, Berry actually plows actual fields) turns up the field of memory and gives us a glimpse of the beauty that comes when we love a place and its people particularly and deeply.”

THE EPIPHANY

O GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, which know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adoration of the Magi, 2018, Khrystyna Kvyk

Happy New Year! ✨

Wishing you all a brilliant 2026 🥳🎉

#2026

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda o Rydychen. 🍾🥂

Nadolig Llawen i chi gyd!
Merry Christmas to you all!

Nativity with a Torch by the Le Nain brothers, c. 1635-40, oil on canvas.

Wishing a happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating — at this time we hold close the light of community and peace.

#Hanukkah

Today we celebrate the Conception of the BVM.

‘For that fair blessed mother-maid,
Whose flesh redeem'd us ...
Our zealous thanks we pour.’
John Donne

No-strings-attached, zero-means-testing, no-questions-asked cash payouts have been proven, over and over again, to be the most effective form of charity/aid going.

It gets people in housing, and it saves the state money. We know this. It's fact, not theory.

We adore you, O Christ,
and we bless you;
because by your cross
you have redeemed the world.

#HolyCrossDay

3 weeks today to race day! Good long run this morning. Cardiff Half is on Sunday 5 October.

I’m fundraising for #CancerResearch at Cardiff Uni. To give, go to my JustGiving page. Every little helps Diolch! Thanks!

#running #training #halfmarathon #fundraising

www.justgiving.com/page/running...

Five weeks to go until @CardiffHalf. Raising money for #CancerResearch @cardiffuni. Every little helps. You can donate via my JustGiving page. #running #training #fundraising #cardiffhalf
Diolch yn fawr!

www.justgiving.com/page/running...

(Why) are young people flocking to religion? Is there really a resurgence in Christianity? Nick Spencer interrogates recent claims before asking why young people are seeking religion. 13/05/2025

(Why) are young people flocking to religion? #TheosThinkTank
It's a long read but well worth it. Is there really a resurgence in Christianity? Nick Spencer interrogates recent claims before asking why young people are seeking religion.
www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2025...

How Big Tech Sets the Agenda in Trump’s America Podcast Episode · The New Yorker Radio Hour · 22/08/2025 · 33m

“It was Meta and Mark Zuckerberg many, many years ago who used the very clichéd slogan, ‘move fast and break things.’ And that is very much something that many of these people embody.”

A beautiful sky and a gloriously quiet Radcliffe Square. Taken early in the morning before the summer tourist rush. Even after a couple of years I still have to pinch myself occasionally that this where I work.

In 6 weeks I’m running my sixth #CardiffHalf. To support donate via my JustGiving page. #CardiffAlumni #running #training #fundraising for #CancerResearch @cardiffuni.bsky.social
Diolch yn fawr! Many Thanks!