It’s back to school week here in Stockholm, so life is beginning to resume the patterns and rhythms we’ll mostly be in until June next year.

I’ve never read The Odyssey and I may never do so to be honest, there are a lot of books to read. I really only know about some of the things that have passed into the popular imagination like Cyclops and of course Troy. So I approached the film as a Nolan fan but largely ignorant of the plot so to speak. I enjoyed the film on the whole. I think, as I tend to do with almost any film, that they could all benefit by being about 20 minutes shorter and tighter.

I haven’t run much this week although today I had a crack at my parkrun PB on what is my 200th time at my local parkrun. Age really hits home when you start cranking out big numbers.

You Should Read These

Seven handpicked articles

1. Two new sermons by St Augustine discovered. That feels like a big deal.
2. Pastoral Time Guilt. I certainly recognise the feeling.
3. Why I Don’t Really Carry a Phone With Me Anymore. I have a suspicion that we’ll start to see more of these kind of articles. There’s a re-balancing underway.
4. “I am on the verge of making a vow to read only eccentrics and weirdos for the rest of my life.” I love reading Alan Jacobs’ thoughts, who I don’t think is an eccentric or weirdo. Although I could be wrong.
5. Women should be able to open things. “90% of females produced less force than 95% of males” which is a problem when it comes to jamjar design.
6. Demolition of Studio Fuksas concert hall underway in Tbilisi. We saw this incredible building when we visited Tbilisi in 2023. Absolutely crazy to see it designed, built, never used and now demolished.
7. High on snus in school: The hidden nicotine pouches shredding teens’ gums. An export Sweden should not be proud of.

You Should Look At This

GREAT PHOTOS! I don’t know why I always put that in full caps, I just do but I’m trying to grab your attention. Hope it works.

2026 Siena International Photo Awards Festival

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You Should Listen To This

I lap up this sort of epic, grand, climactic tunes.

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You Should Watch This

Really powerful. Two minutes. Don’t not watch it.

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This Week’s Postings

From last week

• Does infant baptism history hold up?
• Links for the reading life (August 2026)

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From The Archives

“An open handed life is profound – it gets to the root of the human condition, and sums up so much of the person of Jesus. Because life is a gift, we live with open hands… in the hope and expectation that when we do so, our God is able to give us more than could ever be taken away“

Living with open hands

I’d love to hear the interesting things you did, saw, read, thought this past week. Let me know in the comments.