Climate change is on top of discussions once more. Tyhoon Karding (international name Noru) has just devastated many of our provinces. Residential areas and farms were damaged.

It’s not only in the recent times that the Philippines is visited by typhoons. But the typhoons are gettimg stronger. It used to be that we feared storm signal number 3, now we get signal number 4, even 5. Flooding brought by typhoons occurs more often.

I leave to the experts the explanations on why some countries are more vulnerable than others.

Two factors are our landform and our geographical location . We are an archipelago located beside the North West Pacific basin which is the most active basin on earth for storms to form. 

There are…

St. Michael at Mont St. Michell -photo by Margot Krebs Neale

The end of September brings us to the feast of St. Michael and All Angels which is known as Michaelmas in England, and this first autumn term in many schools and universities is still called the Michaelmas term. The Archangel Michael is traditionally thought of as the Captain of the Heavenly Host, and, following an image from the book of Revelation, is often shown standing on a dragon, an image of Satan subdued and bound by the strength of Heaven. He is also shown with a drawn sword, or a spear and a pair of scales or balances, for he represents, truth, discernment, the light and energy of intellect, to cut through tangles and confusion, to set us free to discern and choose. He is celebrated and revered in all three Monotheistic religions. There is a good, full account…

Tending the tree of Life by Hildegard of Bingen

The 17th of September is the feast day of Abbess Hildegard of Bingen, a remarkable and prophetic woman, who described herself as ‘a feather on the breath of God’, and whose many works in theology, music, visual art, poetry and drama are still inspiring people today. Indeed she is coming more and more into her own, as one of her key ideas ‘Viriditas’, or the greening and life-renewing work of the Holy Spirit, seems especially apposite for our time. See this page on her by a contemporary Benedictine.

The photo below is by Margot Krebs Neale

I wrote this sonnet at Launde Abbey in Leicestershire. It is published in my second volume of poetry The Singing Bowl, Canterbury Press, available on Amazon in both the US and the UK

As always you can hear the sonnet by clicking…