Ernest Hemingway said, “Man’s destiny in the universe is like a colony of ants on a burning log.” Oh dear! It seems that all 7.7 billion of us on this planet are on a journey to nowhere. It sounds hopeless and really rather depressing, doesn’t it? But God (The most wonderful phrase in the English language!) has said differently in John 3 verse 16 and 17: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.”

New Monasticism is a diverse movement. It seeks to take the positive aspects of the monastic tradition from the past and apply them to life today. The intention is to become more like Jesus. It involves committing ourselves to living with people for a time that we don’t choose - in essence, trying to make a new family from strangers...

We all bring baggage with us when we approach Scripture. It might be personality quirks like introversion and self-reliance, or culturally conditioned philosophical concepts like individualism. These things act as static that we must try and tune out. When we do, we are better placed to hear what Scripture teaches on community...

This a beautiful story, very well told. Becket Cook tells the reader what it was like to be immersed in the gay lifestyle on the US West Coast, and how the world looks from that perspective: “I wanted everyone to be free to be who they were with wild abandon and without shame, completely comfortable in their own skin.”

It is often quite strange to look back over my life and see where God has brought me, sometimes with my full awareness, at other times organising events in the background. It would be great to say that my journey has been straight forward and pain-free, but that wouldn’t be honest or accurate. However, I am very aware of God’s love, care and protection over my life over the years...

Last year, the number of people living alone in the UK surpassed 8 million for the first time. Our so-called “connected lifestyles” have often failed to help us encounter other people in truly satisfying ways: being a virtual friend or subscribing to a newsfeed is no guarantee of closeness to another human being. Of course, we need to find meaningful community that is realistic in today’s world. There’s no point in talking nostalgically about memories of pen pals and tea ladies...