The book of Ruth is an ancient short story about family, famine, loss, loyalty and love. It provides a welcome interlude after the blood-thirsty violence of Judges. However, as we know by now there is always something more complex going on and something actually more contemporary than we expect. The rich symbolism of the names and the repeated mentions of Moab point us in a direction of irony, pathos and protest. So, how does the book of Ruth function and who is this young foreign woman that captivates the story?

The film The Creator has again set the pulses racing about the potential of AI to change humanity's relationship with technology and machines. In a week which saw some sensible and outlandish claims at the UK AI Safety Summit, we cannot avoid further conversation and collaboration about the ethics, risks and potential of AI. In the midst of this conversation is the vital question, 'What does it mean to be human?'. And it is this question, that today's Connect With Culture will start to explore.

The blessings and curses listed in Deuteronomy tyrannise our 21st-century sensibilities with all manner of anxieties and fears. The promises of blessings might encourage and cheer us for a brief moment, but the sheer intensity and volume of curses destabilise us. They confirm our worst feelings of dread about God - that there is some kind of divine karma at work in life, which rewards us for good behaviour and punishes us for bad behaviour. How has such a portrait of God shaped us and our communities? What do we have to dismantle and re-learn from these ancient texts in order to understand how they speak to us today?

Deuteronomy pictures a new generation of Israelites at the cusp of the promised land as they are retold the story of the covenant and law. It was a scene loaded with anticipation and joy, jeopardy and fear. The jeopardy was a foreboding sense of what lay before them - a land of strong, numerous people groups, and violent warriors inhabiting large cities that reached to the skies. It was a land of giants. Who are these terrifying warrior-giants, where do they come from and what do they represent? The reality is, unsurprisingly, more richer and complex than first imagined, but also more revealing in its contemporary relevance.

How good are we at waiting? How do we cope with a hope taking it’s time to be realised?
When God seems to be hidden in life, how do we wait with trust rather than hurry and make things happen ‘in our own strength’? And what do rivers have to do with any of this?

This Connect with Culture talk begins with the song "Days", written by the Kinks in 1968 but now regarded as a classic. It was featured on the radio programme "Soul Music" which focuses on the emotional impact Music has on the soul. The talk then moves to a verse in Psalm 90 - "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom", and explores the relevance of this on our day to day lives"

What does loving God look like in Deuteronmy? (Deut.6.1-9). How does the language and words of the Shema - the Jewish declaration of faith - differ in the Ancient Near Eastern context compared to the english words and concepts we use? Here we seek to explore the rich and expansive possibilties of how we love and where we love God.

Deuteronomy is quoted or alluded to in the New Testament more than any other book in the Hebrew Scriptures. It is a book we have to wrestle with. It places us with Moses on the brink of the Promised Land, on the cusp of a new era for a new generation. Will Israel be ready to face the challenges of Canaan? Moses gives three death-bed sermons to remind them of the story of their ancestors and to help the people navigate what lies before them. But we are also placed before another context, 650 years later - the world of the narrator. Judah is facing a new threat - Assyria. How do these two worlds collide in the formation of Deuterononmy? In this brief overview we will explore how the fascinating context of the book gives us a welcome introduction to the challenges faced by them and us.

The story of two crestfallen disciples walking along the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 gives us an insight into the rich complexity of the communion table. The story functions to illustrate the Enigma and Encounter of this table and how divine hide and and seek simultaneously baffles and delights us. What can we learn from the absence and presence of Jesus in this story and the enigmatci work of God in the world?