
I love football cliches… In yesterday’s paper: ‘…Dominic Calvert-Lewin launched himself at a free kick and found the net.’ He sounds like a human cannonball…
In 1877 Rossa Richter became known as the first human cannonball, She was fired out of a cannon, travelled through the air and landed in a net. Occasionally she missed the net; once, in Portsmouth in 1879, the net used to catch her was rotten and she fell through…
Opinions are often fired with force like human cannonballs…
I watched Eurovision last weekend. Essex-boy Sam Ryder who came second said: ‘We were sat there in the green room and absolutely engulfed in the energy of that arena; it was like being in a church because there was so much joy…’
Many varied cannonball-opinions about Eurovision and church are frequently fired…
In ‘Heaven Come Down – the story of a transgender disciple’, Chrissie Chevasutt describes ‘Dysmorphia – the condition of acute discomfort with one’s own body’ and ‘Gender dysphoria – the condition of dissonance between one’s physical sex and perceived gender identity’.
Critical and sympathetic cannonball-opinions on dysmorphia and gender dysphoria are also fired…
This morning a group of us met to pray for our friend Sarah. Sarah’s cancer is not good; we prayed for her healing.
The nature of prayer, its value and its power to heal cannonball-opinions are also fired.
Some cannonball-opinions fired with great force miss the net; some cannonball-opinions don’t have a net that’s strong enough to support them; some cannonball-opinions are on target and held by a strong, supportive net.
I like ‘Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry’… take care before you fire your cannonball… (James 1:19)
Having taken care aiming my cannonball I fire… I really enjoy Eurovision; I love and believe in the church; I’m saddened by the ignorance and judgment made against transgender folks; I believe in the healing power of prayer to a God who is a safe, strong net.