At church yesterday Lou was talking about St Paul’s words to followers of Jesus… their work should be whole-hearted…
We watched the World Indoor Athletics Championships from Glasgow over the weekend. We particularly enjoyed the two British gold medals – Josh Kerr in the 3,000m and Molly Caudery in the pole vault.
New Zealander Geordie Beamish won an exciting men’s 1500m. The commentator told us: ‘Beamish won because he was faster than all the other athletes.’ We love it when they state the obvious!
Josh’s, Molly’s and Geordie’s efforts were certainly whole-hearted.
‘Songs of Praise’ yesterday reminded us that this year’s the 200th anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Since its first lifeboat in 1824, RNLI volunteers have saved more than 144,000 lives.
They told the story of Grace Darling, the English lighthouse keeper’s daughter. Aged 22 she helped rescue survivors from a shipwreck in 1838…
RNLI volunteers, Grace Darling in particular, have been whole-hearted in their courage, dedication and commitment.
Yesterday’s ‘Sun’ stated: ‘In 2018 Peppa Pig was taken down from a Chinese streaming platform for not aligning with communist party values – with viewers described as ‘unruly slackers’.
Definitely not whole-hearted.
Norwich City played in the wind and the rain on Saturday… At one point a beautiful rainbow appeared across the stadium. Some said it was an omen… I remembered the song:
Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true
Whether it’s Norwich supporters’ optimism, Dorothy’s naïve beliefs, or my Christian conviction, the rainbow’s a symbol of whole-hearted hope.
Yesterday I discovered the beautiful old Nat King Cole song ‘Nature Boy’ that concludes:
‘The greatest thing you’ll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return’
The whole-heartedness introduced by Lou, is demonstrated by the athletes’ efforts, the and lifeboat volunteers’ courage, the rainbow’s hope, and Nat King Cole’s love.
Jesus taught it and lived it. He calls those who would follow him to do the same.
malcolmsmusings.org 