Yesterday…
…Gill shared this poster concerning Norman, an overweight dog. Together with a picture of Norman, there’s the announcement:
‘This is Norman. Norman is not allowed treats from ANY house on this street. He has told at least four families on this street that nobody feeds him. Norman eats twice a day. Norman is a liar.’
…I was chatting to Reg at our Men’s Shed. Reg, who’s in his eighties, has always lived in Lowestoft, working on the boats all his working life.
Reg was talking about his childhood… attending St Margaret’s school… his classroom that’s still there… falling in the school pond… sitting in class with a blanket round him… his clothes drying on a radiator… having to miss playtime…
At playtime, when the boys played football, Reg enjoyed skipping with the girls. ‘We know who had most fun,’ he said…
…I learned about Clara. Clara, a 10-year-old girl from Southwold, has swum in the sea every day for a year, raising more than £12,000 for the Southwold lifeboat station.
On the local news we saw Clara’s dad, Nathan, a volunteer for the local lifeboat, who joined her each morning. Nathan described freezing days in January with snow on the beach, Clara’s determination… Clara talked about scary stormy mornings, ‘It’s kind of hard…’
…I finished Brennan Manning’s ‘Ruthless Trust’. Manning describes fourteenth century theologian and mystic John Tauler who prayed that God would send him someone to ‘teach him the way of true perfection’. Tauler meets ‘a barefoot ragamuffin in rags, wounded and caked in blood’.
In conversation, the beggar says, ‘Whether my stomach is full or I am famished with hunger, I praise God equally, when I am rebuffed and despised, I still thank God. My trust in God’s providence and his plan for my life is absolute, so there is no such thing as a bad day.’
It’s a daily habit… Norman’s eating, lying(!)… Reg’s skipping, having fun with the girls… Clara’s swimming, raising money… the beggar’s, thanking and trusting his God.
malcolmsmusings.org 