Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

Yesterday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp was liberated. In this camp alone, more than one million people were murdered, most of them Jews. We listen to those who came before us… We preserve the memory of the Holocaust… We share those storiesContinue reading “Nostra Aetate”

‘My happiest hours are spent with three or four old friends in old clothes tramping together and putting up in small pubs — or else sitting up till the small hours in someone’s college rooms, talking nonsense, poetry, theology, metaphysics over beer, tea and pipes.’ …words attributed to C.S. Lewis …meeting with J.R.R. Tolkien andContinue reading “Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary”

When I worked in school, Michael Morpurgo was one author that children liked to read and teachers liked to promote. In a 2017 interview he said: ‘Wherever my story takes me, however dark and difficult the theme, there is always some hope and redemption, not because readers like happy endings, but because I am anContinue reading “The Story’s Happy Ending”

My earliest memories are linked with church. Our ‘tin tabernacle’ with wooden walls and a corrugated iron roof, was my second home. Every Sunday morning, we sung old hymns from a little black book. Most I haven’t seen or sung for many, many years. About thirty years, ago one of these little-black-book songs ‘reappeared’. CharitieContinue reading “Before the Throne of God Above”

Margaret’s life and Thursday’s funeral are still on my mind. The family have written: ‘A dear mum, nanny and great-nanny, she was deeply loved and will always be missed. All who knew her will remember her kindness, her naughty sense of humour and her love for her family.’ Margaret was much loved and valued inContinue reading “Valued in Life and Death”

Yesterday was Margaret’s funeral. Many came to remember her, and celebrate her life. We heard her life-story; family members brought their memories and paid tribute to the person she was and the positive influence she’d had on her life. I shall remember her nickname ‘Naughty Nanny’. There were readings, hymns and prayers as reference wasContinue reading “Yes, Jesus Loves Me”

The BBC last night reported… Researchers have tracked the exercise habits of 110,000 men and women for 30 years. Apparently, active people who do the greatest variety of exercise are 19% less likely to die during that time than those who focused on one activity. They conclude that doing a variety of different physical activitiesContinue reading “The Basketed Spicy Eggs Principle”

At our church home group last night we read a Psalm together, prayed for each other, and discussed ‘Freedom’ – the theme of Sunday morning’s church service. I finished the evening with three songs on my mind… Ann mentioned ‘Don’t Fence Me In’: Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies aboveDon’t fenceContinue reading “The Fences, the Way and the Guide”

At church on Sunday, we thought about freedom. Definitions of freedom were suggested: ‘The absence of barriers’, ‘Not being a slave to anything’, ‘Lightening your load’. Reflecting… Basic human freedoms – freedom of choice, religion or speech… freedom from oppression, violence, prejudice… God brought His people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in their PromisedContinue reading “Freedom: The Ring, The Mole, and Joined Hands”

On Friday we visited our friend Ron. Three weeks ago Ron went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, passed out and fell down the stairs. Paramedics were called, and, following an ambulance ride and a trip to hospital, he learned that he’d broken his ankle. He still has aches and pains, butContinue reading “The Boot, the Banjo and the Bricks”