Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat downYeah, we wept, when we remembered Zion When I first heard this song, taken from Psalm 137, I couldn’t work out why a song about weeping was so jolly… The Jews were captive exiles, away from their homes, weeping beside the Babylon rivers. King Nebuchadnezzar, ruled byContinue reading “Rivers Of Babylon”

Yesterday storm Eunice caused significant damage across the country. Locally 80 mph winds blew down trees, took our fence panels, removed shed roofs… roads were closed and power lines brought down. This week I’ve been talking to friends about their life-storms – family troubles, sickness, work problems, mental health issues, bereavement… This morning I walkedContinue reading “The Calm After The Storm”

‘Alice in Wonderland’ was written by an Oxford University maths lecturer… Alice talks to the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon: ‘…the different branches of arithmetic – Ambition, Distraction, Uglification and Derision…’ Addition… We spend our lives adding… to our possessions, wardrobe, bank balance, experiences, friends, popularity… St Peter talks about a different sort of addition:Continue reading “Mathematical Musings”

Our new Lowestoft beach huts are finally taking shape. I’ve followed their progress with interest. It’s been a long process with 4 stages… Demolition – In 2016 the old concrete beach chalets were destroyed; they were unsightly, unsafe, no longer fit for purpose… Stabilisation – The cliff behind the beach huts had to be ‘stabilised’.Continue reading “Demolition, Stabilisation, Preparation, Construction”

I used to think that clean hands came from wiping them on my jeans… then I encountered soap and water. Recently I’ve learnt that clean hands come by washing whist singing the national anthem and then applying hand-sanitiser… as if I’m preparing for some surgical procedure… Cleanliness? Mental re-alignment! I’ve been transporting boxes of oldContinue reading “More Mental Realignment…”

Glancing through the paper… tonight’s television… ‘The Secret Life Of Our Pete’. My imagination set off… our son Pete… What’s he been getting up to? I looked back… The title read ‘The Secret Life Of Our Pets’. My blurry-early-morning eyes had misread it. …Mental re-alignment… I continued: ‘It is more than 20 years since theContinue reading “Mental Re-alignment”

Today, 14th February, is St Valentine’s day… Valentine was an Italian priest, imprisoned for aiding Christians persecuted by Roman Emperor Claudius II… he performed ‘outlawed’ weddings… Marriage was seen to be an obstacle to recruiting new soldiers and a distraction to existing soldiers! Whilst in prison he taught the jailer’s daughter. He sent her aContinue reading “Facing The Challenge?”

I’ve had many tears and sorrowsI’ve had questions for tomorrowThere’s been times I didn’t know right from wrongBut in every situationGod gave me blessed consolationThat my trials come to only make me strong I heard this Andrae Crouch song for the first time a week ago. It resonated with me then; it’s stayed with meContinue reading “Through It All”

For Christmas Our Grandson gave us ‘The Little Book For Really Brilliant Grandparents’. It contains short stories, examples, advice… ‘Have fun – make your grandchildren laugh. Remember that ‘boring’ is far worse that ‘batty’… ‘Our kids can probably survive without our advice, but they need our affirmation…’ …Rebecca started university last September. She’s had oneContinue reading “Affirmation”

In ‘Why we kneel, How we rise’ West Indian cricketer Michael Holding talks to Hope Powell about her experiences of racism. Powell, became England Women’s football manager in 1998, the first black coach of an English national sporting team: ‘As a black person, when you have an opinion, or you disagree with something, some peopleContinue reading “Speak Up or Remain Silent?”