Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

Our radiator was leaking. It’s only two-and-a-half years old. We phoned Julian the supplier, and Kevin the plumber who’d fitted it. Kevin came ten days ago. ‘Your radiator is leaking.’ Kevin said. ‘I know that,’ I said. ‘You need a new one’, Kevin said. ‘I’ll ring Julian. ‘He’ll order us a new one.’ ‘OK’, IContinue reading “The Period of Without”

…I read this quote from the Victorian preacher Charles Spurgeon: ‘We must have only one aim. Had we plenty of time, we might try two or three schemes at once, though even then we should most probably fail for want of concentrating our energies; but as we have very little time, we had better economiseContinue reading “‘Devotion to One Reasonable Object’”

On Sunday Paula Radcliffe ran the Tokyo marathon. Having ended her athletics career with the 2015 London Marathon, she ran her first competitive marathon for 10 years, aged 51. Paula Ratcliffe is one of my athletic heroes. Her track races and marathons, her medals and records – her 2003 world record marathon time stood forContinue reading “Taking the Long-Term View”

George Bennard (1873-1958) was a methodist preacher, born in Ohio, but raised in Iowa. He started top write ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ in late 1912 as a reply to ridicule he received at a revival meeting. It was finished and first sung in January 1913. The original song had four verses… On a hill farContinue reading “The Old Rugged Cross”

Early yesterday morning as I was walking along the beach I saw a mum with a couple of young children. The children, wearing pyjamas and slippers, ran towards the sea and started throwing stones… I continued for another few hundred yards, then walked back along the promenade. Mum and children were coming off the beach.Continue reading “‘I-Don’t-Know’ World”

Eight years ago at church we ran a series called ‘Broken’. The invitation publicity read: ‘We live as broken people in a broken world. There are no rules for or exemptions from brokenness. We are all randomly affected. The best, the strongest and the most confident can be broken. And yet the Christian Gospel isContinue reading “Broken… Again”

I find the Bible inspirational and encouraging… but difficult and challenging… I’ve been reading Joshua and Judges… After years of unrest Israel’s finally settled in their ‘Promised Land’. There’s great stories about Joshua and Gideon – heroes of the faith. There’s lesser known adventures of Caleb and Deborah… salutary tales of Achan and Samson… JudgesContinue reading “Parachutes, Pies and Pals”

Yesterday my friend Jack said that he identified with the Muppet Gonzo… in particular Gonzo’s ‘feat of lunatic daring’. We talked our feats of lunatic daring… …then our mutual friend Roger, who’s become a wrestler. He’s takes his wrestling seriously. There’s regular training and practicing with a local group of wrestlers. Jack had been toContinue reading “The Feat of Lunatic Daring”

Over this last week the temperature has risen and we’ve seen a little sunshine. About this time of year Mum would announce that she was doing her ‘Spring Cleaning’. I have three ‘spring cleaning’ childhood memories… clearing all that was under the beds (sometimes discovering the unexpected!) and Mum cleaning excessive dust… removing all thatContinue reading “Spring Cleaning”

On Friday a friend was bemoaning the fact that her children hadn’t produced grandchildren for her yet. She was smiling, but pointed out that other women of her age had grandchildren… At church yesterday another friend – of similar age – was telling me about her grandson, her first grandchild. I heard about the baby’sContinue reading “The Good, The Bad, and The Bag of Gold”