Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

It’s been a weekend of remembrance. There have been visual reminders – pictures of conflicts past and present, televised national acts of remembrance, poppies on the memorial outside Pakefield Parish Church, Lyn’s beautiful display in our church. Familiar words have been read: They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:Age shallContinue reading “Remembrance, Relevance, Resilience,”

Take the shackles off my feet so I can danceI just wanna praise YouI just wanna praise YouYou broke the chains, now I can lift my handsAnd I’m gonna praise YouI’m gonna praise You Today is Remembrance Sunday. We remember those bound by shackles of bereavement, disability and mental trauma. It’s a picture of theContinue reading “Shackles (Praise You)”

Peace: Today is Remembrance Day. We remember that on the ‘eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’, in 1918, the armistice was signed to bring peace after war. Around war memorials, in churches, today and tomorrow, there will be a minute’s silence and we shall remember. In school each year we cameContinue reading “Peace, Pups, Power and People”

Yesterday… …I was chatting to Janet. Her husband John, a lovely man, has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. One of the symptoms has been John’s unpredictable mood swings. Janet has found it really difficult to cope with them. Recently, for the first time, John became physically aggressive, so that the police had to be called.Continue reading “Anticipation – But What Sort?”

As a child I loved listening to stories at Sunday School; my dad was a great story teller. I read stories, especially Enid Blyton – Noddy, The Faraway Tree, Mr Pink-Whistle… I became a story-teller myself in church, at school. Leading school assemblies invariably involved telling a story. I taught children to write stories –Continue reading “The Art of Story Telling”

This morning I read ‘In humility consider others better than yourselves.’ With ‘humility’ I’m unpretentious, modest, submissive. ‘Humility’s derived from the Latin. ‘Humilitas’ means ‘lowness’. ‘Humus’ meaning ‘earth’. With humility alone I become a doormat that others walk over. I need ‘Humility Plus…’ …Plus Passion: I need humility as a Norwich City supporter. We’ve lostContinue reading “Humility Plus”

On Sunday’s ‘Songs of Praise’ we were told the story of Mina Smallman. In 2020 her two daughters, Bibaa and Nicole, were murdered by a stranger at Fryent country park in Wembley, north London. Mina’s initial grief and anger are still present, but she has been able to use her personal tragedy to highlight issuesContinue reading “Moving On…”

As a boy I went to ‘cubs’ – the 6th Caterham pack. I promised: ‘I promise to do my best, to do my duty to God and the Queen, to keep the law of the wolf cub pack, and to do a good turn to somebody every day.’ Each session started with ‘The Grand Howl’:Continue reading “DYB, DYB, DYB”

No more talk of darkness,Forget these wide-eyed fearsI’m here, nothing can harm youmy words will warm and calm youLet me be your freedom,let daylight dry your tears.I’m here with you, beside you,to guard you and to guide you… This song from Phantom of the Opera has been in my head this last couple of daysContinue reading “All I Ask of You”

Several conversations recently, have started, ‘Young people today…’ I’ve then heard how lazy, disrespectful, rude, uncommunicative, selfish… young people are. Socrates once said, ‘The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age.’ He also said, ‘When I was young, we were taught to be discreetContinue reading “Young People Today…”