Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

In the story of Goldilocks… Daddy-bear’s porridge is too hot, mummy-bear’s porridge is too cold, baby-bear’s porridge is just right… Daddy-bear’s chair is too hard, mummy-bear’s chair is too soft, baby-bear’s chair is just right… and so on with beds… I was reading about life on planet earth… If the earth were closer to theContinue reading “The Goldilocks Principle”

Jesus was a man who kept the company of menTill he got betrayed by one of themAnd surely that must have been the biggest sinBut in his final hour, he even forgave himAnd what he asked you then, well I now ask you tooFather, forgive them, for they know not what they do I usedContinue reading “Father Forgive Them”

Many older folks that I chat to, live with ‘if only’ regrets – If only I hadn’t had such a difficult childhood… If only I had a better education… If only I hadn’t married so young… If only I’d had help with that problem earlier… If only I’d been a better parent… Living with regrets…Continue reading “The Big ‘If Only’”

Last night’s headline news was the Johannesburg fire that killed 74 people. Outside the destroyed apartment block, ‘informal’ housing for 200 homeless people, the Fire Chief said: ‘We must make sure this never happens again…’ We often hear this after a disaster – fire, flood, shooting, road accident, drug trafficking, exploitation of young people… WordsContinue reading “Facta Non Verba”

Last night was a supermoon. A number of friends posted beautiful pictures – the full moon in a clear sky over the sea, beside the church, through a tree… Apparently, as the Moon orbits the Earth its distance to us varies by tens of thousands of kilometres. A supermoon occurs when the Moon is closestContinue reading “Up Close And…”

I’ve enjoyed reading about last weekend’s hunt for the Loch Ness monster. Two hundred people with hi-tech gear, around the Scottish loch near Inverness… The biggest hunt in decades ended in failure. Christie McLeod, who travelled from Toronto, Canada said: ‘There are two types of people in this world, Nessie believers and non-believers, and I’mContinue reading “I’m A Believer”

Just going about… Toyohiko Kagawa was born in Kobe, Japan in 1888. Studying theology in Japan and Princeton he was convinced that Christianity needed to be lived out in action. Returning to Kobe he lived with the poor, advocating for the prostitute, murderer, abused and victimised. His outspoken pacifist views and calls for social reform causedContinue reading “He Went About Doing Good…”

‘Like billy-o’ is a common phrase. ‘It rained like billy-o; I was soaked through.’ ‘We worked like billy-o to get the job finished.’ ‘When she went shopping she spent money like billy-o.’ It means ‘very intensely, vigorously or enthusiastically.’ Stephen mentioned the phrase at church yesterday morning, saying the phrase came from an Essex preacherContinue reading “Like Billy-O”

Noah built the most enormous boatThat kept the birds and animals afloatThe Lord was good the Lord was strongAnd Noah lived his life for Him Moses led his people through the seaTaking them away from slaveryThe Lord was good the Lord was strongAnd Moses lived his life for Him Some would call this a ‘children’sContinue reading “All Through History”

Richard Coles was ‘a minister of Christ in the richest neighbourhood in possibly the richest city in the world’ – St Paul’s Knightsbridge. He describes the opulence… but ‘it was one of the hardest places that I’ve ever had to minister… (the riches) become a barrier between them and their deepest needs.’ Musing… What areContinue reading “Love, Labour and Loneliness”