Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

Yesterday I read… ‘Lowestoft: a faded Suffolk star is reborn’: Guardian headline. ‘With new arts venues, pubs and restaurants, fancy beach huts and a restored pier, the UK’s most easterly town is getting its mojo back…’ It describes various aspects of Lowestoft… a bit of history ‘Samuel Morton Peto’s dream being for Lowestoft to rivalContinue reading “Resilience”

At Men’s Shed yesterday Dave was chatting about St Petersburg. He’d been there professionally; he’d returned for a holiday. He showed me a coloured brochure of the State Hermitage Museum… Dave turned the page in the brochure. There was Rembrandt’s ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’ that’s on display in the Hermitage Museum. The pictureContinue reading “Dave, Rembrandt, Julian and Henri”

An assortment of birds come to our garden each day… purposeful, busy woodpeckers… families of blackbirds look after each other… stupid, waddling pigeons; a cheerful robin always comes to say ‘hello’… various smaller birds collect their food and leave… Recently they’ve been joined by a big, black crow. I’ve called him Colin. He sits onContinue reading “Colin the Crow”

My bike hasn’t been running so smoothly lately. I took it to Duncan, the proprietor of ‘Dunx’, the shop where I bought it five years ago… I value my bike… using it every day. I get on it without a thought… usually taking it for granted… …I was chatting to Steve. Steve was diagnosed withContinue reading “Bicycle Maintenance”

At church yesterday Esther talked about Joshua… The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt… wandering around the desert… were about to settle in their Promised Land. Moses, their leader for 40 years, had died; Joshua was their new leader. Standing in front of the River Jordan the people are in a new situation… new confusions,Continue reading “I’ve Never Been This Way Before”

I don’t see anything wrong with the lights on stagesI even love it when the crowd gets loud singing out God’s praisesBut every now and then it can get a little complicatedSo I remember when I was in that old church basement. Christians have always sung together – from ancient psalms to modern worship songsContinue reading “Old Church Basement”

My Headmaster at school was Mr Soderberg (known to us as ‘Sod’). Always immaculately dressed, he taught me Latin. I wasn’t inspired. Each morning we sung a hymn and he read prayers… One started: ‘Into your hands, O Lord, we commit ourselves this day. Give each of us a watchful, humble and diligent spirit…’ Watchful…Continue reading “Watchful, Humble and Diligent…”

As a young child I learnt: ‘Julius Caesar – That old Geezer – Squashed his nose in a lemon squeezer.’ I hadn’t a clue who ‘that old geezer’ was, but I liked the rhyme. At school I ‘did the Romans’ and learnt about Julius Caesar invading Britain; as a teacher we ‘did the Romans’… theirContinue reading “Julius Caesar”

I’m reading Jeremiah and his ‘Lamentations’. Jeremiah certainly wasn’t a bundle of laughs. He wouldn’t have got on ‘Jerusalem’s Got Talent’ as a comedian… or entertainer of any sort. ‘I am the man who has seen affliction,’ Jeremiah says, lamenting national and personal tragedies… I watch the news – war, refugees, national disasters… Recently I’veContinue reading “Man Of Constant Sorrow”

I thought I knew about Canute… the 11th century king who sat on the seashore on his throne, crown on his head, commanding the tide to stop. Canute got wet and looked foolish… …Apparently the actual legend is that Canute’s seashore exercise was to persuade his flattering courtiers that he wasn’t omnipotent. He knew theContinue reading “Canute, and the Woodbridge Hands”