Category Archives: Uncategorized

I saw my friend James yesterday. A close family member is very ill. James is exceedingly anxious. Their family future is uncertain. He asked me to pray 3 things for him and his family – healing, peace and strength. Healing… Earlier this week I spoke to my brother Bryan. Nearly 30 years ago he hadContinue reading “Healing, Peace and Strength”

William Shakespeare – Jaques in ‘As You Like It’: ‘All the world’s a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances,And one man in his time plays many parts’ My life’s a play; I’m an actor. Family, friends, my local community look on as the audience; they usually seemContinue reading “Acting – with William, Stephen and Marilynne”

On last night’s news: New Zealand dropped many of its pandemic border restrictions; Muslim communities were celebrating Eid; UK chickens, kept inside because of bird flu, are given their freedom. Each of the stories suggested a similar framework   Restrictions – New Zealand have been operating strict travel restrictions; faithful Muslims have fasted through Ramadan;Continue reading “The Process of Change”

Musing… Getting old… Last week I enjoyed Michael Rosen. In conversation about his experience of hospital and Covid someone had said: ‘But he’s 74’. Rosen reflects: ‘‘But he’s 74.’ I think about ‘but’. What is ‘but’ about being 74?’ Now I’m enjoying Marilynne Robinson’s ‘Gilead’, the fictional autobiography of the Reverend John Ames, a pastorContinue reading “Getting Old – Buts, Blessings and Boldness”

We cannot measure how you healOr answer every sufferer’s prayerYet we believe your grace respondsWhere faith and doubt unite to careYour hands, though bloodied on the crossSurvive to hold and heal and warnTo carry all through death to lifeAnd cradle children yet unborn Some Christian songs are positive and upbeat, speaking of God with strengthContinue reading “We Cannot Measure How You Heal”

Last night we watched ‘Booming Voices’ – a new play about the Norfolk Broads – their history and their future… at the Seagull Theatre… Through a story about Jen, a young student, we thought about the Broads…old trades and changing farming practices… the challenges that conservationists face with the marshes, waterways and wildlife… opportunities forContinue reading “Choices and Decisions”

The Sound of Music: Climb every mountain,Ford every stream,Follow every rainbow,Till you find your dream. Mountains are good, inspirational, beautiful, a source of hope… Climbing mountains is success… it’s hard work but worth the effort… I’ve had high points in my life… The American spiritual: You gotta walk that lonesome valleyYou gotta walk it byContinue reading “Bad Geography Behaviour”

Anchor: A device usually of metal attached to a ship or boat by a cable and cast overboard to hold it in a particular place… a reliable or principal support… something that serves to hold an object firmly. (Merriam Webster) Yesterday’s conversations with interesting people… Chris was the captain of a Lowestoft fishing trawler. HeContinue reading “Needing An Anchor”

Poet and author Michael Rosen spent weeks in hospital on a ventilator, in an induced coma; he nearly died from Covid. Eventually, recovering at home he wrote: I am not who I was.I am who I was.This is not me.This is me. I am now the personwho had Covid:the thing that came in March IContinue reading “I Am Not Who I Was”

Michael Rosen is a children’s author, poet and presenter. Two years ago he was in hospital with coronavirus in an induced coma. ‘Many Different Kinds of Love’ combines the diaries of his nurses, doctors and wife, with Rosen’s beautiful poems about his illness and recovery. Whilst he was in rehab he wrote: ‘The Occupational TherapistsContinue reading “Owning My Frailty”