Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today’s Lowestoft Journal discusses the ‘controversial plans to replace the beach huts on Lowestoft seafront’ : ‘The plans have divided opinion among locals, with some branding the designs “hideous” and “too modern”  while others say they are “beautiful” and “just what Lowestoft needs”.’ Then there’s the plans for the third river crossing. My friend JackContinue reading “Future Planning”

Many years ago I visited a colleague headteacher in his school. Spud Murphy was a good, well respected head, with a quirky sense of humour. I watched Spud take school assembly, telling the story of Mr Smith and Mr Jones. Both lived by the seaside; each built a house – one on a sand foundation,Continue reading “Resilient”

Yesterday I was talking to a friend, I’ll call her Megan. After many years of denial, shame and hoping that it would go away she has finally faced up to the fact that she has an addiction. She has a Christian faith, so she sees God as part of her recovery; it’s also demanding effortContinue reading “The Life I Never Led”

On Sunday we had our Easter Service in the church garden  The question was: ‘Will the weather stay fine?’ It did. A neighbour politely asked the band, practicing before the service: ‘Will you be quiet, please?’ We weren’t. The garden question after the service – socially distanced, masked, but singing, was ‘Did that go well?’Continue reading “Garden Questions”

Yesterday we sat outside in the garden – sunshine, family, food – delightful. Today snowflakes are falling. The forecasters predicted it; I didn’t believe them. Part of our family get-together yesterday was our ‘traditional’ Easter Egg hunt – we hide chocolate eggs in the garden and the grandchildren find them. I wondered about the attitudeContinue reading “When Belief Is Challenged”

Led like a lamb to the slaughterIn silence and shameThere on Your back You carried a worldOf violence and painBleeding, dying, bleeding, dying It’s a spring picture. Fluffy sweet white lambs in lush green fields… I eat and enjoy meat; it’s convenient to put a gap between the fluffy lamb and Sunday roast dinner… ‘LambContinue reading “Led Like A Lamb”

Unexplained: The headline reads: ‘Post boxes get crochet hats in new craze’. Lowestoft is being ‘hit by random acts of crochet kindness…mysteriously popping up all around the town’. We can’t explain adequately many random events – good ones of love, friendship or family, or sad ones of sickness, disappointment or bereavement. In the Easter narrative,Continue reading “Easter Saturday”

Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reedSome say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleedSome say love, it is a hunger an endless aching needI say love, it is a flower and you, it’s only seed ‘The Rose’ describes the paradoxes of love – it’s fragileContinue reading “The Rose: Good Friday”

I have happy memories of April 1st in school. Children trying to catch out teachers, teachers sending children for striped paint or a left-handed paint brush. In a maths lesson involving weighing activities I sent a particularly irritating young man to Mr Dodds, the science teacher for a long weight that we ‘needed’. He cameContinue reading “April 1st – April Fool!”

I’ve been walking this morning with David – beautiful sunshine, calm sea. He says we walked 12,116 steps and 9.31km. He’s walked each day through March, raising money for Prostate Cancer. He’s nearly reached his target of 600,000 steps, but isn’t there yet. Yesterday I went round to Annie’s house and rang the bell. TheContinue reading “Travelling Purposefully – but not there yet”