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Christmas is coming. Decorations have gone up at our Seagull Theatre… the Christmas tree is up in church… we’ve been making Christmas decorations at Men’s Shed… it’s the first Sunday in Advent tomorrow. Yesterday was Black Friday – another tradition that we seem to have inherited from our American friends across the pond. Many shopsContinue reading “Christmas Bargains – from Paul, Julian and Bill.”

Reg is always telling stories… When he was a young man, working on the boats, he walked into a pub and saw a beautiful young woman and got talking to her. It was quite believable. Suddenly Reg’s beautiful young woman sneezed, her eye popped out and Reg caught it. I was beginning to have myContinue reading “Truth or Fanciful Story?”

It’s been a funny old week weather-wise. There have been sharp frosts, sunshine, strong winds, persistent rain, beautiful rainbows. One thing I love about living in this corner of England is the changing seasons… Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees… it’s time for winter pruning in the garden… only the most hardyContinue reading “Changing Seasons”

For many years now I’ve read through the Bible – starting in Genesis on January 1st, finishing Revelation on December 31st. This morning I’m up to Philippians… ‘Do everything without complaining or arguing…’ Really? Norwich City football is challenging… Our new coach started last week. On Saturday Norwich played at Birmingham. We played poorly; lostContinue reading “Without Complaining or Arguing”

This morning I read about ‘the armour of God’. As a child I was told of adventures of knights in shining armour going to battle. As a teenager I was challenged to defend myself with the shield of faith, wield ‘the sword of the Spirit, the word of God’. Getting older I tried to understandContinue reading “Soldiers, Gardeners and Elephants”

Over the weekend I encountered three families that live with dementia. Three good, ordinary people, who’ve lived good ordinary lives, married for many years to good, ordinary spouses, producing good, ordinary children… have minds now that are no longer good or ordinary. I know each of their three spouses well. This unplanned, unexpected dementia ofContinue reading “One More Step Through Dementia”

At our weekly ‘Singing for Wellbeing’ group we often sing old songs that we remember from our youth. Brogan, our guitarist, is a massive Beatles fan – so we often include a Beatles’ song. This week it was ‘Yesterday’. YesterdayAll my troubles seemed so far awayNow it looks as though they’re here to stayOh, IContinue reading “Yesterday”

Yesterday morning there’d been a frost and the sky was clear. As I walked along the beach there was a lone swimmer in the sea. Usually swimmers are in pairs or small groups for safety reasons. So why was he alone? Perhaps his friend hadn’t turned up… perhaps he’d fallen out with his friends andContinue reading “Perhaps…”

On Tuesday at our church home group we read Psalm 139. David writes about – probably sings about – a God who knows everything. It starts, ‘You have searched me Lord and know me,’ later continuing, ‘Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.’ God’s knowledge extends far beyond theContinue reading “The Limits Of My Knowledge”

This morning I read Paul’s words, ‘If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.’ It set me on a rambling musing… pride, boasting, achievements… weakness, embarrassment, failure… On Tuesday night Scotland beat Denmark 4-2 and qualified for next summer’s football World Cup finals. The TV news has replayed allContinue reading “Boasting About Weakness”