Category Archives: Uncategorized

I learnt the Christmas story as a child – Mary, Joseph, Bethlehem, manger, baby, shepherds, wise men…. read, sung, acted, each year at church… The angel says to Joseph: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him ‘Emmanuel’, which means ‘God with us’’. I was taught well. Isaiah’sContinue reading “Emmanuel – God With Us”

On yesterday’s news… In 1978 Avril and Christopher Rowlands drove home with their first ever £6 Christmas tree on the top of their Mini Cooper. After Christmas they planted it in the front garden of their new Inkberrow, Worcestershire house. Now, 46 years on, the couple, are both around 80-years-old. That same tree stands 50ftContinue reading “It Started Small.”

On Saturday… The Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris re-opened. In April 2019 fire destroyed it. There followed the £800m reconstruction involving 2,000 craftsmen. We saw the ceremony in the magnificent reconstructed cathedral. World leaders assembled… Prince William, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky… President Emmanuel Macron said that Notre-Dame was a symbol of fraternity that a fractured worldContinue reading “Mending the Fractured; Achieving the Impossible”

I first met this Andrae Crouch song a few years ago. I wrote about it then. I’ve come back to it on a number of occasions… I’ve had many tears and sorrowsI’ve had questions for tomorrowThere’s been times I didn’t know right from wrongBut in every situationGod gave me blessed consolationThat my trials came toContinue reading “Through It All (I’m Still Learning)”

You say yes, I say noYou say stop and I say go, go, goYou say goodbye and I say hello ‘Hello, Goodbye’ was top of the UK singles charts for seven weeks in 1967. Paul McCartney says the song describes choices we have to make in life: ‘I’m attracted to the binary… You say yes,Continue reading “Hello, Goodbye”

Last night’s local news included an item on Lakenheath Fen nature reserve, Suffolk, where common cranes have nested since 2007. There was film of these magnificent birds with their 2.5m wingspan… Last night’s report showed four large areas, about 5m by 10m, being cut out of the wetland’s reedbed to help the birds come inContinue reading “Coming In To Land”

Around the age of forty my eyesight started to deteriorate. I went to the opticians, to my friend Martin. Martin explained to me that he’s an optometrist. Trained to examine and test my eyes, he could detect defects in my vision. The optician would advise and sell me glasses. I understood. More recently I wasContinue reading “Orthoptists, Fools and Faith”

My teenage years were mapped out by the lyrics of Beatles songs. When I was a young teenager they wrote and sung simple, happy love songs; life was uncomplicated. As I grew older their songs had deeper meaning; I started to think more… Recently my friend Robert said: ‘Would you like to borrow this?’ ItContinue reading “Love, Blackbirds and Clay Jars”

Yesterday morning at our Men’s Shed I was talking to one gent whose colourful life includes business ventures, failed relationships, children who won’t talk to him… He went through a period of loneliness, mental ill-health… Coming to Men’s Shed enabled him to get involved with life and people again. Later I went into a localContinue reading “Levels of Involvement”

When I was teaching I needed to get to know all of the children… A first group of children I knew because of their particular needs. They needed extra help physically, academically, behaviourally, emotionally… A second group I knew because they were good at stuff – those who could read and write well, the footballersContinue reading “Unnoticed, Ignored, Dispensable.”