Category Archives: Uncategorized

‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’  – so the old saying goes. When the family come round for a meal Rachel will often say ‘any pudding requests?’ Last time the request was ‘strawberry and cream sponge or banoffee pie, please. Pudding arrived. ‘That looks nice,’ said Emily. It did. The proof ofContinue reading “The Proof of the Pudding…”

In my annual journey through the Bible I arrived this morning in Isaiah 23. In the middle of a prophecy about the ancient city of Tyre there’s the phrase ‘The Sea Has Spoken’. I’ve lived by the sea for thirty-eight years. What does the sea say? In ‘Deck of Cards’ a soldier boy explains hisContinue reading “The Sea Has Spoken”

Monday’s Southport knife attack resulted in the tragic death of three girls. Eight other children and two adults were badly injured. The community came together to share its grief. On Tuesday night there were riots In Southport. Following misinformation on social media shops were looted, vehicles set on fire, the mosque was targeted. The policeContinue reading “Overcoming Evil With Good”

For two days now the news has been dominated by Monday’s tragic knife attack during a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop for children aged six to eleven in Southport, a seaside town in northwest England. Last night there were the pictures of the three girls who were killed; we were reminded of the eightContinue reading “Lament, Love, Learn, Live”

‘My Country Wept’ tells the true story of Theo Mbzumutima. Forced to flee from his native Burundi when civil war between Hutus and Tutsis killed many of his family and friends, he describes the impact on his young sister: ‘I couldn’t imagine how my sister must have felt when the army entered our village. AtContinue reading “Xenophobia and Philoxenia”

Yesterday morning at church Danny preached on Jesus’ parable of the new and old wine and wineskins of Christian faith… Yesterday nine of us enjoyed a lovely family lunch together, relaxing, chatting, catching up… Rachel remembered that in the spring the traditional family Easter Egg hunt had been impossible because of the weather… We foundContinue reading “Old Wine and New Wine…”

This Olivia Lane tells a powerful story: I heard a story from the BibleWhen I was just a little girlAbout a broken-hearted womanWho met the Savior of the world Thought it was just another storyOne that the preacher man would readBut as I’m sitting here at homeDrinking red wine all aloneI think that woman mightContinue reading “Woman At The Well”

Yesterday… …At Our Singing For Health group we sung ‘Knees up Mother Brown’. Originally, thought to be a London East-End pub song from the early 1800s, it contrasts the boisterous energetic ‘knee’s up’ dancing of the working class, contrasts with the refined dancing of the aristocrats. It contained sexual innuendo, reference to Queen Victoria’s allegedContinue reading “Dreaming of Unity”

Yesterday I went for my Eye Clinic Outpatient appointment at our local hospital. I did the usual tests; the doctor looked at the results. ‘You need laser treatment – SLT,’ he said. He gave me an explanatory sheet: ‘Treatment concentrates on lowering the pressure inside your eye… ‘Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty’ (SLT) uses a laser toContinue reading “Understanding SLT”

A couple of miles south of us is ‘Africa Alive’. Their publicity material boasts: ‘’Go nose to nose with our towering giraffes, and wave to Duma, our cheetah who’s faster than your kids racing to the ice cream stand!… don’t miss the chance to meet Reggie, the friendliest lion at the zoo!’ …From amazing animalContinue reading “Fenced-off Enclosures”