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Last week, at Priscilla’s funeral, we sung ‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’… read ‘a time to be born and a time to die’… thanked God for ‘Cilla’s life… prayed for those mourning. Funerals can be sad occasions. Cilla liked Cliff Richard. We were invited to reflect on our memories of Cilla whilst we heard Cliff singing:Continue reading “Summer Holiday”

Last weekend it was Gloucestershire cheese rolling; this weekend it was Essex mud racing. More British bonkersness. Hundreds took part in in the Maldon Mud Race, a charity event that marked its 50th anniversary; thousands of local spectators watched. Contestants race 500 metres through thick, knee-deep mud, many entrants wearing fancy dress. Last year’s eventContinue reading “Burden-Bearing Mud Travellers”

Job’s life is full of misery and suffering; life seems futile…: ‘My body is full of worms and scabs…My days…come to an end without hope…My eyes will never see happiness again. (7:5-7) And yet, in his suffering he makes his great statement of faith: ‘I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end heContinue reading “There Is a Redeemer”

Yesterday’s local paper told me… When Logan Willimott was six-years-old he decided to grow his hair so it could be to cut off and donated to a charity. This happened on Tuesday, one week after Logan’s 10th birthday. Logan said: ‘It feels a bit weird not having my long hair anymore, but there are loadsContinue reading “Cut Off”

Esther is an immigrant Jewish girl. by a strange sequence of events, she’s taken into the king’s hareem and becomes the Queen of Persia. Haman, second in command in the Persian Empire, plots to destroy the Jews. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, seeing Esther’s unique opportunity to prevent this destruction of their people, says: ‘Who knows whetherContinue reading “Such A Time As This”

This morning’s ‘Lectio 365’ devotional reading quotes the Filipina writer and social activist, Melba Maggay: ‘So this we believe: a kingdom of justice and righteousness has begun, and it’s making its way into people’s lives and denting structures that continue to oppress and dehumanise. Such work is seldom done in the corridors of power norContinue reading “Small Acts of Integrity and Goodness”

In yesterday’s news… …Researchers from King’s College London have found that introducing peanuts into babies’ diets can reduce the risk of peanut allergy by 71 per cent. Professor Gideon Lack said: ‘Decades of advice to avoid peanuts has made parents fearful of introducing peanuts at an early age. The evidence is clear that early introductionContinue reading “Prevention”

One of my favourite Roger Whittaker songs is ‘Why’. Written fifty years ago, Whittaker asks about climate change, lost love, regret… universal questions of why things happen as they do: Will the grass be gone from underneath the skyWill the golden flower wither soon and dieWill the fire burn out the landAnd the sea fill-upContinue reading “Why – The final question?”

Last week on holiday we visited Flamborough Head, just North of Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast. From the cliff top we observed seals on the beach. An excited group of bird-watchers had seen an Icterine Warbler in a hedge. Rachel saw it; I didn’t. Apparently they’re pretty rare. At the RSPB site at Bempton seaContinue reading “Observing, Inspecting, Searching…”

I’ve always considered ‘Where No One Stands Alone’ as an Elvis Presley gospel song that others have ‘borrowed’. Here’s one of the many versions: Once I stood in the nightWith my head bowed lowIn the darkness as black as could beAnd my heart felt alone and I cried, “Oh LordDon’t hide your face from me”Continue reading “Where No One Stands Alone”