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Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. This week’s ‘Sunday Song’ is a simple Taizé song, quoting the words of the robber crucified with Jesus.   I’m reading Solomon Northrup’s ’12 Years a Slave’. Born a free man in 1808, he’s kidnapped and sold intoContinue reading “Jesus Remember Me”

Good friends Barry and Bridget came to stay. In the middle of the night a shadowy figure entered our bedroom. Me: I think you’re in the wrong room. Barry: What? Barry tried to get into our bed! Me: I think you’re in the wrong room! Barry: Eh?… OK Barry’s shadowy figure left the room. Barry’sContinue reading “Right Person, Right Thing, Right Time, Right Place”

Usually, I live somewhere on a spectrum that goes from ‘bouncing’ at one end to ‘bumbling’ at the other end. When I was younger and more energetic I probably spent more time towards the bouncing end… now I tend more towards bumbling… Yesterday the folk around me seemed to have huge insurmountable problems… ongoing physicalContinue reading “My Bouncing – Bumbling Spectrum”

At Men’s Shed we were reflecting on life in the 1950’s and 1960’s… …A number of the gents didn’t get on very well at school… Martin vividly described his Mum being called in to see his junior school Headmaster, who said that Martin was useless. He wasn’t even good enough to be a road-sweeper; ifContinue reading “The Unwanted Reject”

Diversion signs around the town may be frustrating… but it’s good to know that ‘emergency works’ are filling some of the many potholes in our roads. I was amused to read that ‘urgent works will repair the potholes on the roads that measure from 40mm to 100mm’.’ I assume that they mean that the holes notContinue reading “Potholes, Bridges, Parking… and a Blessing”

Musing on yesterday… conversations about fathers… Abusive fathers… At our Men’s Shed older men talked about their fathers. Some remembered fathers who treated them and their mum’s badly – physical and verbal aggression… spending their money at the pub rather than on their families. Children were afraid of their father. Absent fathers… Previous Lowestoft generationsContinue reading “Fathers and Their Children”

I’ve enjoyed reading Wynne Lyon’s ‘Finding My Father’s Faith’. She’s introduced me to a new word – ‘paraprosdokian’. A paraprosdokian is a ‘Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected.’  Coming from Greek words that mean ‘beyond thought, imagination or expectation’, it can be used toContinue reading “The Power of the Paraprosdokian”

I don’t know if you can hear meOr if you’re even thereI don’t know if you would listen to a gypsy’s prayerYes, I know I’m just an outcastI shouldn’t speak to youStill I see your face and wonderWere you once an outcast too? In the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmeralda, a gypsy teenage dancer, comesContinue reading “God Help the Outcasts”

Last night we saw the stage musical ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ excellently staged and performed by ‘The Lowestoft Players’. Based on the 1831 Victor Hugo novel… set in 1482 Paris… adapted by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz… Quasimodo, the hunchbacked bell-ringer, is an orphan with significant physical disability. He lives an isolated life, rarelyContinue reading “Discovering My Hunchback”

As a child… I attended ‘Oak Hall’ also known as ‘The Hall’ or ‘Chapel’; I went to services, Sunday School, activities… Church was ‘St Paul’s’, or ‘St Mary’s’. I didn’t go to church. I got older… Anywhere I went to do Christian religious stuff was church – whatever the denomination or tradition. I hadn’t changedContinue reading “Church & Sanctuary – my developing understanding”