Category Archives: Uncategorized

We are the champions, my friendsAnd we’ll keep on fighting ’til the endWe are the championsWe are the championsNo time for losers‘Cause we are the championsOf the world I could never identify with Freddie Mercury. In his world the world is divided into winners and losers. Winners are good; losers are bad. Ambition demands thatContinue reading “Redefining Success”

Tuesday… We bought new phones. Our old ones needed replacing. Beth, the kind assistant in Tesco’s transferred our data to our new phones. We got home. I couldn’t find things. I couldn’t do things as before. I panicked… as I do with anything technical. Wednesday… We went out for a meal. I booked somewhere we’dContinue reading “Disappointments & 5 ‘S’s”

Yesterday Rachel and I visited Minsmere, a local nature reserve. We were pleased to see Marsh Harriers and a green woodpecker… We sat by the coastal lagoons where there were lots of ducks and geese – about which I have limited knowledge. Yesterday I identified ‘Shelduck’ and ‘Shoveler’…. Identifying birds comes through my ‘Handbook ofContinue reading “The Key To Identification”

Yesterday… Valentine’s day – the day for dramatic, outrageous declarations and demonstrations of love. We chatted to Beth, a helpful assistant in Tesco’s, who’s in her early 20s but looked younger. She and her partner were going to have a quiet night in, watching a film. We identified with her inactivity, often feeling energy-less, activity-less,Continue reading “Less… Valentine, Stumperies & Joshua”

Raconteur: A person who tells anecdotes in a skilful and amusing way… Raconteur Malcolm: Today’s Valentine’s Day. In school I often told the story of St Valentine, the Italian bishop whose Christian faith… helping the poorly treated… sharing his faith… got him into trouble. Emperor Claudius banned marriage because ‘married men don’t make good soldiers’.Continue reading “The Raconteur”

Yesterday morning in church Ray described a tree… growing beside the stream it’s well watered, has deep roots… it’s strong and bears fruit… I remembered We shall not, we shall not be moved, Just like a tree that’s planted by the waterWe shall not be moved This old African-American spiritual and protest song has expressedContinue reading “Choose Life”

This 40-year-old Graham Kendrick song forms the basis of my prayers this morning. Restore, O LordThe honour of Your nameIn works of sovereign powerCome shake the earth againThat all may seeAnd come with reverent fearTo the living GodWhose kingdom shall outlast the years ‘Restore O Lord…’ Many good things have been done in God’s nameContinue reading “Restore O Lord”

What the world needs now is love, sweet loveIt’s the only thing that there’s just too little of Yesterday we remembered Burt Bacharach. The songwriter with 73 Top 40 hits in the US and 52 in the UK had died aged 94. Many of his great songs were about love…. 5 Snapshots of my yesterday…Continue reading “Love, Sweet Love”

Our local news this week has included the unexploded Second World War bomb that’s been found in Great Yarmouth. This 80 year old 250kg bomb was found whilst dredging the River Yare on Tuesday. Bomb disposal experts have been called… roads have been closed… many folks have had to leave their homes… a controlled explosionContinue reading “Unexploded Bomb or Unexpected Gift”

I like washing up. Martin has just been on a 28 day cruise to the West Indies. He and his wife have already planned their next big holiday… Some folk live for their holidays; the bits between them are just time fillers. I enjoy appreciating the ordinary, the everyday, the usually unnoticed. …Washing up’s aContinue reading “Washing Up”