Category Archives: Uncategorized

Last night Rachel (the good lady-wife) asked very politely, ‘Have you remembered to contact Rod?’ I hadn’t. This morning, she asked, ‘Have you contacted Richard about our leaking conservatory?’ I hadn’t. I thought of other things I must do today… too many to hold in my tiny mind… I need a list! Six people IContinue reading “I Need a List!”

Three recent conversations with older friends went in a similar direction, raising similar questions… Health: Each started with health issues – the heart condition, prostate cancer, knee replacement… local doctors, our local hospital, good caring professionals, the future of an overloaded, underfunded health service… Humour: We moved on to humour – often totally inappropriate, relatedContinue reading “Getting Old…”

Yesterday this gull was leaning over the refuse bin, pulling out one fish-and-chip wrapper, then another wrapper, then another. It flew off. A passing gent saw the mess, returned the wrappers to the bin and walked on. Within a few seconds the gull returned, removing all of the wrappers from the bin again… Alan andContinue reading “Walking Men and Seagulls”

Destructive Truth: ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ tells of a 17-year-old suffering with social anxiety and depression. His therapist encourages him to write letters to himself: ‘…I’m giving up, I’m giving in, I’m not fighting it any more. Nothing changes. It doesn’t get better. It doesn’t get easier. You don’t get any wiser. You just get older.Continue reading “What Is Truth?”

In ‘One leg too few’ Peter Cook plays a casting agent; Dudley Moore’s a one-legged actor auditioning for the part of Tarzan. As the interview progresses Cook points out that Tarzan is ‘a role which traditionally involves the use of a two-legged actor’, and that ‘it is in the leg division that you are deficient.’Continue reading “The Advantage of Two Legs”

What gift of grace is Jesus my redeemerThere is no more for heaven now to giveHe is my joy, my righteousness, and freedomMy steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace To this I hold, my hope is only JesusFor my life is wholly bound to HisOh how strange and divine, I can sing, “All isContinue reading “Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me”

In ‘Half a Sixpence’ Arthur Kipps feels out of place with the rich upper class. His speech, interests, and life experiences are very different from theirs. He gets out his banjo and, after a hesitant start, everyone joins in singing: Pick out a simple tune.Pick out a simple tune with rhythm.People start to clap, yourContinue reading “Pick Out A Simple Tune”

Last night we watched ‘Kipps – the new Half a Sixpence musical’. Based on the H.G. Wells novel, it’s a classic rags-to-riches story about class differences… Arthur Kipps, a poor orphan, is raised by his aged aunt and uncle. He leaves them, and his childhood sweetheart, Ann, to become a draper’s assistant… Arthur unexpectedly inheritsContinue reading “The Right Choice”

Yesterday… Three ‘I just don’t know’ moments when I resorted to my phone… …Stephen was explaining… Many years ago, as an apprentice, he learnt the term of abuse ‘monkey-hanger’… ‘You know the story?’ he said. I didn’t. My phone did: During the Napoleonic Wars a French ship was wrecked off Hartlepool. The only survivor wasContinue reading “I Just Don’t Know”

In 1966 my brother Chris went to Bible college in Birmingham, studying the Bible, theology and church history, preparing him for a life of Christian service in France. In 2008, when I retired from teaching, I went to Bible college in London… Throughout my life, friends and family members have attended Bible College, receiving trainingContinue reading “Seminary”