Tomorrow is St Swithin’s Day. St Swithin  was born around 800 AD and became the Bishop of Winchester. Tradition has it that he didn’t want to be buried in a prominent tomb inside the cathedral like other religious dignitaries,  but rather chose to be buried outside “Where the sweet rain of heaven may fall upon…

Today, July 7th, is World Chocolate Day. What an excuse to eat chocolate! If you go on the internet, you can find menus for the day encouraging you to incorporate chocolate in every meal, snack and drink in this 24-hour period. Cacao trees may have been growing in the wild for 10,000 years. The Olmec…

As any parents reading this will know, it’s very difficult to choose names for children. I was reminded of this when the birth and name of Princess Eugenie’s second son was announced recently. One has to consider family names, appeasing both sides of the family, names that go with the surnames, if the initials spell…

During half term, I was treated to lunch at the Blitz tea rooms in Ipswich. I’d never been there before.  It was amazing. It has a small frontage but covers three floors and is set out like pre 1940s sitting rooms – with genuine furniture, crockery, photos and posters. And beautifully embroidered tablecloths! Our waiter…

Young George was playing outside in his sandbox one Saturday morning. He was making roads and tunnels for his cars and trucks to drive along and through. However, in the middle of the sand was a large rock.  At first, he used it in his game as a roundabout but eventually he decided that it…

The greatest picture of a father’s love is found in the familiar parable found in Luke 15, commonly known as ‘The Prodigal Son.’ When the son comes to  his senses and decides to return – it is to a person rather than a place. It seems that he expects rather a judgemental court martial type…

How do you choose cards for those you love? Do you go for the words or the picture?  Do you choose one that states the relationship you are to the recipient? Or do you pick the cheapest? I was studying the birthday cards I received recently. Thankfully, none had age numbers on. It struck me…

Water, wind and fire – all symbols of the Holy Spirit. All can be small and gentle – dew drops, baby’s breath, candle flames or enormous and devastating – tsunamis, hurricanes, forest fires. Powerful, out of control, scary. Sometimes, I’m guilty of taking God for granted. Of wanting Him on my terms – a nice…

It’s easy to get discouraged when church congregations seem to be dwindling and statistics show that people seem to have little interest in the things of God. God is watching Recently I read this story of a band of travelling musicians and actors who were performing from town to town. Times were hard, audiences were…

Do you remember Ananias in the early church?  When Saul, later to be Paul, had his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and was blinded, Ananias had a vision. The Lord told him to go to the house of Judas and lay his hands on Saul of Tarsus and he would receive his…