A year or two ago, I hunted for a new nativity scene decoration in the shops. I could get Father Christmases on trains, deers and elves. Now I know I could shop on line, but I like to see, touch and get an idea of size and make a stand for wanting Jesus to be…
Have you been gripped by ‘The Traitors’ TV series? It’s fascinating to watch people’s behaviour and what motivates them to turn on their friends, adapt their opinions depending on performances in challenges or throw away phrases, propose and undermine allegiances. Also, what individuals will say to convince others of their constancy. It must be so…
November is a looking back and looking forward month. Lots of past things to remember – Saints, Guy Fawkes, Pilgrim Fathers and Wars. Then the beginning of advent looking forward to Christmas and a New Year. Caught between what has happened and what will happen, when we’re told we should ‘live in the present’. It’s…
You may be attending or organising a ‘Light Party ‘ in the next few days. Most religions have a festival of light at this time of year as nights become longer. I tried to research what light actually is. It’s complicated. No single answer to the question “What is light?” satisfies the many contexts in which light…
For many years I resisted the temptation to watch ‘Strictly’. Eventually I was an outsider in so many conversations from October to Christmas, that I took my sister’s advice and began to watch – first on a Saturday evening, then on a Sunday and finally succumbing to watching the spin off ‘It takes Two’ every…
In Luke 7: 31-35 we have an amazing little parable of Jesus, where he compares the people around him to children playing. A modern day version might be: The people are like children playing at a party. First, they play musical chairs but some wont join in saying they want to play ‘pass the parcel’.…
In a recent prayer meeting, someone said ‘God isn’t a God of muddles’. That set me thinking. In the creation story, God brought order out of chaos. Jesus’ mission was to ‘bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, set free the oppressed and announce that…
When I think of October, I think of the colour orange – pumpkins, leaves changing colour, sunsets and marigolds – the flower of the month. Marigolds are amazing little flowers that originated from the Americas in the early 1600s. Their vibrant colours reflect the colours of the sun – they are like a burst of…
Regular readers may remember that last summer I wrote a ‘thought’ about Freddie Flintoff’s television programme ‘Field of Dreams’ in which he gets together an unlikely band of boys and coaches them into a cohesive and successful cricket team. Well, his current series sees an extension of this project with him now supervising three diverse…
Today is the 19th September, here are seven questions about the number 19: 1. The World Health Organization recommends that individuals consume a minimum of 19 grams of what per day? 2. In the game of bingo, what is the number 19 is sometimes called? 3. In the game of golf, the highest score one…