May dew was thought to have special properties – girls who bathed in it were thought to have beautiful complexions; people would go out of their way to walk barefoot or roll in it; men who washed their hands in it were thought to become good at tying knots and making nets. Mothers would wrap…

Anyone who is a regular reader will know by now that my son is a long-distance lorry driver and so is away during the week. He usually leaves on a Sunday afternoon so that he can arrive at his first destination promptly, hitting the floor running, so to speak. Last week, I received a rather…

Anyone who is a regular reader will know by now that my son is a long-distance lorry driver and so is away during the week. He usually leaves on a Sunday afternoon so that he can arrive at his first destination promptly, hitting the floor running, so to speak. This week, I received a rather…

Saint George was reputed to have been Palestinian. The story most associated with him is that a dragon that lived in a lake required a daily human sacrifice to feed on. When it was the turn of the Princess to be sacrificed, the King offered a large reward for anyone who killed the dragon. George…

Even before my son went to school, he had decided what he wanted to do when he was grown up. Every night at bedtime, he would settle down under the blankets in a sitting position, with an old steering wheel, a flask of tea and some out of date maps. “Tonight, I’ve got to drop…

On Friday evenings, I go and sit with the grandchildren. Daddy is a long distance lorry driver so, although he does get home on a Friday evening, it isn’t at any set time and depends on traffic and other factors that make timings unpredictable. Meanwhile Mummy needs to be out at six o’clock. Last Friday,…

Simon of Cyrene was probably just visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Cyrene was a Greek colony, in what is now Libya, with a strong Jewish population. Many Jews would try to return home for the feast, but it would have taken days of travel and inconvenience to do so. But this particular trip probably…

Recently I read an article by Philip Yancey in which he suggests three qualities to look for in a healthy church. I found his ideas both interesting and challenging. The first quality is diversity. He says, “when I walk into a new church, the more its members resemble each other, and resemble me, the more…

Last time I visited the grandchildren, I used a colourful shopping bag printed on the outside with pictures of flying bees. This caught the attention of my son’s partner who had recently been teaching the children about British wildlife and she called the youngest granddaughter over. Pointing to a particular flying bee, she said to…

Gracious God, As Mothering Sunday approaches we pray and thank You for our Mother Church, the place where we started to learn of You, where the seeds were sown in our hearts, where we began to love You and commence our journey with You. We bring You our prayers for anyone who has a mothering…