In the gospel reading for today (Matthew 3:44-53) Jesus tells three parables. The hidden treasure is about investing everything in a field known to contain treasure, the pearl is about selling everything to invest in the one priceless jewel while the net is about catching everything and then sorting out what is needed from what…

Early on in the days of lock-down in 2020, some colleagues remarked that I had adapted easily to working from home. My answer, consistently, will have been that I have been home based since 2006 when my office in Framlingham was closed, I moved home and went largely paperless. In the latter point I was…

After the first drop of rain, which amounted to little more than a drip and a promise, I walked on a path across a field of sugar beet. The crop that had looked so down in the dumps a few days previously had perked up. Rich green leaves had appeared and were loving the new…

On 1st September a good congregation gathered at Trinity Methodist Church, Felixstowe to welcome a new minister into our midst. In his sermon, the District Chair, the Reverend Julian Pursehouse spoke challengingly about hospitality. Hospitality is important at many levels. Many of you will be familiar with the feeding miracles in the gospels; talk of…

It seems a long while since we went first to the seaside with our small children. The excited preparations that were made, and the pre-emptive discussions about how we might ‘rush into the waves’ are distant memories. Being fortunate enough to live within easy reach of Southwold, we discovered that to rent a beach hut…

Last October I wrote about the contrast afforded by a dead tree. It was an old friend but the time has come for change; it has been cut down and the stump pulled out. It was probably becoming dangerous and was certainly in the way of farm machinery. Someone has gained a useful supply of…

I grew up within an hour’s drive of ‘Big Ben’. Before the days of congestion charging or any proper understanding of the damage done by pollution caused by internal combustion engines, we used to go by car to concerts in London. It took about an hour to get to the Royal Festival Hall and just…

Reindeer feature in our lives from the earliest years of faith; not our Christian Faith but our faith in the arrival of Father Christmas, or whatever the benevolent giver of Christmas presents is called in your family. The arrival of the mysterious gift giver is partially dependent on the good behaviour of the child, in…

Occasionally circumstances are such that it is necessary to go to Court. The reasons vary from being on a jury to being the accused person. There is a difference between a civil case and a criminal case but for all except those working in the judicial system, the process is rather daunting and may even…

At work, when my colleagues talk about resource, or more often than not, the lack of resource, they are often referring euphemistically to time or people. Quite why people find it necessary to say that ‘finding resource is challenging’ when they could say ‘I haven’t got time’ is interesting. Having written about holidays and renewals…