My sister is one of the most long suffering, patient people I have ever met. I incline to irascibility and while I always regret and often have to apologise for shortness of temper, I find it hard to be as good as she appears to be. I do not suppose I am alone in not…

In the third chapter of the book that bears his name, Jonah, having learned his lesson about running from God, is recommissioned and returns to Nineveh to preach. The simplicity of the message is stark: ‘forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown’. Nineveh was a great city. There is some uncertainty about the dating…

Have you ever reached the conclusion that you have just made a huge mistake? Most of us, at some time, will have had one of those experiences where we realise we have just made the wrong decision and the consequences will be tough; they may be with us for some time. World news is full…

Jonah, in the Old Testament book that bears his name, was all discombobulated. God called him to preach repentance to a city of people in need of repentance so he could forgive them. Jonah ran away. In the last chapter he reveals that he, Jonah, is not comfortable with God’s habit of providing forgiveness to…

When I was a boy at home, one of the pre-harvest rituals on the farm was that of ‘getting the combine ready’. In the late 1960s and early 1970s machines were very much smaller than those we see now and almost every farm had its own. Farm pest control was not so good in those…

God’s people have always been singing, so the hymn goes. Reflecting on the last year, it is interesting the differences there are between us over the place of singing in worship – it seems that we are not all reacting the same way. I have always loved hymns and the pleasure of singing in a…

The last twelve months has brought into focus the different ways we access news and the reliability of it. Years ago news spread by word of mouth with reliable and unreliable sources muddled up together, with the local gossips adding the necessary spin to sensationalise the otherwise dull. The previous President of the United States…

One of those very hot August nights last summer, we were awoken by a loud crash in the garden. I looked out of the window expecting to see thieves taking the garden furniture. I was not sure whether to be surprised or annoyed at the real cause. A lone individual, returning home from one of…

Today, more than almost any other day for me, has always felt poignant and mixture of beginnings and endings. It is the start of the pain at the end of Holy Week, and almost the end of the preparation time of Lent. It is another Passover, a First Communion and a last Communion. It is…

In a couple of contexts recently I have been interested to read about the challenges and benefits of blended learning; this is the mixture of on-line and face to face teaching which is part of life for children and teachers in the primary school where I am a governor and for students and lecturers at…