Looking back many years, I recall, as an early teenager, attending mid-week prayer meetings more out of a sense of duty than Christian enthusiasm. That may help to explain why I found it interesting to “time the prayers” and the record was 19 minutes. This was unusually long, but it was in the days when…

This month would have been my father’s 101st birthday and earlier in the summer I was reminded of his role during WW2. He joined up in 1942, before he was called up officially – he was afraid he would be assigned to the Royal Navy and he couldn’t swim. He was in the Duke of…

Sometimes you just have to admit it.  You’re lost!   I will never know why my Sat Nav kept insisting that that Capel St Mary was right in the centre of Ipswich but insist it did.  “You have reached your destination”.  “Have I?  Is that right?  That’s Museum Street!” By this time, I was getting extremely…

I recently mentioned that I had been sorting out a lot of my belongings. I passed on some very fine crochet cotton to a friend who was lacemaking. These balls of cotton belonged to my mother who died 33 years ago. I had kept them in my sewing box with the intention of making something…

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…

Read: Proverbs 26:12-17 If you find honey, eat just enough – too much of it, and you will vomit. (Verse 16) A local plumber who we use when things get wet where they should not get wet or dry when they should be wet also keeps bees as a hobby. Recently we acquired a replacement…

Today’s thought is brought to us by Rev Claire Jones (www.christianaid.org.uk) Something to read Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by…

This is the title of the passage in Matthew 7that includes verse 5 that states, “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Several years ago, while visiting family in the USA, this was part of a conversation…

We have a small vegetable patch, about 1square metre at the back of Elmsett Methodist Church, which has produced tomatoes, courgettes and sweetcorn. We even have our own compost heap(s), as well as dead hedging and wildlife patches to attract a whole variety of insects. How many of us have grown courgettes? Every year I…

As the clock struck midnight, I found myself behind the wheel, driving alone through the enchanting yet intimidating landscape of London.  The echoes of laughter from the wedding reception faded, replaced by an unsettling silence. The vibrant celebration had been a joyous mix of cultures, with the bridegroom hailing from a Nigerian background and the…