A while ago I watched a film which had subtitles. You had to really concentrate and read them to understand what was going on in the film. My family tells me that I doze off when watching TV at night but I definitely didn’t during this film. One of the phrases used was, “hopeful music playing.”…

After twenty years having the same middle aged single man living next door, we were surprised last Friday when a van arrived, collected his belongings and the house was empty. The next day, new neighbours arrived – an Eastern European family. Suddenly we have heard unfamiliar noises from next door – the pitter patter of…

If you are familiar with Asian culture, you may know that in some countries the giving of gifts is an important part of business and social etiquette. When I travelled regularly to China, I never went without taking something to give my hosts and all-important interpreters. Likewise I never returned empty handed. Earlier this summer…

(This thought was first published in July 2022) I could list several times that I felt I could not succeed. In my early years as a teacher, I came quite close to quitting. In the late 60’s the school leaving age was increased from 15 to 16. Those who just had to stay on another…

One definition (or example) of a hypocrite is “someone who says they have particular moral beliefs but behaves in a way that shows these are not sincere”.  One I am more familiar with is “A person who says one thing and does another”. I don’t know if readers have ever been accused of being a…

Do you ever ask yourself what opportunities do I have to witness my faith? Here in Elmsett we have a friendly and caring village community. We often, as a community, ask what the needs of that community are. Perhaps we are complacent and comfortable enough to think we do not share the needs that become…

I’m old enough to recall the battlelines drawn in the 1980s over church worship. The church that Karen and I attended back then was still using the 1936 Methodist Hymn Book together with the original edition of Songs of Fellowship. I remember vividly those people who would enter the church; approach the table stacked with…

You may well be wondering why there’s a photo of a tube of toothpaste with this thought. For nearly two weeks I’ve thought this tube is almost empty. Every time I go to brush my teeth, I think that this is bound to be the very last bit of toothpaste but each time there’s always…

While visiting my daughter and her children last week, my youngest grandson tripped and fell onto their hard stone kitchen floor.  Later we found out that he had put his top teeth through his bottom lip. At the time, all we and he could see was lots of blood. Through his tears and sobs, he…

One last thought about the remains of our cherry tree. When the tree was felled, we decided to leave the main part of the trunk and some limbs as a place to secure bird feeders and on which to train something else. It took a few months to stop dithering between roses, honeysuckles and wisteria…