Have you ever experienced a happy accident? These are the instances we sometimes encounter in our lives when something good happens unintentionally. Incidentally did you know that Bassets liquorice allsorts were the result of a happy accident? Apparently, the different multi-coloured sweets we know today were originally intended to be...
A Quiet Word – July 2021 Have you ever noticed how quickly the grass grows at this time of year? I pondered this as I tried to cure my gardenembarrassment and cut the lawns and de-weed the paths at the manse. In the recent wet and then hot sunny weather...
Recently I have been making lots of phone calls to inform various companies and organisations that I am connected with as to my new postal address at the manse. Making phone calls sometimes just for something as simple as this can take a surprisingly long time. First, we have to...
A Quiet Word – March 2021 A Quiet Word – March 2021 Some of you may recall the quiet word from October 2020 when I used the first part of a scripted scene from one of my favourite films: The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) in which Charles A. Lindbergh...
There’s a sense of heightened anticipation when going somewhere for the first time. There’s a sense of comfort when revisiting familiar places. Perhaps it’s me (or my age!) but I am well-content with a mixture of both, side-by-side. March is the month of Lent – a time of preparation leading...
So how do you think you will spend it? This year is a Leap Year – we have an extra day this month. If my recollection is correct, I don’t think Leap Years are mentioned in the Bible. However, Psalm 90 clearly commends the numbering of our days so that...
The Bible opens with four profound words: ‘In the beginning God.’ From this everything flows: the vast, mysterious world of outer space, the beautiful and dynamic world in which we live. You and I are part of God’s creation. God’s handiwork is to be seen both in history and current...
A few years ago, the Two Ronnies on their TV programme had a never-to-be-forgotten sketch called ‘Four Candles’ (still to be found on YouTube!). As we enter the weeks leading up to Christmas that are called Advent, each Sunday we will be lighting an Advent Candle. Each of them is...
November includes one of those ‘pause for thought’ moments. That moment is clothed with silence, marching bands, festival of remembrance, familiar hymns, readings and prayer. Our thoughts are not monochrome. The tragedy of war encompasses the losing of loved ones, broken bodies and scarred minds, orphaned children, widows and the...
