The Paris Olympics are underway and the intensity of elation and devastation; tears of joy and tears of anguish; unexpected and expected success; high drama and personal stories all for three colours of medals have been all over our newsfeeds. The Olympics – the…
In my second parish – so early 1990s – I was able to play competition squash. Because of the work, I couldn’t commit whole evenings somewhere in the region but I could play a ‘fill-in’ role at the local club two nights per week….
Twice this week I was held up in traffic. Both occasions were for the same reason – vehicles had caught fire and burnt out. The first was a car and I could see a family – I assumed they were a Mum and a…
I said last week – and at other times – that our ears, unlike our eyes, have no lids – which, of course, means that we are always hearing. Whether we listen – pay attention – is another matter. But we also have the…
“When you’re the eldest, you’re an only child until your brother or sister is born.” True enough. I nodded and agreed. I had been having a discussion with my granddaughter about families – her mother and father’s siblings, her cousins, her grandparents – the…
I conducted the D-Day Remembrance at Mildenhall last Thursday at the cenotaph. There was a small gathering from the community, nine wreaths to be laid (so not many at all), and four Sea and Royal Marine Cadets were able to be there from school…
I didn’t remember the incident at all. I had no neurons recalling rudeness or being treated with disrespect. I couldn’t even summon up emotional memory of hurt or frustration or even anger. Nothing. Zilch. The only evidence that something did occur to me and…
I was in a bit of a rush. I didn’t want to keep people waiting. It wouldn’t steady. One of the legs wasn’t locking in place. My brain wasn’t processing what exactly was happening. I was in the ‘keep doing the same thing as…
This week I came across a speech President Richard Nixon didn’t make. It was prepared for him just in case the Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong and ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, were not able to leave the moon and thus they would die there with no…
The festival of the Ascension is one of those lesser known Christian festivals possibly because it hasn’t been given a public holiday to help with its promotion. The ascension itself – Jesus going into heaven – doesn’t lend itself to easy marketing because it…
