Sometimes you just have to smile when people are surprised – maybe a little perplexed or uncertain – to see me outside where I ‘should be’; when I seem out of place. So when I turned up at a local pub one evening for…
Last month in the space of three days I had two awkward moments when the person behind the counter handed me back my money. Well, in each case, a coin. One occasion I tried to deposit at the bank 1EURO instead of £1. On…
The Church of England’s General Synod certainly made the headlines this week with the rejec-tion of the Bishops’ report that the teaching and practice of the Church in relation to marriage should maintain the view that marriage, designed by God, is only for a…
The ELCE pastors met this week for their ‘Conference’ – though it is more like in-service, administration, and fellowship (there’s usually a pub meal in there some-where!). The meeting is called the Barnes Conference – I’ve no idea who named it – but the…
Last week I conducted the funeral for Hildegarde Brammeier, wife of former ELCE Chairman Pastor Marvin Brammeier. They arrived in the ELCE from the US in 1957 and here – and heaven – are their homes. Because they’ve been involved in so much of…
The anniversary of my mother’s death passed by this week. I don’t think I was morose or sad. I know that my Redeemer lives and the hope of the resurrection means that one day I’m sure I’ll meet her in the crowd of those…
Eavesdropping … G: If robots become self aware, will they have any need of religion? G: I don’t know. It would be weird to get to know your makers and then surpass them. G: I think that’s called growing up with your parents. G:…
I had four traffic jams in four days this week. They ranged from the slight delay to the appointment-missing-day-reshuffling kind. There is little you can do when you see a series of red lights on the road in front of you. Historically I would,…
The baptism of Jesus has got to be regarded as significant since the four writers of the Gos-pels each spoke about it. Martin Luther reflecting on Matthew’s account where a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well…
There is a scene in the movie ‘Forest Gump’ where Buba’s mother receives a rather large cheque which was Buba’s share of the shrimp business venture and she faints. The next scene however is quite telling. You see she no longer has to be…
