We sum up people pretty quickly. We have expectations about them depending on how they look, sound, even smell. This activity is part of who we are in terms of safety – flight or fight sort of thing – but once that is assessed,…
Knowing what we should do doesn’t mean we do it. We all know that – and whether it is good health advice we accept (but don’t do) or something personal we want to do but find ourselves struggling with again and again – we…
The pandemic has shrunk our social circles, interactions, and horizons. The family networks remain unchanged but we miss seeing loved ones – being in the same room – as we used to do so. We miss the hugs – even if on reflection, some…
The death of HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, has brought the nation to mourning, reflection, comment on social media, and physically distanced acts of remembrance and grieving. Our response has a noticeable public dimension because Prince Philip was such a public person….
Ron looked at the old book in his hand. He’d had it for nearly fifty years and the hard cover was curled and frayed on the corners. The cloth that covered the spine had come away on one side exposing the pages knitted together…
Do you trust ‘the system’ or do you expect that things will go awry and plan for it? I am no longer fussed about being caught in traffic as much as I was decades ago. There is little I can do about traffic jams…
I had a good time away for numerous reasons but the main one was being with family. It was simply good to get a sense of how everyone is doing – seeing them in their surroundings or hearing about them – and sharing our…
Last week I wrote ‘You don’t come home all jolly and happy from a visit of battlefields …’ and you might be expecting me to begin similarly having just come home the ELCE’s synodical convention! That’s the caricature often isn’t it? That church meetings…
You don’t come home all jolly and happy from a visit of battlefields, museums, and cemeteries or walking through towns and country sides that are rebuilt yet have scars for those who look closely. We stayed at Talbot House in Poperinge (Belgium) precisely because…
I recently listened to a podcast about ‘cos play’ where people dress up in the costume of a favourite character from film or TV – often science fiction – and attend conventions and other events in character so to speak. The costumes can be…
