Advent2021

 My one good thing yesterday was helping Sam to wrap the Christmas presents he has bought for his girlfriend.  Not because Im an excellent present wrapper, but because we spent some really nice time together talking about what he had bought her.  And in so doing I learned something I didn't know about Sam - he wants to express his feelings through the thoughtful giving of gifts.   This is deeply gratifying to me because I'm a giver of gifts.  Keith however, is not.  The giving of gifts figured very large in my childhood and hardly at all in his.  So it is not surprising that we come at Christmas and birthdays from different angles.   Until now I hadn't been sure quite which side of the line each of the boys would fall.  So I was delighted to see Sam on my ' side'.  There is much joy to be had in the giving of gifts.  I'm really hoping Sam will discover this when he and his girlfriend exchange presents tomorrow. Thinki...

 The older I get the more I realise that there's a serious design flaw in human beings.  We age.  😀  By which I mean we are all moving forward through time and therefore none of us can know what the generation in front of us is experiencing.   I don't know what its like to be 80.  My kids don't know what its like to be 30 or 40 or 50.   And that is problematic because it means that there's a disconnect between every age and stage of life.  While we can all look backwards and know what it is to be younger than we are now, none of us can know what is coming to us.  At 55 I suddenly feel that I've moved from one generation to the next and Im now ' the older generation' - I find that thought somewhat disconcerting.   This rather philosophical thought has been tumbling round my otherwise empty brain today as Ive seen several TV adverts for the Facebook Portal.  All of them are selling the fact that Grandparents don't get to se...

 Yesterday's good thing was taking the kids I usually childmind out for the day. Their parents are still working from home and schools closed early so there were three days this week which they hadn't planned on being holiday time.  So I offered to have them for the best part of the day and take them on an adventure. the best fun of the day was had with two sticks and some water.  They spent ages just dabbling :) In the car I listened to their chat. It reminded me of listening to my boys chatting at the same age. Some of it was hilarious but some of it was annoying. Specifically the parts where elder brother (8) insisted on correcting everything younger sister (5) said.  I remember a couple of years when Sam insisted on 'bettering' his brothers at every opportunity. It drove me mad. Listening to Lewis do the same to his sister today made me wonder if it's an eldest child thing. In which case I undoubtably did it to my brother too!! There's something in our human...

  Someone posted this song yesterday and I thought it was moving and powerful and I hadn't heard it before.   Its called Oh Come all You Unfaithful.  Take a couple of minutes to enjoy   https://youtu.be/C-QHbpYjuIg My one good thing yesterday was deciding to actually clean the kitchen and sitting room rather than spend the rest of the week feeling increasingly cross and resentful at the mess. It took me at least three hours but I rewarded myself with a Christmas movie afterwards 😊

 Yesterday I went to two church services and they were about as different as it is possible to imagine.  The first was in a community center.  There were loads of families with small children running about and about half the congregation were dressed up as shepherds, wise men and women, animals ( mostly the kids) angels and a rather impressive King Herod        (the pastor).    The service was an interactive nativity with a (perfectly behaved) real toddler Jesus and a smattering of utter chaos.  There was a dodgy microphone, a small child who almost pulled the projector off its stand, and only one guy in the worship band because the rest of the band were off with covid or other things.   It was the least  religious thing you could imagine.  But it was so much fun, so relaxed, so friendly and God met me there.  He met me in the welcome we received as we walked in  ( its a church we used to go to and haven't v...

 Im sitting here looking at a blank page with absolutely nothing to say.  Yesterday I didnt get up till late, then I spent some time up in the roof trying to sort more stuff out so that the project to better insulate can keep going.  Then I had a shower, went to do a Jo Jingles Christmas party and came home to watch the Strictly Finals.   I did try to have some God thoughts but nothing seemed to speak to me. I didn;t do one good thing.  Unless you count cleaning the stairs 😊  Epic Advent Blog fail.   So in the absence of anything meaningful to say perhaps I shall post a poem.  You can watch me reading it. Or read it yourself.  Or both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDRGgaqJytg When I was three and I grazed my knee Or some scary alien jumped out from my TV My mum would cuddle, speak calm words And soothe the fears so I could be Assured, comforted, her imperfect love Enough to make the monsters flee When,later, terrors came by nigh...

This week someone posted this photograph of the Queen sitting alone at her husbands funeral with the comment that this is what duty looks like.    It was in response to the news of the Downing Street Christmas party and I thought it made a serious point really well.   For over 70 years the Queen has led by example.  She never oversteps the mark, bends the rules, cheats the system.  She changes the protocol of centuries in order to serve the people she rules ( paying taxes, lowering the flag over the palace on Dianas death, paying for the restoration of Windsor by opening the Palace to the public) And she obeys the laws of the land. Unflinchingly and without fail.   In many ways she is amazing.  But in many ways she is just like us.  Most of us live good, moral, law abiding lives.  Most of us try hard to be truthful, honest and live with integrity.  But then most of us ( the middle aged generation) were brought up with hymns and...

I read this yesterday and thought it was worth a complete steal for the blog .  Its by retired police officer John Sutherland.   Enjoy   Bethlehem Police Department Daily Crime Bulletin (Date obscured) Late Turn – Briefing for Operation Census – Substantial number of migrants arriving at border during past week; – Limited community tension reported – no incidents of note; – Large crowds expected in Bethlehem this evening; – No intelligence re: pre-planned disorder; – Terrorism Threat Level remains at ‘Severe’; – 12 officers on duty; – Roads Policing Chariot in for repairs – no replacement available. 1400hrs Start of shift; 2 PCs to fixed post at main Town Checkpoint; 2 PCs to ongoing crime scene at Caesar’s Nightclub; 2 PCs to constant watch in the cells; Remaining officers out on foot. 1500hrs Routine patrols – High Street. Town Centre crowded but peaceful. 16.30hrs Call to Civil Dispute in the foyer of the Judea Travelodge. Apparent misunderstanding regar...

 One of the many noteworthy things about the story of the birth of Jesus is that His parents were poor peasants and His first visitors were shepherds.  Humble, lowly and poor beginnings.   God started as He meant to go on, emphasising the importance of the little people, the overlooked and marginalised.  Jesus went out of His way to seek out the lepers, the prostitutes and the demonised.  When was the last time you did that? My One Good Thing yesterday was a bit of a triumph.  I was about to sign out of my Travelodge and begin the long trek home when I saw at the bottom of my bag a pack of ' encouragement cards' I had thrown in at the last minute and forgotten about.   These cards are the size of postcards, with some encouraging words and a bible verse on one side and blank on the other.  I bought them from Faith Mission ages ago and have occasionally used them instead of notecards, or just to give to people when I felt it to be appropri...

 Yesterday was an odd day.  I started off at Mums in Hertfordshire then drove up to Yorkshire to my Dads where I went into his empty bungalow for the last time before it is sold and picked up a whole load of stuff which my step mother Marion had set aside for me to take.  A suitcase full of family photos and letters I had written to my Dad over years and years.  Some things from the display cabinet including my grandparent's silver napkin rings and Dad's engraved silver tankard.  Dad's toy soldiers.  And a bag of other stuff Ive yet to explore. I stayed in a Travelodge in Carlisle last night and decided to start looking through the photographs which was a proper trip down memory lane.  There were quite a few photos of Dad when he was in the army ( national service just after the war I think) and lots of photos of groups of lads and groups of girls none of which had any names on them so I have no idea who they were.  But one of the things in the su...

 The only thing I have to tell you today is that it is very hard to do one good thing every day.  Really hard.  Take yesterday:  I got up and sat chatting to Mum, took her out shopping briefly ( she can only do about two shops before its time to come home again)  walked round town and cruised the charity shops whilst mum snoozed in the afternoon.  Chatted and watched telly and went to bed.   I did buy Mum some flowers.  But I always buy her flowers so that doesnt really count.    I did keep my eyes open as I pottered round the shops in case there was anyone who needed help or who I thought I should talk to. There wasnt.  It was just a non-event sort of day.  And on those days ( and I have many of them) its hard to do even one good thing. I wonder if Jesus had ' non-event' days. So today Im cheating with the blog and re-posting something I wrote a few years back which I hope is worth another read.  Its about shepherds ...

 The Magi managed to make it across countless borders and end up in Bethlehem at exactly the right time, so how come I couldnt find a church in Reading with the aid of a sat nav and signposts??  😊  Yesterday morning I set off from Al and Emmas  to meet up with my friend Matt at his church.  It was about an hour and a half's drive and all went fantastically until the sat nav told me I had arrived at my destination and I hadn't.   I knew I was close, but having never been to the area before I had no idea how far away I actually was when the dot on the map was telling me I'd arrived.   So annoying.  I phoned Matt and tried to explain where I was and he tried to explain how to get to church.  I turned round and headed back the way I came but I wasn't convinced I was going in the right direction so I stopped and asked a lady who was walking along and she gave clear instructions.   I found the church and was just in time for th...

 Im currently in England on a whistle top tour of the country to see some people before Christmas.  My first stop was with Al and Emma who are some of my oldest and dearest friends.  I met Al at University 30 some years ago and Emma was my housemate for lots of years before I got married and moved to Northern Ireland.  It was because of their mutual friendship with me that the two of them met and married.  Our lives are intertwined and our friendships deep and rich with history and life events and growing up together through our twenties and thirties until now.  Today I shall be leaving them and going to meet Matt, my newest friend.  I dont think I was really expecting to be making friendships with 22 yr olds at this stage of my life.  But God moves in mysterious ways  😃 Friendship is important to God.  He called Abraham His friend.  Jesus calls us friends not servants (John 15:15) In His day, friendship would have been understood ...

  Im writing this sitting on a big boat in the middle of the sea en route from Belfast to Liverpool.   I have practically a whole deck to myself as I'm guessing most people have opted to book a cabin for the eight hour crossing.    I'm looking out of the window across the grey expanse of freezing cold water and thinking about those who risked life and limb many centuries ago to bring the gospel to our lands.    We are an island.   They definitely came by boat.   And it definitely wasn’t a plush comfortable ferry with dining facilities and on board cinema! There’s been so much in the news of late about the fate of migrants crossing the English channel in inflatable boats and perishing within sight of shore.   We rightly feel despairing that people continue to feel so oppressed, miserable, hounded and persecuted, disadvantaged and hopeless that they consider making such ridiculously life threatening and dangerous journeys. But hundreds of y...

 Imagine it's the year 1486.   Henry 8th is on the throne.   You are a simple peasant or a trader or merchant.  You live in a very simple home made with simple tools.  You walk everywhere.  If you are a woman you can be expected to live until you are about 48 but you might very well die in childbirth.  You get your news from people who aare travelling from place to place.   You can't read.  You believe in God.  You have never been further than the edge of your town.   You live by the length of the days, getting up at sunrise and going to bed not long after sunset because the only light you have to live by is candle or tallow lamp light and candles and oil are a relative luxury. Now imagine that into this simple life comes......... Fireworks.    The Chinese have had them for a long time but they arrive in the UK in the 1480s and the first record of them is being used at the wedding ( one of the weddings)...