Technology is great when it behaves itself but when it suddenly stops working it can be very frustrating and as I write to you this month Frank Spencer’s catchphrase comes to mind: “I am having a bit of trouble.” My e-mail account on my laptop has just decided to block...

The start of a new year can sometimes bring with it mixed emotions ranging from fear and uncertainty to the excitement and anticipation of what the new year might hold for us in our own lives and in the lives of our loved ones. As we reflect on the past...

Last month we reflected on Advent and what it means for us as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas in Bethlehem. The Christmas story, with its vivid imagery of the angels, visiting Zechariah, Mary, Joseph and then the shepherds, builds to a wonderful climax with the...

November is certainly a month of contrasts and of different experiences, emotions, celebrations, and commemorations. We experience longer periods of darkness in the afternoons and evenings as the clocks have gone back. Then we experience light as fireworks colourfully light up the dark night sky and their noise as whizzes,...

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...