Category: Friends

Season’s Greetings 2023

Look at the world around you and you will see pain, loss, discouragement, guilt, and hard struggles for survival. But look at the world from just the right angle and you will see altogether better things.

I have something a little different for you this year. The photo shows a reflected image of Cirencester Parish Church in a puddle of water in Gosditch Street. What can this photo say to us?

What’s in a puddle?

More and more, the UK is a rich mix of people from many cultural backgrounds. That’s why the title is not ‘Christmas Greetings’. Please accept the greetings and replace the word ‘Season’ with whatever you like. If you’re Hindu you could choose Diwali as a reminder of your celebrations in November, or Jewish friends might go with Hannukah in December, if you’re Muslim you might look forward to Lailat al Miraj in February; Buddhists might consider Bodhi Day, and there are more groups of people I haven’t mentioned specifically. But whatever you celebrate, please take my greetings as a blessing for the whole of next year – spring, summer, autumn and winter.

I’d also like to bless you with a few thoughts about the picture. What, indeed, is in a puddle?

Look at the same puddle from any other angle and you would see dirty water; perhaps some litter; bits of road grit; a rather grubby, yellow ‘no parking’ line; and the general detritus of everyday life. But look at it from just the right angle and you see a reflected image, in this case an image of beautiful mediaeval architecture, detailed fine carving in stone, and the leaves of a living tree.

Look at the world around you and you will see pain, loss, discouragement, guilt, and hard struggles for survival. But look at the world from just the right angle and you will see altogether better things. Love for family, friends, and neighbours, beauty in nature and in people’s hearts and actions, joy, discovery, encouragement, peace, and thriving life. As a follower of Jesus (Yahshua, Isa), when I look at him in the right way I see a reflection of the Creator, the Source and Power behind this amazing universe.

Reflections in puddles also have another effect – they turn everything upside down. Jesus did that too: he confronted people with truth, he pointed out false motives, uncaring behaviour by the wealthy, blame-shifting, and striving for power or approval. People don’t like that, truth is often inconvenient.

Who should we think of this winter? Who can we help in some practical way? It might be someone in the road where we live, or the place where we work. In the world at large let’s remember the people in Ukraine, Gaza, and other places where there are struggles and loss of life (it’s not hard to think of more).

So my message this winter is that we should all help those around us. Talk with lonely people, provide some dried or canned food to your local food bank, donate warm clothes you no longer need, perhaps to a charity shop. If you can afford a gift of money, choose a charity that will use your donation wisely and effectively. And reach out more widely too, perhaps on the internet; send a message of encouragement or a gift to someone.

So whoever you are, whatever faith you have (or none), I hope 2024 will be a year to look forward to. As this year closes and the new one arrives, my hope, wish, and prayer for you is that grace and blessing will fill your life in ways hoped for and ways unexpected.

Let’s all be grateful for what we have, and display compassion and love towards those who need it. In that way, blessing will have a chance to touch you, and through you, touch others as well.

PS – If you like the puddle photo, click it for the full size version. Print it out, put it in a frame and hang it on the wall. Give a copy to friends if you think they’d like it; or send them a link to this message.

See also:

Blast from the past… 8

We are often in situations where we’re amongst people we recognise, but know almost nothing about.

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Notes from bygone years – Julys duly remembered
Hint: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

A year ago

On 7th July 2022 I noted that ‘the Conservative party is in a state of confusion right now’. Not a lot has changed in the last twelve months; it seems the Conservative ship is still foundering. I included a picture of a sinking ship in my article, here it is again. I also argued for a general election as soon as possible and we’re still waiting on that one! So the big question now is, ‘Will the Conservatives still be in power in July 2024?’ Hard to say, isn’t it! In my judgement it’s very unlikely, but we’ll have to wait and see. The last possible date for the next general election is 28th February 2025. (See the original post.)

Graphic of a sinking ship

<Jun 2022 – Aug 2022>

Two years ago
Starship’s first launch, 20th April 2023 – Image from Wikimedia

In July 2021, SpaceX‘s Superheavy Booster 3 was being tested at Boca Chica in Texas. They continue to develop and build boosters (and Starships too) at a prodigious rate, and have already launched the full stack on it’s first test flight. That flight failed to reach orbit, and caused serious damage to the launch mount but, following repairs, they are very nearly ready for a second attempt and have made a lot of changes following lessons learned from flight 1.

Five years ago
The JDMC cover

In July 2018 I shared an extract from my short guide, JDMC. I emphasised the work of the Holy Spirit in church life and looked at ways we can recognise and value his activity.

I didn’t want JDMC to be only about what we do, but more significantly about what Jesus does. (Read the original article)

Ten years ago
Ambience Cafe, St Neots

Research shows we are often in situations where we’re amongst people we recognise, but know almost nothing about. In July 2013 I was thinking about this and how I might notice and engage with such people. (Read the original article)

Fifteen years ago
Still from a video about the hymn

In July 2008 I wrote about the famous Welsh hymn, ‘Dyma gariad fel y moroedd’ or in English ‘Here is love vast as the ocean’. Read about the hymn’s origins and listen to it in the original article.

Twenty years ago
Crow’s nest on HMS Warrior

July 2003 saw us meeting at home to listen to what the Spirit would say and watch what he would do. And of course, we were not disappointed. Afterwards I posted ‘Fallen and lifted up‘ to capture something of that evening.

Twenty-five years ago
Kimbolton Market Place

In July 1998 we visited Kimbolton, just a short distance from our home in Tilbrook. Although it’s a village, Kimbolton always seemed much more like a small town with a market place and Kimbolton Castle, now a private school.

Thirty years ago
The Sealed Knot

In July 1993 Judy, Debbie and Beth went to see a Sealed-Knot re-enactment of a Civil War battle. I didn’t go to this as I was probably at work at the time.

Thirty-five years ago
Mum and Mickey

In July 1988 My Mum was sixty and we had a party at The Catherine Wheel pub in Bibury. Here she is unwrapping a present – a Mickey Mouse landline telephone. She had always wanted one of these!

Forty years ago
Apple pollen tubes

In July 1983 my mathematician friend, Phil, and I had a scientific paper published. Phil built a mathematical model for the effect of temperature on apple pollen tubes. This was based on experimental measurements I’d made in spring 1982.

Forty-five years ago

In July 1978 Beth was just two months old (whoops, I think I just gave her age away). We were living in a terraced house in Yatton and I was working on plum and apple pollination.

Fifty years ago
Belland Drive in Charlton Kings

In July 1973 I inspected the base for a greenhouse with my father-in-law, Ron Hill. Here we are, having a good look. As you can see, Ron’s garden in Charlton Kings was beautifully maintained.

Fifty-five years ago

In July 1968 I celebrated my 20th birthday. I don’t remember the occasion, but it would have involved a bit of a party with my Mum and Dad, my three sisters, Judy, and possibly her parents and brother too. From my current perspective it seems a very long time ago!

Sixty years ago
A beach on the Welsh coast

In July 1963 I was 14 years old and we might have been on holiday, but more likely it would have been August. In any case, here’s my Dad taking a photo of the family on the beach on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales.

Sixty-five years ago

In July 1958 I turned ten-years-old, and I’d finished my fifth year of junior education. It was the summer holiday, hooray!

Seventy years ago

In July 1953 I was four, turning five and hadn’t yet started school. Mum, Dad, my little sister, Cindy, and I lived in Queen Anne’s Road on the Beeches estate in Cirencester.

Seventy-five years ago

July 1948 was the month I was born. I was one of the first two children to be delivered at Cirencester’s new maternity hospital. It’s now the main building of today’s Cirencester Hospital. < >

Eighty years ago

On 29th July 1943 my Dad cycled home from school at the end of term. It was his last day of full-time education. < >

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Blast from the past… 7

In June 1963 I was 14 years old and on a school day trip to Coventry; I took a photo in the new central area of the city.

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Notes from bygone years – June, June and yet more June
Hint: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

A year ago

On 25th June 2022 we walked a section of the Cotswold Way, from Dowdeswell Reservoir a couple of hours south-east of Cheltenham, to Cooper’s Hill four miles or so south-east of Gloucester. The walk was 13 miles on a beautiful clear day with light haze, the Malvern Hills (on the horizon in the photo, but nearly lost in the haze) are 22 miles away.

We walked with Donna’s brother, Paul, and his wife, Vanessa; they do a lot more walking than we do. With stops along the way for coffee and lunch, it was a great experience. A steep climb up the scarp at the beginning and then a more gentle amble along the top took us to Cooper’s Hill.

The view north-west across Cheltenham
Two years ago

In June 2021 we visited Malham Cove with the family, an area of limestone pavement in Yorkshire. Steep climbs up and down, but fantastic views and an astonishing area of deep and wides cracks to enjoy at the top.

Five years ago
Image from Wikimedia

In June 2018 I posted an article on JHM, ‘Adoption as an heir‘. In Roman society, wealthy people might adopt someone as their heir, to ensure that their life’s work would be continued. And this same notion would make sense in helping them to understand that a god might do something similar. Paul uses this tradition to explain that the One God of the Jewish nation doesn’t want us to be slaves or even employees, but heirs with Christ.

Ten years ago

In June 2013 I wrote about leadership, and how Jesus trained leaders. Like the Pharisees, Jesus taught his disciples how to teach. He did it by example, but he also took his closest followers away from the crowds from time to time to spend time teaching them personally in some detail. For more about this, read the original post.

Fifteen years ago

In June 2008 I wrote about ‘Jesus in the prison cell‘, with a video of an Iranian Muslim who met Jesus and decided to follow him. It was an extraordinary story. There are more recent videos, in much better video quality, but I have not watched those. You can find them by searching for Afshin Javid in the You Tube search bar.

Twenty years ago
From Wikimedia

In June 2003 we were going to meet for prayer and to hear what the Holy Spirit would say to us, but as there were only two of us, we instead took a walk up the riverbank. Here’s what happened.

Twenty-five years ago

In June 1998 Donna and I visited Kimbolton School where there was a summer fair with old cars and all sorts of stalls and events. We were able to see the inside of the house as well.

Thirty years ago

In June 1993 Judy and I took our daughter Beth and her French school exchange visitor, Julia, to see the Brecon Beacons.

Thirty-five years ago

In June 1988 we were still using a Sinclair QL for word processing with a green screen monitor (though the QL supported colour).

Forty years ago

In June 1983 I was experimenting with apple pollen tube growth at Long Ashton Research Station.

Forty-five years ago

In June 1978 Debbie was three and we met my grandmother (in the wheelchair) at my parent’s home in Cirencester.

Fifty years ago

In June 1973 Judy and I, along with my Mum and Dad, watched a hydrogen balloon (or perhaps a helium balloon) being filled and flying out of Cirencester Park. Amazing to see!

Fifty-five years ago

In June 1968 I was on a sandwich degree course at Bath University and was working hard on a fruit and vegetable farm. I had my first car at this time and was able to visit Judy in Cheltenham and my parents in Cirencester.

Sixty years ago

In June 1963 I was 14 years old and on a school day-trip to Coventry; I took a photo in the new central area of the city.

Sixty-five years ago

In June 1958 I was nine-years-old, in my 5th year at junior school.

Seventy years ago

In June 1953 I was four and chose a postcard of Mallard to send to my Granny-in-Ireland.

Seventy-five years ago

In June 1948 I was almost a full-term foetus, and had not yet seen the big world outside my Mum. >

Eighty years ago

In June 1943 my Dad was at boarding school. On 17th they held a fire drill in which he played the role of a casualty with two broken legs. Rendcombe College clearly took World War II seriously (as, of course, they should). >

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Meet two of my online friends

They are both unusual people, have rather special ways of looking at the world, and comment from opposite sides of the war in Ukraine.

Yaroslava (Yara) is Ukrainian, she lives in Kyiv with her son and her cat; she writes and photographs what she sees around her and posts news and thoughts. Konstantin is Russian, but left in 2022 and now lives in Uzbekistan; he gives 30-minute live YouTubes about life and events in Russia followed by open discussions online, and he runs a breakfast club for Ukrainians and Russians in Tashkent.

I’m exaggerating when I say they are my friends. I exchange messages with Yara occasionally and follow her on Twitter, but I’ve never had a reply from Konstantin. But to me they feel like friends. They are both unusual people, have rather special ways of looking at the world, and comment from opposite sides of the war in Ukraine. I think they would agree with one another on many things, both oppose the invasion and the war, and both feel compelled to communicate these things to the world.

I’d like to introduce you to them.

Yara

The two best places to look for Yara are on BuyMeACoffee and on Twitter. Click through and read some of her posts. Yara is artistic and expresses herself poetically, what comes through most clearly are her heart and her feelings in the moment. She writes about the war (of course) and she uses imagined dialogues quite often. On Twitter she sometimes tells us how she is feeling, shares photos (most of them very, very good) and makes delightful short videos as she walks around Kyiv. Yara is proud of her city, and rightly so.

Konstantin

Find Konstantin on YouTube (Inside Russia), I recommend his daily live videos. He thinks things through very thoroughly before starting a session, and usually he sets out his points carefully and convincingly. Sometimes his emotions show through a little of course, but logical thinking, business experience, and planning ahead are his strengths. He has a relaxed pace in his livestreams and this can make him seem slow to develop an argument, but it also make it easier to follow the underlying logic.

Summary

Yara and Konstantin are two very different people. What they have in common is that through no choice of their own they have been deeply affected by the war – as have their friends, families and neighbours.

Both have had their working lives interrupted, and both have embarked on new and perhaps unexpected projects. Both are worth listening to if you want to better understand this terrible conflict and how it’s disrupting life on both sides.

I’ll say no more about them, both will speak for themselves.

Nova Khakovka

Under the appalling circumstances of the breach of the Nova Khakovka dam a few days ago, I can’t publish this post without mentioning it. But words fail me. There are none that fit. ‘Tragic’ barely scratches the surface. And if it was a deliberate act, ‘evil’ and ‘heinous’ are utterly inadequate.

Yara and Konstantin have both responded to the breach in their different ways and I’m sure they will mention it again as the details and the terrible after-effects become clearer. The world will not forget this event. If it was due to poor maintenance or improper management (this seems rather unlikely but is conceivable) then Russia must take responsibility because they invaded Ukraine, captured the dam, and were in control at the time of failure. If it was deliberately breached following a political or military order to do so, that is even worse and the world will not forgive those responsible. In time there will be clarity on the cause of the dam failure, currently there is a great deal of circumstantial evidence pointing to a deliberate act on the part of Russia.

Blast from the past… 6

In May 1993 we made some very large bubbles in the back garden.

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Notes from bygone years – May without limits

A year ago

In May 2022 we visited St Neots in Cambridgeshire, our home town before moving to Cirencester where we live today. We were visiting friends for a big party in their local village hall.

Pretending to be on a tropical beach

The whole thing was themed for a Caribbean feel, and we all had our photos taken against a backdrop of palm fronds, a golden beach, and sparkling sea dotted with distant islands.

Two years ago

In May 2021 I took a photo of this plaque in Black Jack Street, Cirencester. It commemorates 1900 years of the town’s existence, founded by the Roman invaders in 75 AD. I wonder what they’d make of it now?

The phoenix rising from the ashes has long been Cirencester’s emblem. Corinium, as the Romans called it, was a frontier settlement in 75 AD and the years immediately following, but it grew to become the regional capital of south western Britain – the province of Britannia Prima.

Wikipedia has a good article about Corinium.

Five years ago

In May 2018 I wrote about the work going on in our new house. The builders had done much of the work on the new extensions, but nothing was finished yet and a lot of our possessions were inaccessible – including our summer clothes. And the weather was getting warmer and warmer!

Our partly liveable house

If you’d like to know more, read the original article.

Ten years ago

In May 2013 I was reading ‘The Shaping of Things to Come’, an excellent book by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. Amongst other things, they remark on the fact that Jesus was a Jew, the New Testament was written almost entirely by Jewish authors (the exception being Luke), and the earliest church (in Jerusalem) was Jewish in nature too. If we are to understand Jesus, the New Testament, and the church, we have to pay attention to their Jewishness. Read the original post.

Fifteen years ago

May 2008 – We had a holiday in Catalonia and visited Barcelona where we took a look at the famous Sagrada Familia with its amazing ‘biological’ shapes. What an astonishing place it is!

The ‘Sagrada Familia’

To learn more about this wonderful feat of design and engineering by the architect Antoni Gaudi, read the Wikipedia article.

Twenty years ago

In May 2003 I was reminded about the significance of rivers and their behaviour and about the river in the books of Ezekiel and Revelation. Life is not about the mundane things we do from day to day, and we don’t get far by our own abilities. Real life has an essentially spiritual focus. I wrote a blog post about a meeting that helped me see these things more clearly.

Twenty-five years ago

May 1998 saw me designing an automated news website for internal use by research teams at Unilever. I’d only been in the job for a month, and I already had an overall mechanism in mind and was working on the programming required.

Thirty years ago

In May 1993 we made some very large bubbles in the back garden. We had a special bubble-making kit with a large fabric loop on the end of a wand. It was an amazing process! The picture shows my daughter Beth and nephew Tom experimenting with a bubble.

Thirty-five years ago

In May 1988 I was working at Long Ashton Research Station near Bristol, developing techniques for imaging water droplets on waxy leaves by rapid freezing and scanning electron microscopy. This led to a paper on the topic.

Forty years ago

It’s May 1983 and time for the annual school fete; my daughter Beth and her friend Vicky were in fancy dress, walking with their teacher.

How time flies – my grandchildren are older now than my children were then.

Forty-five years ago

In May 1978 I borrowed a friend’s car (we didn’t have a car at the time) and drove with a very excited daughter to visit her baby sister at Bristol Maternity Hospital.

Fifty years ago

In May 1973 Mum and Dad visited us for the day and we spent some time in Clevedon. Here’s Dad taking photos on the rocky shoreline.

Fifty-five years ago

In May 1968 I was in lodgings in Pershore, working on a fruit and vegetable farm nearby as part of my undergraduate degree at Bath University. It was a sandwich course in horticulture, and the summers were the industrial experience part of the course.

Sixty years ago

May 1963 and I was in my fifth year at Cirencester Grammar School.

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Blast from the past… 5

Do things when you can. Don’t wait, don’t hesitate, who knows what tomorrow might bring…

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Notes from bygone years – A load of Aprils

A year ago

I didn’t post an article in April 2022, but Donna and I visited Weston-super-Mare and I spotted this fruit and vegetable shop in one of the back streets. There were strawberries here, but they’re not in season; there were pineapples but those don’t grow in the UK; there were pears that should be ready to pick in September or October. Almost nothing in this shop was grown locally. Why?

A traditional greengrocer’s shop

It’s lovely to have choices like this, but they come at a cost to the environment that we usually overlook. The solution lies in my pocket and yours; we should try to buy locally produced fruit and vegetables that are within a few weeks of being in season.

Two years ago

No blog posts in April 2021 either, but on 4th April the weather was warm and bright and we enjoyed eating outside for the first time in 2021.

Eating outside on 4th April
Three days later!

But oh my word, look at the same table just three days later. Snow! The moral of this little story is plain, do things while you can. Don’t wait, don’t hesitate, who knows what tomorrow might bring…

Five years ago

In April 2018 I had a bit of a rant about rescuing Britain from the dreadful mess it seemed to be in. I grumbled about the effects of Brexit, about poverty, the underfunded health service, an underfunded education system, the need for food-banks, the excessive cost of homes.

Read the article. Let me know if you think things have improved in the last five years.

Ten years ago

In April 2013 I wrote about ‘Men, women and children‘. The topic really was leadership, and I stand by all I wrote at that time.

A child leading? – Image from Wikimedia

Can men lead in church? How about women, are they allowed to lead? And what about children? Perhaps it depends who you ask, there are different opinions and different traditions.

Read my post from ten years ago and let me know what your views are.

Fifteen years ago

There was no article in April 2008. However, we had a holiday in Catalonia and visited Barcelona where we took a look at the famous Sagrada Familia with its amazing ‘biological’ shapes. What an astonishing place it it!

The ‘Sagrada Familia’

To learn more about this wonderful feat of design and engineering by the architect Antoni Gaudi, read the Wikipedia article.

Twenty years ago

In April 2003, I wrote about a meeting at home. Father spoke to us about leadership, coincidentally I drew on what I’d learned in this meeting when I wrote the article mentioned in the ‘Ten years ago’ section above!

A firm foundation

We are weak, like freshly poured concrete; but Jesus is patient and knows we will become strong enough for the task he’s given us.

Twenty-five years ago

In April 1998, Donna and I were on our way home from our honeymoon in Florida, and I began a new job at Unilever’s Colworth Laboratory north of Bedford.

Thirty years ago

In April 1995 my first wife, Judy, was recovering from failed chemotherapy for bowel cancer metastases. Clearly this was not a great situation, but she was fitter than she had been since before her operation to remove the primary tumour. We began meeting again at home with friends in Yatton, near Bristol, where we lived. These were by far the best meetings with friends in Jesus’ presence that any of us had ever experienced. Awesome and hard to describe adequately.

Erm… I can’t count! That was not thirty years ago, it was twenty-eight years ago! Ah well, I’ll let it stand.

Thirty years ago

I’ll try again! In April 1993 Judy and I were living in Yatton with our daughters, and my Mum and Dad visited us on 15th. We drove into Bristol and looked around the covered market and The Galleries shopping centre.

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Season’s Greetings 2022

I hope 2023 will be a year to look forward to. As this year closes and the new one arrives, my hope, wish, and prayer for you is that grace and blessing will fill your life.

Wow, it’s that time of year again, somehow it feels like a few months since I last chose a photo to share for this occasion. This year’s image shows winter catkins covered by crystals of hoar frost. What can this photo say to us?

Crystals of hoar frost on catkins – (Download the original photo)

More and more, the UK is a rich mix of people from many cultural backgrounds. That’s why the title is not ‘Christmas Greetings’. Please accept the greetings and replace the word ‘Season’ with whatever you like. If you’re Hindu you could choose ‘Divali’ as a reminder of your celebrations in October, or Jewish friends might go with ‘Hannukah’ in December. If you’re Muslim there’s no particular celebration for winter 2022; perhaps you could take my greetings as a blessing for the whole of next year – spring, summer, autumn and winter again. Buddhists have two festivals in January. And there are more groups of people I haven’t mentioned specifically. An exhaustive list would be – exhausting!

But whoever you are and whatever you celebrate, I want to bless you with a few words and with the picture of hoar frost. What can that picture say to us?

It should remind us that life is full of seasons, and wintertime in the UK can be cold, especially January and February. This year will be especially hard for some because of rising prices, rarely matched by rising incomes. Heating this winter will be costly and there will be too many who simply won’t be able to keep their home cosy. And then there are those with no home at all.

And what about Ukraine and other war-torn places? In Ukraine the winters can be harsh with the coldest days often reaching -5°C, and sometimes -10°C or -20°C. Now imagine (if you can) living at those temperatures in an unheated house with broken windows, no electrical power, no internet, and no water supply. Although national and local government and company teams reconnect all these services as quickly and widely as possible, repairs are often taken down again by the next Russian air strike.

So my message this winter is that we should all help those around us. Talk with lonely people, provide some dried or canned food to your local food bank, donate warm clothes you no longer need, perhaps to a charity shop. If you can afford a gift of money, choose a charity that will use your donation wisely and effectively.

The picture also reminds us that even cold weather can be beautiful. Those frost crystals look like jewellery! And as the days start to lengthen again, the temperature will rise, plants will start to bud and flower, birds will build their nests, and the promise of summer weather will be just around the corner. Of course, for those of you in the southern hemisphere all this will be back-to-front. For you, spring is already turning into summer and you can look forward to autumn colours in March and April. For all of us, now will become yesterday, a week ago, a month ago; and tomorrow will become today.

So whoever you are, whatever faith you have (or none), I hope 2023 will be a year to look forward to. As this year closes and the new one arrives, my hope, wish, and prayer for you is that grace and blessing will fill your life in ways hoped for and ways unexpected.

Let’s all be grateful for what we have, and display compassion and love towards those who don’t. In that way, blessing will have a chance to touch you, and through you, touch others as well.

See also:

A new Christmas song

This is a family song, it’s about gathering round and spending time with the people we love most. Enjoy it!

A still from Sarah’s YouTube video

While we’re on the Christmas theme I thought I’d post another song from Sarah Reynolds. It’s quite delightful and, in a lovely way, rather old fashioned. Scroll down, have a listen, and see what you think.

This song is quite different from Sarah’s other material, I suspect it was far more spontaneous. It’s a thoughtful song. She doesn’t accompany the words with one of her usual, excellent, multi-track compositions but with a pretty melody on the piano, and there’s a gentle, relaxed rhythm throughout. The video doesn’t provide the lyrics, but Sarah’s voice is clear enough and written words are not neccesary. The graphic is suggestive of a Christmas card from past decades, well-matched to the music and the choice of piano. The whole thing breathes close family enjoying the season together, burning logs in the grate, home made mince pies, warmth indoors with cold weather outside the house.

This is a family song, it’s about gathering round and spending time with the people we love most. Enjoy it, give it a like on YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook. Go on… you know you want to!

And wherever you may be, gather with your family and friends if you can, and enjoy Christmas and New Year together.

Christmas and New Year 2021

It’s good to be out and about to see it all and just as good to get back to a warm house.

Castle Street in Cirencester

Season’s greetings to all my readers! Cirencester is showing off its tasteful street decorations once again, the days are short, the nights are long, and it’s good to be out and about to see it all and just as good to get back to a warm house afterwards.

My thoughts are especially with those who have no warm house to come back to this year, there are so many – the homeless sleeping alone in shop doorways, refugees desperately crossing the sea and hoping for asylum, and people who do have a roof over their heads but lack money for presents for the children or depend on food banks for their next meal.

Life can be wonderful, fun, exciting. It can also be tough, exhausting, and depressing. Whoever you are, whatever your circumstances, my prayer and hope is that people will be kind to you, there will be new opportunities in your life, and that there’ll be reasons to hope and overcome the difficulties.

And if your life is comfortable and you have more than enough, my prayer and hope is that you will be kind to others, search out new opportunities for them, and provide reasons for hope and ways to overcome difficulties.

None of us can solve all of the problems; but all of us can solve some of the problems.

Some ideas:

And don’t forget to enjoy Christmas with your friends and family. Grace and peace to you all.

PS – As a reward for reading to the end, here’s a bonus – A Christmas Song!

See also:

Time flies!

I plan to gird up my literary loins and begin to put things right

It’s been a long, long time since my last post. I sent a hasty ‘Happy Christmas’ post on 23rd December 2020 and since then – nothing. I really have been rather busy, but also have somehow lacked the energy to make the effort. I don’t know why – perhaps I just needed a break.

In the next few days I plan to gird up my literary loins and begin to put things right. There are a lot of unanswered comments that I need to deal with first, I want to say something about a song I especially like, and I’ve been asked to write a little about my personal history. So watch this space.

Meanwhile, just for fun, here’s my friend Kevin and his daughters at the Cotswold Wildlife Park in August. (It’s well worth a visit, by the way.)

Kevin is taking a photo of a waterlily. Don’t drop your phone, Kevin! Don’t fall in, Kevin! He didn’t – but it looked risky for a moment there.