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Instructions for the chain blog

What does Jesus mean to me and how do I respond to him?

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If you want to join in, here’s what you need to do

The full title for the chain is ‘What does Jesus mean to me and how do I respond to him?‘. You can use the full title or abbreviate it any way you think fit, or you can use a different title providing your post is about the same idea or a particular aspect of it.

There are no rules on article length, just write as short or long a contribution as you feel comfortable with.

It’s a long time since I took part in one of these chains, but they are fun to do. My post will be the first link in the chain and I’ll make it live immediately after posting these instructions. I’ll invite three other bloggers to write further items on the same topic. When one of those bloggers completes their article I’ll add a link to their post in the index and they, in turn, can then invite up to three more contributions from people they know. If you were not invited but you’d like to join in anyway, please go ahead and submit an article. And if you’ve already contributed and would like to write another article feel free to do so.

Please include a link to these instructions somewhere in your contribution – thanks! At or near the end is useful, top and end is even better. Optionally include a link to the index so readers can see the full list of contributions.

Some people may not want to join in, and that’s just fine. But hopefully we’ll end up with a decent number of posts on a single topic. Chain blogs usually peter out eventually, and that’s fine too. If I think a post is unkind or thoughtless I may decline to include it in the list, but I’ll respond to the author so they have a chance to alter it and try again if they wish to do so.

If you don’t have a blog you can still contribute. As long as your article is available somewhere online and I can link to it, that will be enough. If you have just completed a contribution, send me a web link to it and I’ll add it to the index. As a last resort you could send me your contribution as a word processor file and I’ll publish it here on JHM as a guest post.

Add your article by sending me a comment to these instructions with the URL of your contribution. Provide your name as well if you want me to include it in the index.

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Forward look – Ukraine – 3

You’ll find this Times Radio interview with Philip Ingram most interesting.

DECember 2024(2)

< Dec 2024 | Index | Jan 2025 >

Larger view
(Wikimedia)

This is an interim addition to the series on Ukraine. If you are interested in what lies ahead for Ukraine and the disgraceful Russian invasion that is still underway there, you’ll find this Times Radio interview with Philip Ingram most interesting.

See also:

< Dec 2024 | Index | Jan 2025 >

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How do I choose topics?

I want to explain difficult concepts in ways that non-experts can understand. I believe it’s important for all of us to have some grasp of how science works and why it’s useful.

Passions and interests
Larger view
(Mediawiki)

I like to write about things I’m passionate about, but that provides a good deal of scope because I’m deeply interested in quite a few disparate things. A brief personal history will explain why.

I was interested in science and technology as a child, I did well in O-levels in Chemistry and Physics, also Maths and Geography. For A-levels I chose Chemistry, Physics and Biology and passed all three, securing a place at the University of Bath for a BSc degree. My first job was doing biological research, first on tree growth, then on flower and fruit development for an MSc (lots of microscopy which I loved).

I had an early interest in astronomy and spaceflight, and that has remained with me to this day. At the same time, I became convinced that I should follow Jesus, and spent a good deal of time attempting to separate the wheat of Jesus from the chaff of church tradition and formality. I used to collect coins (almost entirely British coins) and I’m fascinated by history and archaeology. I took up photography around the age of 9 and have stuck with it as a hobby ever since.

I could add more, but regular readers will already recognise some familiar posting topics from that list above.

So what do I post?

Around half of my posts these days are based on photos I’ve taken. I’m on Image of the day – 88 at the moment. Sometimes it’s just a photo with descriptive text, sometimes I try to draw out something a little deeper in the text.

Perhaps another 25%(ish) of my posts are about faith and following Jesus. Not too religious, I hope, more practical and applicable to every day living. Some are clearly teaching on a topic that I feel is important, but perhaps widely ignored or misunderstood. Others are more casual notes about something I’ve seen, or heard, or thought.

A smaller proportion of posts relate to the war in Ukraine. I feel quite strongly about this as you will already realise if you have read any of them. But I want to be positive as far as possible, and appeal to the good that is in most ordinary people to a greater or lesser extent.

Then there are posts on science and technology topics, this one for example on star formation. I want to explain difficult concepts in ways that non-experts can understand. I believe it’s important for all of us to have some grasp of how science works and why it’s useful.

I began writing more or less regularly way back in 2002, sometimes there have been significant times when I’ve been silent for a while, other times I’ve been on a roll. And even before blogs were a thing, I was writing online about this and that. See this example from January 1997. You’ll probably note some similar topics, even that far back.

Any thought or questions? Leave them in the comments section below (or click the ‘Comment’ link below the main image), thanks.

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Recent changes

Another change in the last month or two is the link to my Bluesky account at the top of the right-hand column. Click on that for smaller, more recent updates on what I’m doing.

Unless you’re very new to Journeys of Heart and Mind (JHM), you will have realised a few things have changed. It’s good to keep things fresh, and it’s good to make improvements.

Larger view

The most obvious change (and the most recent one) is that I’ve removed the banner image that used to adorn the top of the site. I love that picture of Cirencester’s attractive, old Market Place; but it clutters the page and means readers have to scroll down even to see the title of any new article. I’ve taken out the logo as well, and I’m considering whether to remove the strapline. I’m not sure it adds anything of value.

Another change in the last month or two is the link to my Bluesky account at the top of the right-hand column. Click on that for smaller, more recent updates on what I’m doing. It includes a brief post every time I publish an article here on JHM, but most days there are three or four other items that are not major enough for an article here. They are often just personal, a sudden thought, something that caught my attention in the moment, or a photo I want to share.

There will be other changes as the weeks and months go by, but I don’t know what they will be at this point. My objective will be to simplify, make the site more user-friendly, take away what is no longer useful, and add new features as and when necessary.

I you are reading this, and you have ideas or suggestions, please leave them in a comment below. Thanks!

Did you know?

You can view earlier versions of JHM on the Wayback Machine (navigate through time using the banner). Or look for old versions of many other websites. See how things looked back in the day.

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A moving story

After finishing her education and working in management roles at a number of major companies in Pakistan, Sabeeta still had the continual feeling of background obstacles and pressures because of her faith.

Here, in brief, is the story of Sabeeta, beginning in Pakistan as a child with an awareness that she and her family were not entirely acceptable and eventually moving to the UK with her husband.

From Qayyumabad
Pakistan to UK

Sabeeta Mushtaq writes about her life in Pakistan where she lived in constant awareness that as a Christian in a Muslim culture, she was seen as a misfit in her country of birth. It’s difficult for many of us here in the UK to imagine what this must be like. Though regrettably, some people living in Britain with non-UK backgrounds might feel related tensions and anxieties.

After finishing her education and working in management roles at a number of major companies in Pakistan, Sabeeta still had the continual feeling of background obstacles and pressures because of her faith. Later still she married a British citizen and after a few more years they made the decision to move to the UK…

To London

…arriving in the difficult early days of COVID.

Eventually she found friends and a spiritual home in a London Anglican congregation and has now become a Lay Deacon. I like her closing sentence and quote it here in full:

My journey, though filled with obstacles, has strengthened my belief that God’s plan for us unfolds in ways we cannot always foresee, but in the end, it is always for a greater purpose.

All of us are on our own, individual journeys, with or without Jesus. And in my opinion, far better with than without! Read Sabeeta’s full story at Anglicanism.org.

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Image of the day – 56

For this holiday, Dad (a keen photographer himself) helped me out by buying me a colour transparency film and I used it to take the photo you see here.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

One of my earliest colour photos

I’m going to take a break from the Irish holiday photos I’ve been working through. Instead, here’s one of my earliest colour shots, from 1962 when I was fourteen-years-old. This is a holiday photo as well, we were spending two weeks on the Welsh coast at the village of Aberporth, a little north of Cardigan. From left to right you see Dad, Mum, Chloe the dog, and my three sisters, Cindy, Ruth and Rachael.

Colour film was expensive so usually I took black and white negatives and had the films developed and printed by a local chemist in the town. Later I started making contact prints myself though these were very tiny. Later again I learned to develop the negatives myself, and print them using an enlarger at the place where I worked. But for this holiday Dad (a keen photographer himself) helped me out by buying me a colour transparency film and I used it to take the photo you see here.

I’ve always been fascinated by old photos and the way they capture something long since gone – and now even some of my own photos are old enough to have that effect!

For a while I plan to continue with a range of different images, but then I’ll return to our Irish holiday again.

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 6

The unexpected appearance of this nosy character intruding while we were talking was enough to cause a lot of mirth.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). It might be a photo I took, an image from Wikipedia, NASA, or some other open source, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Mugman, always up for a laugh

I’d like to introduce you to Mugman! Some time ago I amused a friend during an online chat by moving this character slowly into view from the side of the camera frame while we were talking. I didn’t need to say anything, just the unexpected appearance of this nosy character intruding while we were talking was enough to cause a lot of mirth.

Sometimes it doesn’t take much. I’d really like to bring Mugman sneakily into shot during some of the political debate going on in the world. That’s not going to happen, of course, but it might be fun if it did!

Favourites

For convenience, here’s a list of my favourite images:

Anemone, Cloud, Honeybee, Hydrangea, Kiftsgate1, Kiftsgate2, Large White, Mugshot, Nelson, Robin, Rose, Spilhaus, Sunset1, Weston beach

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 5

How would you describe these colours? Do any of them have names?

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). It might be a photo I took, an image from Wikipedia, NASA, or some other open source, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

The beach at Weston-super-Mare

This is Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset in the UK on 22nd June. The beach is long and wide, golden sand at the top running down to sticky and dangerous mud at low tide. Beyond the mud is the sea, beyond that the distant north coast of Somerset, and finally the sky with a bank of cloud.

The colours here are so subtle, grey-blues and grey-browns. How would you describe these colours? Do any of them have names? Put it all together with the three figures and it makes a lovely composition, a peaceful scene. If I’d turned 180º and taken another photo it would have shown the hustle and bustle of the sea front streets – not peaceful at all!

Favourites

For convenience, here’s a list of my favourite images:

Anemone, Cloud, Honeybee, Hydrangea, Kiftsgate1, Kiftsgate2, Large White, Mugshot, Nelson, Robin, Rose, Spilhaus, Sunset1, Weston beach

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

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Starship tries again

SpaceX, the world’s foremost space launch company by almost any measure, is attempting to launch Starship tomorrow, 6th June 2024. This launch is Integrated Flight Test Four (IFT-4). Each of the first three flight tests did better than the one before.

Starship (Wikimedia)

SpaceX is part way through the flight test program for its Starship launch vehicle.

IFT-1 cleared the pad (in more ways than one). It lifted off successfully, though very sluggishly and with significant engine failures and it actually blew away large quantities of concrete from the base of the launch platform. It flew to a considerable altitude but had to be destroyed in the upper atmosphere after four minutes of flight.

IFT-2 did a lot better. All engines performed well, the redesigned launch pad survived, and lift off was smooth and the ascent much faster. Starship separated from the Superheavy first stage, but both later failed. Starship flew for eight minutes on the planned trajectory.

IFT-3 was a fully successful launch, Starship separation was smooth and the engines fired to reach the intended trajectory (almost orbit but not quite), and Superheavy fired its engines for a return. Additionally, Starship opened its payload bay door and completed an internal propellant transfer test. But after those successes, both vehicles failed and were destroyed.

IFT-4 – Who knows? We may find out tomorrow or there may be a delay due to poor weather conditions or a last-minute glitch of some sort. When the launch takes place it’s likely that it will do better than IFT-3. Complete success would see Superheavy return to a chosen point above the sea near the launch site and make a catch landing on an imaginary launch tower before plunging into the water; Starship would fly safely to a re-entry point over the Indian Ocean, survive the descent, and possibly make a ‘landing’ attempt over the water.

Spaceflight enthusiasts world wide are all agog to see how it goes.

Assuming complete success of IFT-4, IFT-5 will push the envelope further, probably in mid-July (my best guess), possibly with a booster catch attempt and a Starship insertion into orbit. It might even attempt to release one or more Starlink satellites. But whatever IFT-5 attempts to do will depend on how many of IFT-4’s goals are achieved tomorrow (or whenever the flight takes place).

See also:
  • Watch the launch online – YouTube

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