The winds of change are blowing. In fact, since the beginning of the year there have been times when they have been veritably howling, bringing with them unexpected and unprecedented modifications to life and circumstances that could never have been foreseen, expected, anticipated or indeed welcomed. But still in the midst of the flux, to some degree, I can see there has been good that has come from it all … though it has been … Read more
Our Christian forefathers had a battle on their hands. How to bring the Word of God and the message of Christ’s birth to a world that was essentially pagan in so many regards … pagans celebrating such things as Roman, Celtic, Norse, Druid and other traditions which they had done for centuries. There was the annual Roman observation of Saturnalia from the 17th to the 24th of December which honoured the agricultural god Saturn with … Read more
A lot has happened since my last ‘venturing to the desk to write’! And as I often say to friends, I don’t even have to leave the house for it all to happen. There has been much happening in the world of family, close friends, associates and others. It’s something that I am aware is occurring in the lives of most too. It’s a time of testing, of resolving, a time of making important decisions, … Read more
It has been such a long time since I have posted on here. I’ve had little to say as the things of life – the minutia and the bigger details – have been dealt with. Covid, post Covid infection and malaise, and life in general had effectively silenced me. Now, on the other side of it all, my voice has returned. I have always intended this forum to be edifying, positive, nurturing, life-giving. But at … Read more
I only ever come here to write when there is something to say. Since my last posting there has been so much to say that it would take volumes. And yet, I have found the need to remain silent. To process? To understand? To make sense and reconcile perhaps. To explain maybe, to process again and to keep moving? But now I find I sit in the one spot. Certainly not stagnant. Certainly in a … Read more
An unexpected prayer for the coming year – but one so sincere and formulated from past victories, the getting of wisdom and pain … May those who have harmed and hurt us in this past year and beyond become a distant memory, forgiven, released and even forgotten. May those who have revealed themselves and their true heart, integrity and purity be embraced all the more in the coming year. May the lessons be learnt and … Read more
After what has been an arduous year for all of us, the delight of getting out the Christmas decorations and decking the halls to the nines has been readily anticipated by so many … as almost a declaration of ‘the end’ to a year of pandemic horror and the beginning of a season of hope and renewal. And after all, what else could embody hope and renewal more perfectly than the birth of the saviour? … Read more
I’ve been thinking about friendship a lot lately. Maybe because of the enforced isolation and lockdown brought about by the pandemic across the world. Maybe because a dear soul recently reached out, concerned that I had not written on the blog here for such a long time, stressing that our bonds of friendship caused her to be worried. Maybe because there has been great loss lately brought about by the death of a respected associate, … Read more
It has been ages since I’ve been here. And how life – and the world – has changed since last time! This has always been my ‘safe place’ to come … to ruminate, to share, to process and to make sense of the world around me. But how does one make sense of the present world in which we live? I’m no ‘master of understatement’ when I say that not a lot has made sense … Read more
I have really laboured over trying to write this latest blog. Initially for the fact that I have been so preoccupied juggling three jobs which had all landed on my doorstep at the same time. And then, in the space between starting the first draft and now – three weeks later – the world has changed so dramatically that it is really staggering to look back and note how planet earth, and everyone upon it, … Read more