When I first had an opinion and made up my mind about things, which was probably some time in my early teens, I decided that Jesus was for wussies and religion was a crutch for weak people – and I was NOT one of them! I was strong and capable. I was raised to be resourceful and able to stand on my own two feet which I thank my parents for, because this served me well. Well, until it wasn’t enough. I had a lot going for me, more than a lot of people. I did well at school, I was popular and had good friends, I went to university, got a good job, bought a flat, married a nice man, got a better jo ..read more

‘New from old’ is popular in our recycling and up-cycling society. My wife, for example, loves to revitalise old wooden furniture, stripping it down, revarnishing, waxing and polishing to give it a new lease of life. (Actually, much of the elbow grease comes from me, but I daren’t say so…).  My enjoyment of making old things new is reflected in my love for steam locomotives, seeing them restored and fully functioning. To me they are amazing pieces of precision engineering and it’s amazing to watch them back in full steam. Music is another area where the old is brought back to life. I belo ..read more

Each one of us has unique gifts and talents which may be great or small, but do we really put them to good use? One of my natural talents is arranging flowers. The innate skills I learned from studying floristry and running my own florist shop transferred into my spiritual gifts of creating handwriting resources, as well as teaching and advising on handwriting.   These two very different careers appear poles apart, but in reality they are incredibly similar as they both require copious amounts of kindness. I am called to be kind, encouraging others whether I’m arranging flowers for a grie ..read more

October half term found us spending many hours on a cold windswept beach in Northern England. Why? Well, the answer is we were collecting sea glass! So, what is sea glass? Simply put, it is glass that has found its way into the sea. It has then been churned up, shaped and smashed by the waves, often for many years, before being washed up on a beach.  So why the interest in sea glass? Well, for my daughter Hannah* and me it is the individual beauty of each piece. Each has different colours and shapes – essentially a beauty from its brokenness and the potential of the sea to craft it into ..read more

Do you enjoy looking out on the sea in all its moods?  Recently I visited Beaumaris on a bright,  warm November afternoon.  I stood gazing out at the water. There was so much to see.  At one point there were heavy clouds in one direction and sun in the other. The light on the water sparkled in the sunshine.   Much of the surrounding area seemed grey and dark.  It made me think that what we see depends on where we look.   We can look on the light – the light of the love of Jesus and all the blessings in our lives or we can look on the shadows. We can certainly ..read more

What nourishes you? I think this is an important question. In a world that is chaotic, stressful and disrupted, places of peace that nourish the soul seem few and far between. Despite this, we all know that we need to find these helpful places to improve our health and our wellbeing. We hear all the time that mental health issues are spiralling out of control. The onus is upon each one of us to find healthy balances in life that ensure we remain well. Simon Thomas, the well-known presenter from Sky Sports and The Wellbeing Journey even suggested that “In the times that we are living in, t ..read more

The SPBC blog is being relaunched! WooHo! I had almost forgotten it existed, so I looked back at previous submissions. What did I find? Amongst some really interesting reflections, I found the first blog, from 2013, about a vision for the future of SPBC. The blog looked at where SPBC was at the time and where it could be in five years’ time.  Who responded? Initially me – with thoughts on buying shoes – and I’m still wearing them with pleasure, thanks Rose! How would we describe ourselves today? I think that there are parts of the description of where we were then that are not how we woul ..read more

Jesperanto  (he’s behind you…) (Dickinson:) “Hope is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul…” (Tutu:)  “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” Saint Paul said: “Hope that is seen is no hope at all.” Sentiments so earnest and high-minded, yes top-drawer reflections for sure, So lofty, and I get lofty, but lofty’s in my head-space and just right now I want hope in my heart-space, in my time of dis-grace when I feel out of place.   Lofty is heaven to earth, King’s College to my Tech., fine dining to My KFC. Waitrose for Lidl, Aldi. T ..read more

Jesperanto  (he’s behind you…) (Dickinson:) “Hope is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul…” (Tutu:)  “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” Saint Paul said: “Hope that is seen is no hope at all.” Sentiments so earnest and high-minded, yes top-drawer reflections for sure, So lofty, and I get lofty, but lofty’s in my head-space and just right now I want hope in my heart-space, in my time of dis-grace when I feel out of place.   Lofty is heaven to earth, King’s College to my Tech., fine dining to My KFC. Waitrose for Lidl, Aldi. Tatler not ‘What ..read more

I remember sitting on a plastic chair in a dusty field, 8000km from home, and about the same distance from my comfort zone, surrounded by a hundred or so laughing Malawians, dancing and clapping as they celebrated a marriage. I was there because we sponsored the young man called Fred who was getting married through university. The whole situation felt very alien. However, as I consider the event now, I think about my father.  How did I get here? Where would I be if my father had not been sponsored to go to university? Like Fred, my father came from a poor home and left school at around the age ..read more