Monthly Archives: June 2014

Paradise Lost

Years ago there was a place I used to visit occasionally that seemed like paradise to me. I used to daydream about what it would be like to live and work there. Then, some years later, an opportunity came to … Continue reading

Posted in Conflict, Heaven, Hell, Life, Life's journey, Paradise, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Queen’s Commission

When I became an Army chaplain I felt embarrassed that I’d been given the Queen’s Commission without having gone through the same long and gruelling military process that general service officers went through to earn theirs. Eventually it was a … Continue reading

Posted in Accepting, Faith, Gift of God, God, Grace, Works | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Faith makes us bigger than our problems

There’s a saying that ‘the beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of faith is the end of anxiety. One Easter during the Napoleonic Wars the French General Massena with eighteen thousand soldiers laid siege to … Continue reading

Posted in Faith, Life's journey, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God has no favourites

A minister who parked his car in a no-parking zone, hoping that the parking police would take pity on him, attached a note to his windscreen that read, ‘I am a minister of religion and I have an important appointment … Continue reading

Posted in Faithfulness, Favourites, Forgiveness, God, God's pleasure, Obedience, Temptation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Humming birds and vultures

There are two particular types of bird native to the deserts of the American South West.One is the hummingbird and the other is the vulture. Vultures live off the rotting meat of the desert, and that’s what they look for. … Continue reading

Posted in Beauty, Food, God with us, Life, Life's journey, Peace, Scavengers, Seeking and Finding | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Many Happy Returns

The Hollywood mogul Louis B. Mayer used to tell the story of how as a boy he vowed to get even with an older boy who had beaten him in a fight. His mother overheard him and next day, on … Continue reading

Posted in Blessings, Curses, Living Life, Mother's words, Self Destruction, Spiritual Insight, Uncategorized, Wisdom | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Barney’s on my underpants

A pediatrician giving a little girl a check-up, looked down her ears and asked, “Do you think I’ll find Big Bird in here?” The little girl said nothing. Next, the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. … Continue reading

Posted in Childlike faith, children, Hope of Glory, Indwelling Christ | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Light of Life

Just before his death Mark Twain wrote: “A myriad of men are born; they labor and sweat and struggle; they squabble and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; those they … Continue reading

Posted in Death, Futility, Hope, Light of Life, Meaninglessness | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s it all about?

The distinguished philosopher, Hugh Moorhead, once wrote to two hundred and fifty well-known philosophers, scientists, writers and intellectuals and asked for their comments on what is the purpose of life. Some of them offered their best guesses, some said they … Continue reading

Posted in Life's journey, Living Life, Purpose in life, Restlessness | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t hope; decide.

Michael Hargrove tells about watching a man at an airport dropping a bag to the ground to hug two small children. Then he turned to their mother and said, “I’ve saved the best for last!” and then gave her a … Continue reading

Posted in Decisions, Family, hope and love, Life's journey, love, marriage | Tagged , , | Leave a comment