Monthly Archives: August 2015

‘Teach us to number our days’

Bonnie Weir, a hospice nurse, whose specialist expertise is in caring for patients in the last twelve weeks of life, says that people facing death often develop very deep insights into life. Amongst things people say they wish they’d done, … Continue reading

Posted in Death, Life, Life's journey, Life's lessons, Looking ahead, Wisdom | Tagged , | Leave a comment

God loves a cheerful giver

In the late nineteenth century Scottish missionaries established churches in Ghana that still worship in the same formal way as those dour Scots of yesteryear, except for one thing. Those canny Scots were smart enough to allow one typically African … Continue reading

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Knowledge and privilege always bring responsibility

One aspect of human courts of law that often seems unjust is that ignorance of a law is not deemed to be an excuse for having broken that law. So, for example, someone wrote to a motoring organisation complaining they … Continue reading

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In the presence of the original

The NASA museum once hosted a group of blind people to discuss how they could make their exhibits more accessible – particularly the famous aircraft that hang from the ceiling. The director asked if a scale of model of each … Continue reading

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Prepare to meet thy God

I remember once having nearly been run off the road by a van belonging to a religious organisation, which suddenly cut in front of me. The first thing I noticed, as I nearly smashed into it, were the dramatic words … Continue reading

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‘Not with a bang but with a whimper’

Do you remember that famous line from T.S. Elliott, ‘And this is how the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper.’ During the Cold War when the two superpowers were locked in a deadly nuclear arms race … Continue reading

Posted in End of the World, Environment, Kingdom of God, Nuclear War, Second coming of Christ | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The true joy in life

Most people equate joy with pleasure. George Bernard Shaw, however, said ‘the true joy in life, is being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap … Continue reading

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‘How I wished I still had my religion’

In his autobiography, Arthur Miller tells of his marriage to Marilyn Monroe, and how he watched her descend into depression and despair. As they grew apart he feared for her life as her paranoia grew and drug dependence increased. One … Continue reading

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The human brain – the most complex biological entity known

Doctor Seth Grant says that the human brain is the most complex biological entity known to man. It has one hundred billion nerve cells, each one connected to a thousand others. The network of the human brain has ten million … Continue reading

Posted in Brain, Computer, creation, God, World Wide Web | Leave a comment

Telescopes to God

Hans Lippershey was a Dutch spectacle maker who in sixteen hundred created the first telescope. One day two children came into his shop and were playing with some of the lenses scattered around. They put two together and found they … Continue reading

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