2021 07 03 1322

i can understand why many people nowadays do not believe in god ( or is it the church they don't believe in ) ... 

2021 03 29 0859

matthew was unable to book his accommodation for next academic year ... 

2021 03 27 0827

there was a deer / on this side of the river / less than 10 yards away ( i reckon ) ... 

2021 03 26 1537

is verdi's requiem sacred ... 

2021 03 25 1732

i was 10 years old when i first attended the su group at hutchesons' boys' ( as it was then ) grammar school. i'm guessing that i was 10 - it could have been any time while i was in p5 to p7. 

i remember boss meiklejohn telling us that the nails must have gone through jesus' wrists, not his hands, and through his ankles, not his feet. i remember singing 'i've gotta home in glory land'. and, of course, i remember taking home a booklet, and reading it, and giving my life to jesus, but failing to tell anyone within 24 hours ( as instructed by the booklet ). i also remember observing that when i started to read the booklet, i felt ok, and wondering if the writers of the booklet intended to make me feel worse, so that they could take the credit for making me feel better subsequently. 

so, i guess that i am no longer a christian. it's time to move on ... 

Anguish

i have only two memories of jock - of losing him ( briefly ) on the slooes of Beinn Y Ghlo - and of sitting with him on his last whole day, on the back seat of the car, as we travelled from Woodborough to Bridge of Earn ... 

2021 03 09 1927

 trying to be honest // if I needn’t be here ( in Bridge of Earn ) / then I shouldn’t be // there is a cost // there is a kind of catch 22 // if granny has company, then she copes reasonably well, and doesn’t appear to need help // but ( I suspect ) if she is alone / then she deteriorates ...

Challenge

 You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:19b,20 / NIV 

Although it isn't the matter which Paul is dealing with, I guess that taking care of our bodies is also encouraged by this passage ... 

reConfiguring

 1 Corinthians 6:18a / NIV 
Flee from sexual immorality. 

Yes, but where to? As far away from the den of iniquity as possible, perhaps ... 

Or rather, staying on an island of good behaviour, and not straying into the shark infested water ... 

Failure

 Another  New Year's Resolution bites the dust - I was going to publish a weekly blog based on my recent practice of attempting to commit to memory a short passage of the bible every week. But it isn't working ...

Contrast

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed;
    the offspring of the wicked will perish.
The righteous will inherit the land
    and dwell in it for ever.

Psalm 37:28b,29 / NIV 

Encouraging, for some ... 

Halved

 Psalm 37:27,28a / NIV 

Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones. 

Encouraging words ... 

Bewilderment

 What is truth ... 

Promise

 25 I was young and now I am old,
    yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
    or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
    their children will be a blessing. 

Who are 'the righteous'? 

Those who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour (the rest have no real hope) ... 

Manifesto

‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ / Luke 4:18,29 / NIV 

Thus begins Jesus' ministry, as recorded by Luke in his gospel. A positive message, indeed, for the start of a new year ...