Dear All When I started to write my ‘daily thoughts’ it was primarily a response to our separation due to the closure of our church buildings and I didn’t think I would be doing so for as long. At that time there was understandable, considerable uncertainty and anxiety as no one was quite sure what was going to happen with the spread of COVID 19. Thankfully things are much better now and our churches are free to open for private prayer and contemplation. It is expected that there will be a further......

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Dear All It saddens me greatly when I see how much damage we human beings have done to our planet. Environmentalists have been telling us for years that the seas, rivers, forests and the very air we breathe are all at risk unless we take serious measures to reverse the trend. Thankfully we have awakened from our slumber and are making significant changes, all to the good. This lockdown, oddly enough, has unintentionally given the planet a bit of a rest. Not only have we damaged the planet itself but many of......

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Dear All As we know scientists all over the world, in a major, collaborative and international effort, are working relentlessly to find a cure for the current pandemic. To date, only yesterday, in fact, a remarkable breakthrough was announced. There is now, and widely available, an inexpensive steroid currently being used for the treatment of other conditions that have been found to be very effective in the treatment of Coronavirus. Although it is not a complete cure many lives will be saved as the search for a comprehensive one continues. Through the......

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Dear All We’ve all heard and used the phrase ‘the tables have turned’, or ‘turning the tables’ and we all know what it means, but where does the saying come from originally? It crossed my mind that it might have something to do with Jesus in the temple overturning the tables of the money-changers and merchants, but this is quite wide of the mark. The saying has nothing at all to do with Jesus in the temple, this, however, is what we are considering in our thoughts for today. Why did Jesus......

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Dear All Last night, early morning, I sat and watched on TV a programme, ‘Who killed Jeffrey Epstein?’ It was a disturbing and revealing documentary about the lifestyle and exploits of a man who befriended, duped and abused many he came in contact with, men, women and young girls. All this over many years, and all with seeming impunity. His apparent ‘above the law status’ caused and still causes many to question how all this could have happened. Many in positions of power have serious questions to answer and will need to......

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Dear All A man told his wife one day that he was ‘homesick’, she replied, ‘but this is your home’, ‘yes I know’ he said, ‘I’m sick of it’. Maybe we are all a bit ‘homesick’ just now. We’ve been at this lockdown now for three months and being at home for unusually long stretches is not quite normal for most of us. Understandably we’re a bit ‘sick of it’. We hope it will all end soon. It will! I’m not prone to travel sickness. I don’t know about seasickness though as......

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Dear All In the space of a few short months, the focus of our lives has changed quite dramatically and relatively speaking, quite suddenly, in ways we wouldn’t have reasonably thought or imagined. We have moved from speaking about ‘Brexit’, remember that topic? to the new crisis subjects of Covid19 and the ‘Black lives matter’ movement, ignited with the televised, brutal and chilling murder of George Floyd. Not only do we now have a pandemic but along with it, a global protest movement highlighting the unjust treatment of black people. Until there......

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Dear All Have you ever put something valuable in a safe place and then forgotten where the safe place is? Everyone has their own ways, systems and methods of remembering things. Just about every fridge I’ve seen in peoples’ kitchens, including my own, is bedecked with magnets of all shapes and sizes. Magnets, along with ‘post-it’ notes help us with our shopping lists, phone numbers and a multitude of things ‘to do’. We all need little reminders and as time passes the notes get bigger and there’s a lot more of them.......

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Dear All For all of us, life, in general, is a mixture of events and experiences. Who we are and what we are is shaped by what we are taught, and by the many influences, we have encountered and still encounter each day. We are not, however, defined by any one single thing as each day we continue to grow and learn. Our moods alter, our feelings are at times unpredictable and we are at the mercy of circumstances outwith our control. We never ultimately ‘arrive’ it seems, at being the ‘complete......

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