Which King are you following? (Transcript of talk Palm Sunday 2020)

Matthew 21.1-11

PALM SUNDAY

On Saturday 4^th April the 2020 Grand National was run virtually because of our current state of lock down due to Covid-19.

In the late 1960’s I was an Apprentice Jockey to Racehorse Trainer Bruce Hobbs who was the youngest ever jockey to win the Grand National. At just turned 17 he won in 1938 on Battleship.

Bruce Hobbs & Battleship

Gordon Banks winning the Polar Jest Apprentice Handicap 1969


Today, Palm Sunday we don’t have a thoroughbred racehorse, but we do have a donkey. 

And today, like every day since time began there is a competition.

The competition is between a man on a donkey and a man on a horse. And it’s not virtual, it’s played out in real time.

You know who the man on the donkey is, but who’s this man on the horse.

The man on the horse entered Jerusalem from the West at the head of a large army.

This was the new Procurator, Pontius Pilate taking up his post in AD26 under the Emperor Tiberius.

He marched his cohort of legionaries with all their standards right into the Temple Mount – and caused a riot. 

As the legionaries drew their gladius’ many of the Jews simply knelt and offered their necks to the blades.

Not the best start to ruling and governing the region.

On this occasion the standards were removed from the Temple Mount.

However, we may view his later encounter with Jesus, Pilate was no push over and amongst other things kept the Robes of the High Priest.

They had to go and ask him if they could use them when ceremony required it.  He was also not averse to creaming off some of the Temple money.

The man on the donkey entered Jerusalem from the East.

Bethpage was probably a very small settlement close to Bethany which itself lay around two miles East of Jerusalem.

We know of course about Bethany as the home of Jesus friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

And if the man on the horse knew what he was doing entering Jerusalem at the head of a conquering army with all the might, power and pomp of Imperial Rome, so did the man on the donkey.

The man on the donkey was an itinerant preacher, teacher, healer and had done many great miracles.

 "See" the Pharisees where to say on one occasion, “this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" 
 John 12.19

And the man on the donkey knew the Hebrew Scriptures; he knew the prophets and the prophecies.

If Pilate’s troops carried in their symbols and signs so did Jesus. 

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Zechariah 9.9 

He would have known exactly what he was doing, and we get a sense of this by the very careful orchestration of procuring a donkey for him to use.

It is interesting to note that no one had ridden on this young colt before – which is probably why in Matthew’s account we have the jenny, the colt’s mother, brought along to help keep the colt calm amongst the crowds. 

Here in these two men we have two Kingdoms.

The Kingdom of God or as Matthew puts it, the Kingdom of Heaven in deference to his Jewish readers, and the kingdom of the world, here represented by the reigning superpower of the day, the sprawling Roman Empire.

And the Roman Empire had travelling evangelist who would enter villages, towns and cities like Jerusalem proclaiming the good news, the evangel. 

Gathering a crowd around, the evangelist would tell the latest good news about a recent conquest by the Empire, or of the Emperor’s birthday or some other notable event.

(The more common title was 'herald'  and dependent on where you stood not all their 'news' was necessarily good)

Hold that in mind and heed these words from Mark 1.14-15

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 

Proclaiming the Gospel of God – God’s Good News for everyone regardless!

And remember that repentance always means more than a feeling of remorse or sorry – it is a change of mind leading to a change of action, a turning 180 degrees.

Jesus offered a choice of serving another King and another Kingdom.

We will hear this played out in the forthcoming drama of Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem and his death by crucifixion.

We will watch again as Jesus and Pilate stand before each other, both representing diametrically opposed kingdoms.

And during this tense drama on one occasion we hear Jesus say, "My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom if from another place." John 18.36 

We will see Peter waving his sword around in the dark as they come to arrest Jesus and we will hear Jesus say, "Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

Jesus offered not violent revolution but rather a loving revelation.

He outlined what it means to live as the People of God in the Sermon on the Mount and in the Beatitudes which someone once described as beautiful attitudes. 

The man on the donkey or the man on the horse

And we all have a choice to make, either the man on the donkey or the man on the horse – either the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of the world.

Thankfully at this time of the Coronavirus pandemic we are seeing many people of all faiths and none displaying signs of God's Kingdom. 

Those battling in our NHS and in Care Homes, and those trying to keep everything going as best we are able during these strangest of times. 

If we as God's people see God's Kingdom work then let us rejoice and if we are able to do so let us join in and participate together. 

We might recall how on once occasion Jesus' disciples came up to him and said they had seen someone casting out demons and how they told them to stop because he isn't in our group. 

Jesus replied, "Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you." Luke 9:49-50

(But as warning confer Acts 8.9-25 & 19:13-16)

However, for the world that is organised outside of God, that has no room for God, there is no middle ground – because either Jesus is Lord or Caesar is Lord.

In Jesus’ final earthy discourse recorded by Matthew in what we call the Great Commission we read…

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Matthew 26.18 

St Augustine wrote – ‘If Jesus be not Lord of all then he is not Lord at all.’

Allegiance to the man on the donkey may bring you into conflict with the people who follow the man on the horse, but remember the way of Jesus, the way of loving revelation, the way that leads to life and life in all its fullness.

And right here and right now you and I have a choice to make, and that choice will affect every aspect of our lives.

The Kingdom of God or the kingdom of the World – it is always our choice, such is the grace and love of God who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever should believe in him should die but have everlasting life.

Can I implore you to think very carefully about the choice you will make and its ramifications for yourself, your family and friends and for the world. 

God invites you to become a herald of the Good News and to be a person of Good News in each and everything you do.

‘You are a unique and irreplaceable actor in the drama of human history, and Jesus Christ has need of you to make known his salvific work in this particular place and at this particular moment in history.’

 Michel Quoist - ‘The Christian Response’

Want to know about the Christian Faith and following the King of Kings - then visit www.christianity.org.uk

Life after Life - transcript of talk Fifth Sunday in Lent 2020

John 11.1-45


Part One – verses 1 – 16 ‘The Death of Lazarus’

We might think as we read Scripture that God is not very efficient, although we find he is always sufficient.

Jesus hears of Lazarus being sick, very sick. And yet Jesus tarries and delayed going to Bethany for a further two days.

Why wait – why waste time?

When God looked around for a man and his wife through whom God would bless the world, you might imagine God would find a nice young couple. But no, God choose an old man and his wife who was beyond years for bearing children.

This apparent lack of efficiency is to be noted throughout Israel’s story.

And when Jesus came to choose those whom he was to call Apostles, he selected a rag bag of people. Not very efficient you would think for launching the Kingdom of God movement.

As we read in 1 Corinthians 1:26

My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families.

Then in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus outlines what kind of people will embrace and inherit the Kingdom of God. It is the poor, the marginalised, the little people, the outcast, the nobodies.

If that’s what you feel like sometime then rejoice because to such as these belongs the Kingdom of God.

And it is worth noting here in our present crisis that Jesus said the meek will inherit the earth – so if we take Jesus at his word, and why shouldn’t we, the earth is going to continue in some form or other. Which is what we read in Revelation 21 with heaven coming to earth and for what we pray as I am sure many of us have been doing, the Lord’s Prayer, Your Kingdom come upon earth as it is in heaven.

So, it may look to our human way of thinking that God is not very efficient, but let us heed the words of the Prophet Isaiah

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

For it is through the little people that… ‘the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.’  Habakkuk 2:14

Words you might recognise from that lovely hymn…

God is working his purpose out,
as year succeeds to year:
God is working his purpose out,
and the time is drawing near:
nearer and nearer draws the time,
the time that shall surely be,
when the earth shall be filled
with the glory of God,
as the waters cover the sea.

In the end, despite what to us may look like inefficiency in human terms, in this case Jesus’ apparently waiting two days, God proves to be all sufficient as we hear Jesus say in this passage…

When Jesus heard this, he said, “His sickness won't end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.

Part Two John 11. 17 – 37 ‘Jesus Comforts the Sisters’

For the first ten years of ministry as a Church of England Lay Minister I worked in two parishes, one in Luton and the other in Prudhoe, Northumberland. During those ten years I conducted hundreds of funerals. One of the most common phrases you would hear at a time like that was, ‘if only.’ And this is the first thing Martha says to Jesus as she comes bustling out to meet him. The same phrase the quieter Mary says as she meets with Jesus later, ‘if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.’

At such a time as this I want to encourage you with every fibre of my being to change the ‘if only’ into ‘I’m glad I did.’

My mum used to say, bring me flowers when I can enjoy them.

And I remember visiting my stepfather shortly before he died.

At that time, we lived in Cornwall and he and mum lived in Oldham, Lancashire, so it was a long trip to make. On my last visit to the hospital, as I was leaving, I gave a him a hug and said, ‘I love you.’ He looked at me and smiled and said, ‘do you.’ That is for me a real precious memory and I’m glad I did, rather than later saying ‘if only.’ 

I could tell you story after story of people who said, ‘if only.’ Like the car mechanic in Prudhoe who kept working beyond retirement despite his wife begging him to stop so they could spend more time together. Eventually he sold the business and settled down to retirement and even booked a cruise for him and his wife. Sad to say they never got to go on the cruise as she died within months of his retiring. Today, change any ‘if only’ you think you might be saying if something untoward happens, into ‘I’m glad I did.’ 

If this current crisis has reminded us of anything it is both the beauty and the fragility of life.

The second important phrase I would like to draw to your attention is Martha’s ‘even now’ faith.

 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Even now as we face this deadly hidden enemy that is Covid-19 – we know that God is all sufficient.

Even now let us heed the words of the poem ‘The Gate of the Year’ by Minnie Louise Haskins made famous by King George VI in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.
And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

Even now – we put our faith, our trust and our hands into God’s – much as a small child would when scared and unsure of the way.

‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’  Psalm 23.4

Part Three John11:38–45 ‘Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead’

In this final section of our Gospel reading for today I would invite you to consider three things presented as an alliteration.

Consider Christ’s Communion

Consider Christ’s Call

Consider Christs’ Commission

Christ’s Communion - So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”  

‘I knew you always hear me’ Jesus lived in constant communion with Father God.  Think about those who are your nearest and dearest, you don’t have to introduce yourself every time you meet, they know who you are and most often will even recognise your voice. And Jesus didn’t have to introduce himself every time he met with God in the place of prayer, he knew that God always heard him.

During this lock down we have the precious gift of time without many of the normal distractions making their demands upon us. We have a wonderful opportunity to develop our communion with Father God.

Christ’s Call -  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”  Jesus calls Lazarus by name to come out of the place of death. And Jesus is still calling people by name to come out of the place of death and sin...

Long my imprisoned spirit lay

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.


‘I have come, said, Jesus, that you may have life and have it to the full.’ John 10.10


And Paul writing to the Church in Rome says…

…knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.  Romans 6.6

I hope you know this, that you have heard the voice of Jesus calling you from a life of bondage to sin to a life of freedom.

Because…’if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’

John 8.36

Christ’s Commission – ‘The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

In his book, ‘You – God’s Brand New Idea’ Max Lucado says that ‘God loves us just the way we are but loves us enough not to leave us that way.’ When we emerge from our former life, we may well be bound up with grave clothes, grave clothes of addictions, to drink, gambling, sex – all kinds of things that can bind us. We need to be released from these things and become clothed in Christ’s new garments.

If you might be tempted to think you prefer your old stinking grave clothes, then listen to these words from the Prophets Isaiah…

I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels... Isaiah 61.10

And helping people take off and keep off and put on a robe of righteous is part of our commission from King Jesus.

‘…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’ Ephesians 4.13

'Mother One Another' - transcript of talk for Mothering Sunday 2020

Mothering Sunday 22^nd March 2020

John 19:25 – 27

Just three verses that may well form part of our devotions and readings as we come to walk alongside Jesus through his passion, death and resurrection.

Three verses offering hope, love and encouragement at this most unprecedented of times across the world.

I was engaged in a Gospel Discussion recently and we were exploring the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane. We noted the fully human Jesus’ shrinking from what lay before him and pleading with his father, ”My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

And here in this passage from John we have Jesus drinking this most vilest of all cups, filled to overflowing with all the sin of the world.

Let us be careful not to think of Jesus in simple dualistic terms, human and divine, something he was able to switch between. For Jesus was the new Adam, the one who showed how to live an authentic human life in full communion with God as Abba Father and in the world created and sustained by God. Jesus, both fully human and fully divine in perfect harmony.

And Mary here before the cross is perhaps hearing the words of Simeon from all those years ago, ‘and a sword shall pierce your own soul too.’

And this picture at the foot of the cross, where Mary’s soul is being pierced serves to remind us of the most wonderful most mystical, most magnificent story that is the Gospel, the Good News.

The Christian Faith is earthed and real and bloody, not an abstract philosophical reasoning or even rationale understanding.

It’s not a set of rules and regulations, must do and must not do.

And at a time like this, it is not even a gathering together, albeit we should gather if and when we are able once more.

We will I am sure be finding all sorts of creative ways to maintain contact, but we mustn’t allow that to become the new norm.

Heeding the words from the Letter to the Hebrews, 10.25 ‘Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’

There is the story told of a Minister visiting one of his congregants whom he hadn’t seen in Church for several weeks. The man said he had given up attending Church as he didn’t feel any need. The Minister didn’t say anything but simply leant over to the fire and pulled a coal and place on the hearth. They both watch as the coal gradually cooled down. The Minister then placed it back in the fire were it soon glowed red hot.

The Christian Gospel, the Good News is so much more than a restored relationship with Father God.  It is about a fully integrated restoration of everything, above all about restored relationships with each other as people made in God’s image and a restored relationship with the whole of the created order.

It’s been said many times and needs to be kept on being said, Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.

And here at the foot of the cross Jesus looks upon his mother with love, care and concern.  He commends to his beloved disciple the care of Mary. We can only conjecture, but this beloved disciple may have been quite a young man. Woman and younger people weren’t considered too much of a threat or likely to cause problems for the soldiers as they undertook this grizzly job of public execution.

‘Dear woman, here is your son’, and to the disciple, ‘here is your mother.’

(By this we might assume Mary’s husband Joseph had died.)

In a moment of undergoing the most appalling agony, the love, care, compassion and consideration of Jesus is demonstrated as he sets up a new special relationship between his mother and the beloved disciple.

Jesus own trial and punishment were a mockery and a gross injustice.

However, there are those who have been found guilty by due process of the law and find themselves incarcerated in prison.

On this Mothering Sunday the Prison Fellowship through the Angel Tree Project has enabled many of them to send a card to their Mothers.  For many this is seeking to make amends and restore a broken or damaged relationship with their mothers, especially young men. We should pray for them. www.prisonfellowship.org.uk

Restoring relationships takes time and effort.

Jesus bled, suffered and died that we might be reconciled to God – and to each other and to the created order.

During this time of isolation and lock down, keeping our relationships fresh and active will be challenging.

Thankfully we do have many more means of communication.

I remember leaving my home in Oldham, Lancashire at the age of fifteen in 1966 to begin a five-year Apprenticeship in Newmarket. At that time, we didn’t even have a phone at home. The only way we could communicate was by letter. Now we regularly speak to our grandchildren in Cornwall by Skype.

This difficult time we are passing through gives us a real opportunity to seek to emulate Jesus in his care for his mother.

We may be undergoing a personal trial and great difficulty but are we able to see beyond that in our care for others.

And we will know of plenty of ‘others’ who are particularly vulnerable at this time.

The same ‘others’ who were vulnerable at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The weak, the sick, the homeless or poorly housed, the aged and infirm, those in prison, those on zero contracts, those who have lost jobs.

And are we able to emulate the life of Jesus if we are in isolation, particularly his prayer life?

Not just sitting watching endless hours of TV but by spending time in prayer, developing our relationship with God. After all, this is what monks and nuns have been doing for centuries.

Agreed that to be a monk or nun is a special calling, but maybe at a time like this they have something to teach us. Thankfully much of their wisdom is available through books, podcast or daily meditations.

It is obvious that our way of life is going to be radically altered by the onset of Covid-19 for years to come.

How will we as the People of God emerge?

Well if we are careful and prayerful, we might discover that our relationship with God has deepened as we have taken the opportunity to spend time with Him while not being distracted by so many other things. Then if we have endeavoured to add action arising from our contemplation, we will discover many restored relationships with each other and with our world.

My own dream for the future arising out of this is a fresh appreciation of both the beauty and the fragility of life. That the enormous financial costs involved could be more than met by selling off stockpiles or armaments and weapons of destruction.

That we might heed Jesus’ words as he is arrested, ‘they that live by the sword shall die by the sword.’

May we battle and fight not against others but against virus such as Covid-19, against hunger and poverty, against poor housing and shelter, against slavery and domestic violence, against knife crime and so much more. All the things that kill, maim and destroy.

‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’  John 10.10

May we ‘beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks.’

And in all of this remembering as Jesus said on one occasion…

“Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

What is the will of God at such a time as this?

Well, on this Mothering Sunday we can take these words of Jesus spoken from the Cross, heed them, and then seek to ‘mother one another’ and to love each other as Jesus loved his mother - and each and everyone one of us - including you.

As you ponder that and your response listen to this beautiful song from Graham Kendrick...

https://youtu.be/2MblrWZDpPQ

This 'talk' was given as part of a Worship Service on behalf of Rural Mission Solutions - www.ruralmissionsolutions.org.uk

Retirement and a New Decade!

When the year turned around I had been ‘retired’ for five months.  It has proved to be an interesting experience and not quite as I imagined it despite talking to numerous retired people.

For starters when in work I always had the discipline of producing a monthly News & Prayer Letter. I have struggled to find the time and motivation over the past five months.

Relocation from Stafford to Rugby obviously has taken a lot of time and effort. We are renting a property under a scheme for Church of England ministers. The house was decorated throughout but still needed the neglected garden sorted. We also bought ourselves a rather nice shed and this required considerable work laying a solid, level surface of paving stones. We also inherited a patch of bamboo – if you have tried to remove bamboo you will know how hard that is. The only thing that helped was buying a full-size mattock and then a lot of hard work digging it out. We have got downstairs more of less sorted, including the conservatory (with some very expensive fitted blinds!).  Upstairs is still ‘a work in progress’ as we had to massively downsize.  Lots of trips to the recycling centre, also several big pieces of furniture to British Heart Foundation. We have some steps, light and boards being installed in the loft early next year so we can use it for light storage.

Also, during the last five months we spent nearly six weeks in Cornwall, being there for the whole of October. We stayed at our ‘Holiday Home’ (static caravan) at the Par Sands site. This gave us time to spend some quality time with our three Cornish grandchildren, Kerryn, Lowenna and Isla. While there we were able to join in the celebrations for Isla first birthday and Daniel’s (eldest son) birthday. We also had a great time catching up with many other friends and generally enjoying Cornwall, even though it was very wet and many of the walks we had planned had to be postponed. 

We did miss being with our other grandchildren, James and William as they are so little and changing daily, it seems. They are the main reason we moved to Rugby. It is great fun being able to ‘do life’ with Tabitha, Peter and the boys. Having moved around a lot this is a whole new experience and we are loving it. We are even settling into a pattern on Wednesday’s where Jane and Tabitha take the boys to our home church for their Parents & Toddlers group and then Jane brings the boys back home leaving Tabitha to have some time for herself for the rest of the afternoon.

Our ‘home church’ is SS Matthew and Oswald. Again, a whole novel experience as it is our parish church and we can walk there in ten minutes. They have been in vacancy for the past twenty-four months with a new Vicar being appointed in November 2019. Alan Hulme along with his wife, Jane, who has been appointed as Associate Minister.  Alan previously worked for the Diocese of Guilford, advising on Parish Development, Mission and Evangelism. He and I have met before as part of the National Missioners Network. Jane has a developed ministry in All Age Worship and a very helpful resource web site.

http://www.allageworshipresources.org/author/janehulme59gmail-com/  

Both Jane and Alan have respected our ‘sabbatical’ – i.e. we elected not to engage with anything until 2020. However, Jane H did ask if I could help with a puppet presentation for the Crib Service. Also running on into 2020 to help with Collective Worship.

Jane has written several sketches with James, a mischievous boy and grandad. I’m grandad. As we move into 2020 Alan has approached the Diocese of Coventry to see if they would give me a PTO so I can be covered for safeguarding, etc.

Others have also been very understanding on our taking a sabbatical. There is a very active Farming Community Network Group in Warwickshire, but apart from informing me of meetings I have been left alone.  Although I know they are looking forward to my becoming more actively involved in 2020 going forward.  I have also discovered that Anne, a member of SS Mathew & Oswald, is a member of a very active Prison Fellowship Group. I have been to one of their Prayer Meetings and plan to pursue this link in 2020. 

The only thing I did attend was a trustee’s meeting of Rural Mission Solutions in London. I am Chair of Trustee’s and so considered it important that I attend.

One of the things I thought I would have more time to develop was ‘contemplation.’ This hasn’t happened yet although I do enjoy being able to take a more ‘leisurely’ approach to saying my daily prayers. I am also hopeful that in 2020 I might find a Religious Community within a reasonable distance. Somewhere I can go for a period of quiet and possibly Spiritual Direction.

SS Matthew’s & Oswald sits in the Evangelical wing of the church and the Eucharist is not celebrated every week.  However, I have found a delightful Tuesday morning celebration at St Andrew’s, the parish church of Rugby.  After the Service people gather around a big table for coffee and conversation. They attract around twelve to fifteen people. I have also been joining them for the Big Table Gospel Conversation held on a Friday morning. One of the delightful aspects of being retired is that on occasions like this I can linger longer.

Running is also something I find I am also able to do more and go for longer runs. Initially I was very frustrated as I couldn’t seem to find anywhere away from roads, buildings and dual carriage ways. But I have discovered some routes that take me out into countryside and now have some routes I know well covering four, six or ten miles.  Although picking up a nasty cough/cold has meant no running since last year!

We have also enjoyed a shot break in Gran Canaria, staying at Puerto de Morgan in the south of the island. Not overly hot (think British summers at 20/22) but very pleasant and a great place to drive around in the mountains. Also to enjoy a nice alfresco meal down by the harbour.

Items for prayer…

As we move into 2020 both Jane and I need discernment on what to engage with.

Currently I am planning to explore involvement with RDA (Riding for the Disabled Association) along with FCN and the Prison Fellowship, plus picking on Rural Mission Solutions.

On the 28^th and 30^th January I am with Jane Hulme at a local school with the puppet sketch. (Grandad and James)  

Next year we have decided to make several shorter trips to Cornwall, mainly to try and be there for the girl’s birthdays. So, our first trip down South West is the 22^nd – 29^th February. It would be lovely to catch up with Cornish friends – do be in touch if you might be around and up for a visit.