The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Author: Bob Fraser
Amid the clamour of consumerism, David Essex singing “It’s only a winter’s tale” stopped me in my tracks in the middle of the supermarket. I have no idea why. I don’t know the rest of the lyrics, only the title. It’s not one of my all time favourites, but perhaps the music evokes memories of […]
How must it feel to have your homeland occupied by the enemy, to be dispossessed of your land, to have your home bombarded and devastated, and reduced to a pile of rubble? How must it feel to lose relatives and friends, lose possessions, lose dignity, and be surrounded by devastation, chaos and uncertainty, knowing no […]
Gordon is a good friend. We have spent some fun times together, but he is totally locked into ‘stuff’. He’s a busy person and he’s gadget mad and considers it a priority to have the latest versions. He has a good job and can afford to buy these things. I suppose when I had a […]
As I look out across the landscape of my own life there have been times of success and hope, and times of failure and despair. I wonder just how many blokes out there struggle to rebuild their lives after a disaster. How do we transform the rubble and devastation caused by the earthquakes and tsunamis […]
In the 1970’s Jackson Browne had great success with his song ‘Running on Empty’. I listened to it again recently as a friend of mine said he felt like he was running on empty. He had nothing left in the tank. He had nothing in reserve. Life had taken its toll. He felt his life […]
A bloke in a high viz jacket was checking the contents of car boots, “What have you got in the car, sir?”, he said. I felt the anxiety level increase. “Could you open the boot please”. The drivers behind me looked at me suspiciously. Perhaps because my car had blackened out rear windows, he was […]
We all have a story and as the story of our life unfolds it will intersect with the stories of others. Stories matter. Back in 1846, James Caughey visited a little church in Nottingham as guest speaker. He talked about God’s desire that we develop the character of a servant, help the poor and share […]
Not so long ago there was a lot of flooding about in our part of the world, and some folk had a very difficult and stressful time; so what follows may seem trivial. My wife and I regularly walk around the lanes and bridle paths local to us, but one of the paths had been […]
One of the jobs I had involved crossing the Pennines to visit a construction site in Harrogate. Towards the end of the project it became a twice-weekly visit. One day I drove pass a lay-by up on the moors and there was an old Citroen BX parked up, with a flat rear tyre. I thought […]
