Falling out of the boat

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There is something totally different about Cambridge, and when my son, Simon, was at university there, Libby and I really enjoyed going down to see him, especially in the summer. The River Cam runs through the town, and one of its real attractions is punting.

A punt is a shallow longboat with a short platform at each end. The punter is not the guy who goes and places a bet on the horses for you while you go in the boat! The punter is the one who makes the boat move. He stands on the platform at the back of the boat, and pushes it along with a long pole. It takes a bit of time to learn, but once you master it, you feel great. You glide through the water and the only sound is the drip of water as you pull the pole up out of the water, move it forward and push into the bottom of the river with it again. If you are daft, you can also sing “O Sole Mio” and think of Cornetto ice creams.

The bald truth

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Those who know me know that I am follically challenged, and it is good when I find a passage about things outnumbering the hairs on my head. It gives me a chance to make light of it. I have never had a problem about being bald, so it doesn’t worry me when people make jokes about it. It is obviously something I cannot deny, so why should I? If people have a go at me, I can always point them to this passage and ask where they stand.

Your way away

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Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
(Psalm 37:5-6)

The Hebrew for the start of this text is “Roll your way upon Yahweh.” It makes me think of those vehicles which lay tracks in front of them, so that they can move forward over a bad surface, and so that others can follow the same way.

What goes down!

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I have been reading an amazing book – Faith and Doubt, by John Ortberg. In part of the book, John explains that there are three kinds of faith: the faith that we say we have. This is what I call “Sunday faith”. It is where we tell people that we have faith for something, but…

And finally…

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Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.” 2 Kings 7:9 (from The Holy Bible: New International Version.  Copyright…

Syrup of figs

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In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.

Altar ego

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But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6) Holy Bible, New Living Translation There is no doubt about it, we are complex beings. It is a delight to know that we are…

The magic word

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When my son was about 3 years old, he was at the birthday party of one of his friends. With his glass in his hand, he went to his friend’s mum and asked, “Can I have another drink?”

The mother looked at him, and said, “Yes, Simon, but what is the magic word?” Simon stood, puzzled. “Come on, Simon,” she said, “what is the magic word?”