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Out of hours
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Read more: Out of hoursIt was repetitive, relentless work, but well paid because of the unsociable hours, and the noise meant one could switch off, attending only to Nobby calling the breaks and rotations. A pneumatic boom-bap, a ker-clunk as satisfying as the librarian’s stamp, as plastic bottles of all sizes and colours took shape, from giant old-fashioned…
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Palm to Palm
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Read more: Palm to PalmThere’s this manWhom I adoreWe sit togetherOn the floor Forehead to foreheadPalm to palmHe steadies my soulAccepts as I am I walk this pathWith Him aloneNo need to for wordsNo grounds to atone As He isAs I amHim and IOn the floor I wrote this many years ago as I often found praying difficult,…
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A Sketchy Meditation
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Read more: A Sketchy MeditationI’ve always found guided meditation to be a daunting and uncomfortable practice, the opposite of its intended purpose. I fidget, my breathing becomes rapid and shallow, and panic washes over me as I invariably plan an escape route. Dramatic? Yes. Elaborate? Definitely, but I just know I need to get out! I recently made some…
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Mass with no child noises? Never again, please
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Read more: Mass with no child noises? Never again, pleaseA few years ago I was in a supermarket when a woman approached me. She was familiar to me and it turns out we used to sit near each other in church. “Are you that man who used to throw his kid in the air?” A little context. Parents and grandparents know that looking…
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Someone to watch over me
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Read more: Someone to watch over meThe observer effect may be defined as the disturbance of a system by the act of its observation. This means that measuring in itself alters the value measured, such that the status of the system being assessed is reported falsely. Dipping one’s toe to test the water temperature changes the temperature of the water…
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Scraping the barrel
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Read more: Scraping the barrelCreativity is shaped by inspiration in response to conscious or subconscious prompt: simple patience, chance encounter or studied observation is rewarded with lightbulb moments, one notion prompting another, making new connections (especially while asleep), shaping and reshaping, gathering pace and focus like a determined toddler, until we have a lamp to illuminate our way.…
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Just add water
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Read more: Just add waterOne way to make something beautiful is simply to add water. Witness Bob Ross (The Joy of Painting) – Saint Bob, as he’s known in our house, not just for his built-in halo, but for his kindness and capacity to gently empower would-be artists of all ages and abilities. A snowy mountain scene beautified…
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I’ll name that tune in one
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Read more: I’ll name that tune in oneAs David Bowie and Bing Crosby shared Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy on the 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas Special, it was truly a meeting of titans past and future: mahogany Bing in his reassuring cardigan, the odd Werther’s Original no doubt secreted about his person, aside the unsettling, luminescent Thin White Duke. It is…
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All that we leave behind
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Read more: All that we leave behindAntoine Lavoisier’s law of conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed, only rearranged. Other than the odd satellite, outbound/returning spaceship (aliens are presumed to take themselves and their litter home) or meteor, the earth is a closed system for matter. We’re stuck with the building materials that we have. Round…