climbing hiking camping

These are the final lines of a poem written in 1938 by Robert D Abrahams. He is reflecting on wars around the world whilst he and his wife, safe at home,  drive to a game of bridge: Tonight Shanghai is burning, And we are dying too. What bomb more surely mortal Than death inside of you? For some men die by shrapnel, And some go down in flames, But most men perish inch by inch, In play at little games. The words are a challenge to every one of us. Will we allow ourselves to die inch by inch? Or will we determine to live for a cause? Will we allow others to play little games with our lives? Or will we ignore the fear of shrapnel and fight? May every one of us reading these words determine to live; and to live for something great, something lasting, something meaningful.

On Wednesday 22 nd March, a terrorist drove down the pavement of Westminster Bridge, crashed his car and then ran into the Palace of Westminster. He killed four people, including a policeman. The media was full of the story. 24 hour news coverage meant it was never off our screens. Many of the comments after the attack were angry. Some were more measured. Some sounded statesmanlike, especially from Andrew Neil . One of the things Andrew Neil said was that terrorism would never prevail, because there were thousands upon thousands of Keith Palmer’s (the policeman killed) in our country. I  did a bit of research, and within minutes, I had found them. I could fill this page with them. People who, on March 22 nd 2017 were serving our nation, helping our children, promoting good, and in the over-used phrase of mugs and t-shirts, ‘carrying on’. There’s the fun day at Ashton for the Community Family Support Programme. On the same day, the ‘Eggstravaganza’ day at Honiton for early year...

I still see her face. An innocent one-year old. Such trust as she climbed onto my lap and fell asleep. She had no idea as to what had happened to her and her family. I’m so pleased that Amena’s story has made it into print. You can read my article on life in the Syrian refugee camps in the latest issue of Christianity Magazine . By God’s grace, Amena and her family will find their way home to a peaceful country. In the meantime, let’s continue to pray.

An amazing thing has just happened in my city. Leicester City Football Club has won the Premiership. Outside of the usual ‘big spenders’, Leicester are only the second club to manage the impossible (Blackburn Rovers being the other club in 1994/95). They won it on team spirit, togetherness, courage and determination. In the end, money can’t buy determination. It’s worth looking at the financials here. The chart below, from the BBC, shows how Leicester stacks up in terms of cost, against the biggest spending club, Manchester City: Yes, that’s right. Leicester has just won the Premiership with a team valued at 7.5% of the ‘top’ club. And that’s not all. Leicester City have also attained the greatest financial ‘over achievement’ when measured against wages. Here’s the proof courtesy of the Financial Times no less (via Pensions Playpen): Much has already been written about this impossible success. And I’m sure there will be more to follow. Cold finance says this achievement is imp...

Splendid grief. Two words that don’t go together? I heard them used by Sir Nicholas Soames MP in relation to his grandfather Sir Winston Churchill, and specifically to the full State Funeral given him in 1965. Fifty years on, there’s been a lot of reflection this week as to what Churchill achieved. It was unusual for a ‘commoner’ to be given such recognition with a State Funeral, and the occasion was both solemn and a celebration of a man who led a nation to victory against the Nazi’s. Grief. But splendid too. It would have be a very different world without him. As I reflect on the loss of two dear friends from cancer, one at quite a young age, the words come back to me. As we celebrated their lives, there was genuineness about the celebration. But grief too. Lives taken too soon. It would have been a very different world without them. Splendid grief.

As we commemorate Remembrance Day this Sunday, it's 100 years since the outbreak of world war one. It's reflected with an amazing display at the Tower of London. This is a repost of my visit to a particular battle ground in North East India. The poem is haunting in its simplicity. Over the last three weeks, I have had the immense privilege of working with some of the most wonderful people in the world. I'm sure there will be more stories to follow, but this seems appropriate with Remembrance Day around the corner.   During my time in Nagaland, an extreme North-East State in India, I was able to drive to Kohima. Here there is one of the best kept war cemeteries I have seen, a memorial to all those who gave their lives in what was the turning point in the Indian war against the Japanese in 1944. Amongst the thousands of graves, each one recording a British or Indian soldier, usually in their early twenties, there is a poem, called the Kohima Epitaph, and copied by many other ...

Just met an amazing friend for coffee. He's recently lost his wife and continues to care for two wonderful daughters, one of whom is severely challenged with learning difficulties. It reminded me of a blog from 2012, which I re-post in his honour: Her name is Rebecca and I saw her on Saturday. She is maybe 9 or 10 years old, but I guess with a mental age of an infant. Her chair was amazing. It kept her body from twisting and held her head upright. There was a big smile on her face as her father teased her and tickled her and cheered her on as she ate. Her name is Jessica and I saw her on Saturday. I guess she’s in her 20’s. Her race was amazing. She pulled away from the opposition to win the heptathlon gold. There was a big smile on her face as the crowd cheered her achievement. Jessica has her gold medal. One day so will Rebecca.

Tony Benn (1925-2014) died this week. An amazing man. Someone who stuck by his beliefs throughout his life. Even if you disagreed with him, you had to admire his courage, persistence and lack of compromise. I n 2002 he came to Peterborough for his ‘An Audience With’ tour. A packed theatre sat for two hours with him chatting and answering questions, accompanied only by his beloved flask of tea. (Earlier tours also included his pipe, but health and safety regulations put paid to that!) It was one of my political highlights. I was glad to be there. As Benn put it, the tour ‘ reignites the public meeting, uninterrupted by Jeremy Paxman or John Humphrys’! His autobiography is called ‘Dare to be a Daniel’. It’s a reference to a Salvation Army hymn of the same name, sung to him by his father. His parents appeared to have had a stronger Christian faith than he, but in amongst the ‘honest doubts’ of his first chapter in the book, there is a clear belief too.   Not a traditional Christian on...

Sometimes things don't go as we expect. But it's how we deal with those moments that make us or break us. We can choose to complain forevermore about what 'should' have happened. Or we can embrace the change. This is a short piece of prose from Emily Kingsley, a writer who's expectations changed one day. I'll let her tell you in her own words..... WELCOME TO HOLLAND by Emily Perl Kingsley. c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley.   I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation...

Maureen Greaves talks of forgiveness in this amazing radio interview : On Christmas Eve, her husband Alan was murdered by two young men. Here she tells of her forgiveness towards them: “I see them as two people who have done a terrible evil….. but they are made in God’s image and were living a life they were never meant to live.” “I place them into God’s hands….. forgiveness is a strong commandment.” “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done…. To place them into God’s hands, so I don’t have to hate them or have any unforgiveness of them.” “If Alan could have spoken to me for the last time, he would have said ‘forgive them…. Don’t give yourself permission to act like that [unforgiving]’” “Every time I go past the spot of the murder, I pray for someone. And on Christmas Eve I will mourn Alan and pray for his attackers.” “We [the family] don’t want to live in a grief that traps us…. I will live.”

His name was Rene Mouchotte and he was a Free French Second World War pilot. The former newsreader Jan Leeming first came across him when she chose to sponsor a name on the Battle of Britain memorial in Kent. Having been given his name, she turned detective. He died at the age of 29 after yet another battle in the skies. His grave was in Paris. Not knowing how to contact any living family, Jan left a note on his grave. Four months later she was contacted by Rene's sister, now aged 101. Jan found out that the sister had never received his war medals after the war. More detective work. Because he had used an alias name for safety (as the German's had announced they would execute any Free French flying in the British Air Force), his medals had never been properly dealt with. Three weeks before Rene's sister died, she was presented with his medals - the Croix de Guerre and Legion d'Honneur from the French and the Distinguished Flying Cross from the British. An amazing end ...

Sometimes we just need encouragement to keep going.  

Her name is Rebecca and I saw her on Saturday. She is maybe 9 or 10 years old, but I guess with a mental age of an infant. Her chair was amazing. It kept her body from twisting and held her head upright. There was a big smile on her face as her father teased her and tickled her and cheered her on as she ate. Her name is Jessica and I saw her on Saturday. I guess she’s in her 20’s. Her race was amazing. She pulled away from the opposition to win the heptathlon gold. There was a big smile on her face as the crowd cheered her achievement. Jessica has her gold medal. One day so will Rebecca.

In another blog I have recently written about a handshake that changed our nation. There will be another handshake this week that reflects friendship and forgiveness. For the Queen to shake the hand of Martin McGuinness, formerly of the IRA and now a Sinn Fein politician, is brave for both parties. A line is being drawn and the past left behind. And hope is being celebrated. There will be cynics who see this as purely politics. There will be unforgiveness and anger from some. But there is hope too. I was impressed as I listened in to Radio 5Live this morning. Michael Gallagher lost his son and his brother in the troubles, both murdered by the IRA of one brand or another. He spoke of the positive reconciliation reflected in the handshake.The Queen too, lost her cousin, Lord Mountbatten, to an IRA bomb. Both are choosing forgiveness. Nothing can bring back those lost, nor should they ever be forgotten, but a handshake this week celebrates a hope and a future.

James Cameron, the filmmaker and explorer has just reached the bottom of the deepest ocean in the world- the bottom of the Mariana trench in the Pacific. That’s seven miles deep, in an environment that is likely to be more alien than the moon. Only the third to descend this far and the first in this part of the sea since 1960, he will be collecting data and imagery that will be entirely new to us. The ‘Deepsea Challenger’ is a purpose built capsule and is protecting Cameron from the 8 tons of pressure outside the cabin. The world we live in is amazing. There is always something new, whether it be the smallest creature or the deepest sea.

Over the last three weeks, I have had the immense privilege of working with some of the most wonderful people in the world. I'm sure there will be more stories to follow, but this seems appropriate with Remembrance Day around the corner.   During my time in Nagaland, an extreme North-East State in India, I was able to drive to Kohima. Here there is one of the best kept war cemeteries I have seen, a memorial to all those who gave their lives in what was the turning point in the Indian war against the Japanese in 1944. Amongst the thousands of graves, each one recording a British or Indian soldier, usually in their early twenties, there is a poem, called the Kohima Epitaph, and copied by many other war memorials. This is what it says: When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today. Simple and poignant. Still as true today. Let's not forget.

I was meant to be there that day. I keep an email in my diary of the invitation to a meeting in New York on 11th September 2001. What’s more, the company I was visiting had offices in one of the towers. I postponed the meeting. God knows the time and the hour, and for that I’m grateful. In the meantime, the email is a reminder of the transience of this life. C S Lewis described this life as like the front cover and the title page of a book compared to what is to come. As Lewis says, one day I will begin Chapter One of the Great Story.