Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man’s erring judgment, and misguide the mind, What the weak head with strongest bias rules, Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools. Whatever Nature has in worth denied, She gives in large recruits of needful pride; For as in bodies, thus in souls, we find What wants in blood and spirits, swell’d with wind; Pride, where wit fails, steps in to our defence, And fills up all the mighty void of sense! If once right reason drives that cloud away, Truth breaks upon us with resistless day; Trust not yourself; but your defects to know, Make use of ev’ry friend—and ev’ry foe.
A little learning is a dang’rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.
I’ve recently posted about the death of our dog Toby. Today we took this simple ongoing memorial to him to a local park. Feel free to use the idea yourself, or (if you live locally) help us keep it topped up.
Please take a ball from this basket and have lots of fun playing fetch with your dog today. Tennis balls were Toby’s favourite toy ever! It would be great if you could return it when you’ve finished for another dog to enjoy.
A recent Sunday devotional served as an introduction to the well-known Lord’s Prayer, this is the second in a series considering the prayer in more detail.
Our Father in heaven. To many people God is a remote figure, but to the Christian he is ‘Our Father’. ‘Abba, Father’, literally ‘Dad’. The Almighty God, the creator of the universe, can be our father.
I understand there are bad fathers, and that not everyone will have a positive image, but we’re referring her to a perfect father. Similarly, there will be those who have issues with patriarchy, but that’s a discussion for another place and time.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.Romans 8:14-16
We address God as ‘Our Father’. Nothing is more pleasant to God or ourselves than to call him ‘Father’ and to do his will. If he’s our Father he will want the best for us, he’ll care for us, and not withhold and spiritual blessings that are good for us.
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’Luke 11:13
We can come boldly and confidently to the throne of grace, and even when we’re on our own we pray ‘Our Father’ to remind us that we’re all brothers and sisters in the Lord, and that we have a responsibility to each other.
Together we form the ‘Body of Christ’. We are ‘One in Christ’ even when we’re on our own, and so we always pray ‘Our Father’.
I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that all new music is bad because it clearly isn’t. But Freddy (7) has discovered the worst examples of modern music that requires little more creativity and talent than turning on a laptop. I asked his Alexa to play The Beatles for him, but that didn’t last long, he was back to his awful music before I’d left the room. At least I tried.
A recent Sunday devotional served as an introduction to the well-known Lord’s Prayer, this is the first in a series considering the prayer in more detail.
It’s quite possible for us to use words and phrases but forget exactly what they mean or what we’re saying. This is something that can happen so easily with the Lord’s Prayer, the words can just roll off our tongues because we’ve grown up with them and they’re so familiar. We must always be aware of what we’re saying and remember the implications for our lives and the lives of others.
The Lord’s Prayer has something of a universal appeal that can go way beyond the Christian sphere. It can be prayed by those of other faiths and admired by those of none. It was famously prayed by David Bowie at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, but its fullest meaning (of course) is within a Christian context.
The prayer contains simple, yet profound statements. It’s a prayer that’s regularly recited in worship, yet it would seem to be a model for our own prayers in private. Jesus spent much time in prayer and offers this prayer as an example for us: This, then, is how you should pray.
The prayer is notable for being short, and quality in prayer is always more important than quantity. We don’t need to heap up empty phrases we need to use simple and sincere words when we pray.
The prayer has form, and we need this in our prayers, provided it doesn’t become formality. Our prayers need fervour and form; there’s a balance to keep. The Lord’s Prayer perfectly illustrates the balance.
It contains SIX prayers, THREE needs of God and THREE of our needs: YOUR, YOUR, YOUR, and OUR, OUR, OUR.
The order is significant: Not ME, ME, ME, but YOUR, YOUR, YOUR. YOUR name, YOUR kingdom, YOUR will.
This prayer gives God his rightful place, first: We don’t come to God with ME ME ME, but YOU, YOU, YOU. We come as humble servants, YOU YOU YOU.
The first thing in prayer is to acknowledge and give God his rightful place, then allow our hearts and minds to tune in to his will and purposes.
The Country Park is located in a section of Billingham Beck Valley that has traditionally been referred to as ‘Billingham Bottoms’. For hundreds of years several areas of the valley have been used for hay making and seasonal grazing, agricultural practices which still continue today. Many of the fields have very old names which feature on tithe maps of the valley dating as far back as 1673.
A water mill powered by the beck existed in the valley up until 1918. Part of the building survived until 1980, but was subsequently demolished to make way for the new. A19. The mill owner was responsible for managing fields including Mill Bottom, Mill Meadow, and Mill Batts, (the latter an old name for an area of land between two watercourses). The Glebe also refers to the landowner, as it is an old English name for church-owned land.
Other field names here refer to the fact that the valley floods very regularly. These include Flutter Carr (flooded wet land) and Rushy Carr, which is where part of the Ecology Park is now located. The Willowgarth is an old enclosure surrounded by willow trees and Willow Crook refers to the large bend in the beck. The name Frognell probably indicates that there were always a lot of frogs!
Billingham Beck Valley Country Park is managed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council for the public enjoyment of the countryside, for environmental education and in the interests of nature conservation.
Notes: This country park is practically on our doorstep, and we love visiting with our children and friends. After having had a good look at the map we’ve realised there’s still so much to explore. The photo of an information board was taken with the ‘Google PhotoScan’ app and the text extracted with the ‘Google Photos’ app.
The death of a dog is a bereavement, just like any other. You feel the same, you react the same, and it’s deeply personal. Like all bereavements, it brings back memories, it brings back feelings, it reminds you of other bereavements. It’s a swirling whirlpool of deeply personal reactions, twisting powerful emotions together in your head and heart.
Note: The photo is a stock image, but one which reminds me of my Border Collie X Zoe who died in May 2011.
Our dog Toby died in Naomi’s arms early this morning. We had the children with us, as well as their grandparents Margaret and Brian, so we were all with him at the end. Freddy (7) came with us in the car to take him to the vet. He’s grown up a lot today. All very upset, but a learning experience for the children. Heartbroken.
Note: Apologies for not publishing a Sunday devotional today.
I’ve enjoyed catching up with all the performances at Glastonbury 2022 on BBC iPlayer since the music festival.
Of the 90 individual sets I’ve watched 38 in full (often while doing something else or in the background) but all the others have been dipped into, some for only a few minutes if I didn’t like it or it didn’t grab my attention.
Watched in full: Angélique Kidjo beabadoobee Bonobo Burna Boy Diana Ross Elbow Four Tet George Ezra HAIM Herbie Hancock Inhaler Jack White Jarvis Cocker Jessie Ware Joy Crookes Kacey Musgraves Kendrick Lamar Khruangbin Koffee Lianne La Havas Mitski Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Nubya Garcia Olivia Rodrigo Paul McCartney Pet Shop Boys Primal Scream Robert Plant and Alison Krauss Rufus Wainwright Sam Fender Sleaford Mods Snarky Puppy St. Vincent Supergrass The Avalances The Jesus and Mary Chain Wet Leg Wolf Alice
Didn’t watch in full: AJ Tracey Amyl and the Sniffers Arlo Parks Bicep Big Thief Billie Eilish black midi Blossoms Caribou Caroline Polachek Cate Le Bon Celeste Confidence Man Courtney Barnett Crowded House Declan McKenna Dry Cleaning Easy Life First Aid Kit Foals Gabriels Ghetts girl in red Glass Animals Greentea Peng Griff Holly Humberstone IDLES Jamie T Leon Bridges Little Dragon Little Simz Lorde Megan Thee Stallion Metronomy Nightmares on Wax Pa Salieu Phoebe Bridgers Róisín Murphy Saint Etienne Sampa The Great Self Esteem Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Sigrid Skunk Anansie Squid TLC Turnstile Warmduscher Years & Years YUNGBLUD Yves Tumor
There’s such division in British politics right now. One Nation Tories have been side-lined or pushed out by the right-wing. Labour’s social democratic wing, which seeks to appeal to the middle ground of the generally moderate electorate, is fighting the socialists and vice-versa.
I don’t think there’s ever been a stronger case for proportional representation than the current situation, with a wide range of political parties. Two-party politics seems broken, with opinions sharply divided. In the meantime, ordinary people just want to get on with their lives with a reasonable standard of living, the means to put food on the table, pay their bills, and get health care when they need it. Not to mention a safe future for their children and grandchildren.
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