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Some years ago my daughter dropped her brand new iPhone down the toilet.  At the time she was away at a concert in London. It was some time before she could get home and make some attempt to dry it out. Sadly, by that stage it was well and truly dead and no amount of immersing in rice and leaving for days in the airing cupboard made the slightest difference. Although she longed for it to...

Charting the lives of three thirty-something couples the ITV drama, Cold Feet quickly became a hit. Towards the end of series five all was finally coming together for the youngest couple Rachel and Adam – their relationship was back on track, they had a child and were about to buy their own home. But then Rachel’s car was hit side on by a lorry. She died instantly. No one saw it coming. Everyone w...

In about 1913 two politicians met at the Central Café in Vienna. They were discussing the likelihood of a Russian revolution. One looked across the room and said dismissively, “And who’s going to lead it – him?” The man to whom he referred was none other than Leon Trotsky. Renowned at the time for idleness, Trotsky would indeed lead a revolution that would change the course of history. At the begi...

The Bible says that ‘God has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble’.  Something rather extraordinary seems to have happened. Not so long ago our ‘news’ was filled with the lives and lifestyles of celebrities. Generally speaking, these were actors, footballers and reality TV stars, living lives most of us could only dream of. Their prominence in society constantly...

In these days of lock-down we’re getting used to only making essential journeys. In order to prevent the spread of Coronavirus it has become essential that we stay in our homes and as far as possible avoid meeting others. For the most part the only people now allowed to travel are those who are saving lives, either by working in the food supply chain or the health service. I’m reminded of an essen...

Mark’s Gospel introduces the life of Jesus with these words, ‘At that time’. But why that time? Why not a century earlier or later? Well Jesus was Good News and there’s no point having good news if you can’t tell anyone about it. In 27 BC Augustus became Roman Emperor and began to build the first official postal service. He and his successors built some 47,000 miles of roads. For the first time ne...

Having nearly died from smallpox at the age of eight Edward Jenner went on to become a doctor. Smallpox was the scourge of the age in which he lived accounting for some 60 million deaths across Europe in the 18 th century. But Jenner noticed that when someone contracted cowpox, a much milder form of the disease, they became immune from smallpox. To test his theory Jenner deliberately infected a yo...

First performed in 1808, Beethoven’s 5 th  Symphony in C Minor is instantly recognisable from its iconic first four notes. It’s been copied in popular culture and repeated in disco versions, rock and roll covers and on film and TV. But here’s the thing – the score doesn’t begin with a note, it begins with an eighth rest, a moment of silence. A tiny pause after the last members of the audience...

This week I was one of the lucky ones. My visit to the supermarket happened to coincide with a fresh delivery of toilet rolls and my timing was perfect. Like piranhas circling a wounded animal, customers hovered while the shop floor assistant attempted to stack the shelves. It was a pointless exercise. As fast as he unpacked them, they were gone in a feeding frenzy worthy of any nature documentary...

We live in interesting times. Coronavirus is sweeping the world and for a short season at least changing the way we live. At the heart of our response is the need to avoid contact with those who are infectious. It’s the sensible thing to do. But here’s the story of a man who did the opposite: One day Jesus came across a man covered in leprosy. This was not good news. While easily treatable today i...

Elected to office on 26 th  August 1978 Pope John Paul I suffered a heart-attack and died just 33 days later. At first the Vatican reported that his body had been discovered by his male secretaries, but in truth it was two nuns who found him. Why the Vatican was so reticent to tell the truth we will never know. Perhaps there was some embarrassment that the Pope’s body was found by women and n...

Until now James Bond’s smallest nemesis was probably Nick Nack in The Man with the Golden Gun. But now Coronavirus has got him. Well to be more precise his latest film whose release date has been pushed back by seven months. For some reason considered more threatening than all the other viruses that affect us, our reaction to Coronavirus is having a significant impact. Cities in lock-down, stock m...

Apart from election day itself, there’s no bigger date in the American electoral cycle than Super Tuesday. Across 14 states Americans go to the polls to vote for the candidate they want to go forward to the election in November. Even to get this far takes enormous effort as each nominee tries desperately to present themselves as the best person for the job. Thousands of miles are travelled, hundre...

Viewed straight on the painting of Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome and Dominic doesn’t look quite right.  The picture shows the Virgin Mary cradling the infant Jesus on her knee, with the saints at prayer in the foreground. But the perspective is off, and the hills in the background look as if they might topple out of the picture. Jerome and Dominic seem awkward and uncomfortable.&nb...

By rights Edward Bransfield ought to be a household name. Pressganged into the navy at the age of 18 he quickly rose to become a skilful navigator. So when merchant sailor William Smith spotted some mountains off the coast of South America, Bransfield was sent to investigate. He sailed from Chile in 1820 and pushing south through stormy seas eventually spotted the Trinity Peninsula – the northern...

The Biblical account of creation includes these lines, God said “Let us make mankind in our image, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” God’s intention was that we should be good stewards of His creation, following the example of the One who created it all as an expression of His love in the first place. As just one e...

A famous Christian of the 19 th  Century John Henry Newman, spoke of the journey of faith as an accumulation of probabilities that in the end led to certainty in the heart of the believer. He was pointing to the fact that while it’s impossible to prove the existence of God, there is enough evidence to make it reasonable beyond doubt.  For some this is not enough. Many a commentator...

As storm Ciara clears the British Isles and the clean up begins, at least we can say we weren’t taken by surprise. She had a name and we were tracked her journey across the Atlantic. We were waiting for her. Just thirty years ago that wasn’t the case. On 15 th  October 1987 the people of southern England went to bed with no idea that the worst storm for 200 years was barreling in from the Atl...

Donald Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address was a lively affair. Addressing Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives, he began by ignoring the handshake offered by the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She responded by tearing up her copy of his speech behind him as he finished. It was fine theatre and full of reality TV drama. But one person missed the whole thing. A member of Trump’s...

 ‘Breaking up is never easy I know, but this time I have to go!’ So sang ABBA in their hit song Knowing Me, Knowing You. Anyone who has ever been through a painful relationship breakdown will identify with the tragic lyrics of the song. The fact is that there is no cost-free way of dissolving a committed relationship. I well remember the speaker at a summer youth camp illustrating this fact b...

On 26 th  January 1982, at the age of 17, I decided to follow Jesus. Although I’d attended Church all my life, I found it all pretty boring and irrelevant. I took it for granted that God probably existed but had no idea why I should involve him in my life.  Three things changed that led to my decision that day. Firstly, I looked at the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jes...

Donald Trump’s speech at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos left many observers stunned and despairing. In the face of compelling scientific evidence, he labelled climate change activists as ‘the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune tellers.’ In years to come, however, it may be Trump who’s left looking very foolish indeed. A comparison might be drawn with the prophets of the Old Testament who...

The mainstream media likes nothing more than to trumpet a story about the continuing decline of the church in Great Britain. To read such reports you would assume that a once proud, albeit deluded, Christian nation had gradually come to its senses and thrown off the shackles of a childish religion. But it’s not quite as simple as that. We’ve been here before. In 1740 just six people bothered to tu...

In a letter written to the church at Thessalonica St Paul wrote these words, ‘Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.’ The truth of these words has been heartbreakingly illustrated in the response of Samuel Barker’s parents, following his tragic death in a road traffic...

As usual the diplomatic language of the Palace was muted. The Queen was ‘hurt’ and ‘disappointed’ at the announcement from Prince Harry and Megan that they were stepping back as senior members of the royal family. As negotiations continue it’s clear that it’s not as easy as you might suppose to step back from an identity you were born into. It’s a life that comes with huge privileges and rewards b...