I’ve fairly recently finished reading William Hague’s lengthy biography (500+ pages) of William Wilberforce, the independent MP and evangelical Christian who spent twenty years campaigning in Parliament for the abolition of the slave trade. His efforts eventually led to the Slave Trade Act of 1807. This...
A little more frivolous today. I’ve recently watched two improbable blockbuster films, of different type, standard and age. Each inspired me with various thoughts, but one thought was common to both. The films were “Valerian: City of a Thousand Planets”, recently released at the cinema; and “Kingsman:...
I’m taking a risk today, commenting on a TV programme I didn’t actually watch, although my husband did. On Monday night BBC 2 broadcast “The Search for a New Earth” Part 1. I quote from the description in the Guardian Guide: “With humans knackering up the...
None of us likes the fact that many of the world’s poor live without education, clean water, etc, while some of the rich have private jets. But what would a more equal world mean? Would it mean that everyone had what I (middle-class British) take for...
By the way, my helpful website manager and creator, Jono Renton, is getting married to Sophie tomorrow. All the best to you both, and your families, for the big day, and for the years to come! The first home I owned was a flat above a...
I finished last time by saying something like: Should a service just be about a person, even a Christian person? How much does the service matter in terms of the grieving process? Can I really have what I want at my funeral, and what is that? Three...
Sam Querrey is currently playing Marin Cilic, an unexpected pairing for this year’s Wimbledon semi-finals. The commentator has just said that many people will have come to watch really wanting to see Roger Federer (he’s up next), but in the meantime will have stayed to...
According to traditional (chauvinistic) etiquette, a lady only wishes to appear in the news on three occasions in her life – birth, marriage and death. These three events are still the times when most of us are most likely to be in the local paper...
So it’s officially summer. That’s good. What’s your favourite season? Let’s see how they measure up: SUMMER. Pro: Occasional warm sunny weather, even in Britain Wimbledon (must revise my mental list of singles winners: those confusing Williams sisters!) Day trips out to nice places Picnics, BBQs etc. Even I can tolerate...
I don’t often watch TV news, but I did see the Panorama programme on Monday, which provided an overview of last Wednesday’s disaster, its surrounding circumstances and causes. Of course this is early days to judge, but I imagine that everybody who watched the programme, and...