Thought for the week

Tag: Life

  • Because he lives

    This year we’ve lived in a very different world from the one we have known in the past and the one we hoped to one day see. The future remains uncertain, despite the vaccines that thankfully are now becoming available. Many hopes and dreams have faded. We need to find a foundation on which to…

  • Bobby Ball’s Story

    The comedian Bobby Ball died recently from Covid-19 complications. He and his partner Tommy Cannon hosted the very successful Cannon and Ball show from 1979 to 1988 with an audience of 18 million people. Bobby was born Robert Harper in 1944 at Shaw, a village near Oldham. His father’s family had been fairground workers and…

  • The Grave of the Unknown Warrior

    Services and acts of Remembrance have been severely restricted this year, but last week Queen Elizabeth went to Westminster Abbey for a deeply personal service at the grave of the Unknown Warrior. The Queen laid a floral tribute based on her wedding bouquet on the grave. After their weddings both she and her mother had…

  • Remembering the Penlee Lifeboat Crew

    Lifeboats are a familiar sight when we are on holiday in Britain. In 2019 lifeboats were launched 8941 times and 372 lives were saved. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, more than 143,000 lives have been saved. More than 600 lifeboat crew lives have also been lost. Most of the people who crew the…

  • Remembering the Pilgrim Fathers

    On 6 September 1620 the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth to America, the New World, carrying 102 passengers and 25 crew. Most of the passengers were Christians who have come to be known as the “Pilgrim Fathers.” It was not an easy trip with cramped living quarters for a journey taking 2 months. The first half…

  • Finding contentment

    The lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has led many people to reassess their situations. The length of the lockdown and continuing uncertainty about the future have had a significant impact on people’s jobs and young people’s plans for employment training and university courses. Many people are experiencing mental health problems. The “new normal” will…

  • The life and faith of Fanny Crosby

    Fanny Crosby was a prolific hymn writer who wrote more than 9000 hymns. Remarkably, she did this despite being blind from a very early age. When she was 6 weeks old, Fanny caught a cold and a quack doctor prescribed hot mustard poultices for her inflamed eyes which resulted in her becoming totally blind. Her…

  • Remembering VE Day

    This weekend there will be an international celebration of the 75th Anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day. On 8 May 1945 there was a great joy when the Allied Forces announced the surrender of Germany; World War II in Europe was over. More than a million people celebrated in the streets, including the young…

  • The selfless example of Dr Adil El Tayar

    We are deeply grateful for the doctors and nurses who are working with great dedication and courage to treat and care for patients who are seriously ill with COVID-19. Last week Dr Adil El Tayar became the first working NHS surgeon to die from the virus. Adil, 64, was from Sudan and was an organ…

  • Don’t be afraid, just trust me

    In 1992 I was invited to speak at a conference in Zambia. It was my first visit to Africa, and it was good to meet people who have become lifelong friends. As I prepared to go, I read a number of books about how to stay healthy while I was travelling. I took prophylaxis medication…