Category Archives: A Vicar’s Musings

‘How are you? How are you, really?’ Part 2

I didn’t intend to write a ‘Part 2’, but then so much has happened over the past few days that I wanted to share. Last week, I felt it was important that we ask not only ‘How are you?’ but follow it up with that second question: ‘How are you really?’, following the powerful documentary […]

How are you? How are you, really?

This week I watched the very moving documentary featuring Roman Kemp, ‘Our Silent Emergency’, where he spoke candidly, not only of the devastating effects the suicide of his friend had upon him, but also of his own long standing mental health issues. It was both brave and honest, and I’m so glad that both my […]

Just a mum?

Have you ever heard somebody say, ‘I’m just a mum?’ I certainly have! This weekend we celebrate ‘Mothering Sunday’ and I use that term, rather than ‘Mothers Day’, deliberately. ‘Mothering Sunday’ goes back centuries to a tradition where people visited their home, or ‘Mother’ church, to give thanks, on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It […]

Doing the right thing…

The past few days have definitely been challenging, and as I begin to write, I know there are more days like this ahead. Life is sometimes like that; it throws things at us we are not prepared for and we have to rise to the challenge, or sink, it’s as simple as that. The challenge […]

A Roadmap

The past week has seen the PM unveil his ‘roadmap’ for our route out of the restrictions we have all lived under, due to the pandemic, for almost twelve months now. Of course we want to be positive, but we can be forgiven for approaching this latest announcement with some caution. It doesn’t seem so […]

86,400 seconds…

  I came across this quotation, in the illustration above, in a book I’ve been reading recently ** about how we regularly show our gratitude and give thanks for all we are blessed with, on a daily basis. Saying ‘thank you’ is such a simple, automatic  and basic thing to do and yet they are two […]

Windows of Gold

Etherow Country Park – February 2021 The past week has been one of such contrast in weather. We have had sleet and snow and then the most gloriously sunny periods of time. The photograph above was taken as the sun was going down over Etherow this week. The trees were lit with the most wonderful […]

Slaying Demons

Those who are on Facebook will be familiar with the fact that it throws up memories from the past. In the past week it has thrown up a memory from last February, which reminded me of what a bad place I found myself in, both emotionally and psychologically. If you are following my ‘Secrets’ page, […]

Seeing the world through different lenses

I don’t like wearing my glasses. Fact. I never have done; I don’t like the feel of them on my face. But my eyesight is rubbish – especially when it comes to reading. I stand no chance if faced with small print or bad light! I do have contact lenses (also varifocal) and they are […]

Unbreakable

The cover photograph for my Blog site is the painting on the side of the barn at Whitebottom Farm by Paint Sayers. The words are the final lines of the poem ‘Invictus’ written in 1875, by William Ernest Henley. ‘Invictus’ is Latin, meaning ‘unconquerable’. The poem is about stoicism, about courage in the face of […]