This has been going round my head for weeks. I love America and loved every minute I have spent there, but I hate a lot about how America behaves. It’s a long thread. When I lived in Illinois I was bombarded by the phrase ‘God Bless America.’ It was in church services and on bumper stickers. It was always in proximity to ‘Land of the Free.’ God bless the land of the free!20 years later I realise that America was already blessed and already the land of free, but only for some. The rich and often white population, the lovely … Continue reading #GodBlessAmerica

I see you. I see you with your pearls clutched close, afraid and offended by the one who dares exist in your air. I see you with second glances, your keeping aware of his movements on your street. I see your curtains twitch and your questions, ‘who is that? Why is he here?’ I hear you ask her again, ‘no where are you from? And before that?’ casting doubt one her identity. I see your hand read for that babies hair, ‘it’s just like wool. Aren’t their babies so cute.’ I see you. I see you stifle a laugh as … Continue reading I see you

Nobody wins. When a country sits one part aghast as its leaders and their aides appear to gaslight them, and another part triumphant, as the detractors are put in their place by those same leaders and aides, nobody wins. Nobody wins as the deaths of a few thousand people, ripped from their families by a virus we aren’t close to defeating, are a side note to the story of the day. Nobody wins when we are told the rules we worked hard to adhere to were more flexible should our instincts deem our situations exceptional. Could we have said goodbye? … Continue reading In this Dominic Cummings Saga, Nobody Wins.

I’m sure I’m just overthinking things as usual but, in spite of the fact that this lockdown is already kicking me square in the mental health, I’m now also beginning to worry about the emotional and mental impact the end of the lockdown is going to have. This lockdown is difficult. I miss people. I miss good conversations and hugs. I miss laughing at bad jokes and judging people on trains for their food or their hairstyles. I feel exhausted all the time despite not doing much at all. I am grumpier than usual, much to the pleasure of my … Continue reading What’s next? 6 things that might help us leave lockdown well. Whenever that may be.

Our 4 year old has been discovering Lego. I also need to get out more. Here are 10 life lessons from Lego. 1: A life of discontent is like a Lego rebuild; you will never find the missing piece, and … Continue reading 10 Lessons from Lego – by a bored Father.

A long time ago I started writing a book but life has gotten in the way and that plan has faltered. In order to try and complete the writing I’m going to put it out as a blog instead. Chapter 1 is a few posts back. This is chapter 2.

Find a quiet spot to sit. Close your eyes and become aware of where the weight of your body is resting. Breathe in and slowly out again, listen to the life-giving air that moves through your nostrils and down into your lungs. Give thanks for air to breathe and lungs to breathe it. Think of those you share your home with, those who you are calling to keep contact with, those who are calling you. Think of the neighbours you’ve come to know better these past weeks and the person you’ve passed on your daily exercise. Bring their faces to mind … Continue reading A Moment of Calm and Letting Go

For too long Christianity has been known as a faith of “inequality for women, women be silent, cover your heads, obey your husbands.” Perhaps starting on International Women’s Day we can behind recreate the Christian faith to one that remembers the hardcore women of the Bible and their stories instead. Let’s talk more about Rahab risking her life to save Hebrew spies in need of her protection and encourage our children to be as courageous as her. (Joshua 2) Let’s talk more about Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah who challenged injustice and won back their rights to their inheritance. … Continue reading International Women’s Day 2020

The tears will come. Let them come. You will be sat by the river you’ve sat by a thousand times before, but on that one day, the light will catch a ripple and you’ll remember when they were last there with you and wish they were one last time. The tears will come. Let them come. You will sit with your friends and eat and laugh, and they’ll leave after midnight and you’ll close the door, and feel unknown and invisible. The secret pain you carry, that you’re afraid of them knowing, will force it’s way out to gasp for … Continue reading The tears will come. Let them come.