Nearly five candles

Madeleine McCannA year ago this little girl disappeared in Portugal. Abducted from her holiday home while her parents enjoyed a meal a short distance away. Since then Madeleine McCann’s picture has never been far from the front pages of British Newspapers. Soon it will be her fifth birthday.

On her last birthday I blogged that we should light a candle for each year of her life and use it as a focus to pray for her return in the hope that this year she would blow out the candles at home with her parents. Sadly there’ll be an extra candle but still no Madeleine unless something amazing happens in the mean time. Never give up praying.

It still Rattles and Hums

rattle and Hum Album SleeveIt’s some time time since I listened to the U2 album Rattle and Hum. They were on fire  – Unforgettable. I have this album on Vinyl and at sometime I had transferred it onto cassette and later minidisc. I was in the process of transferring it again this time onto my hard drive. It’s a process I can only describe as tedious, so I looked on iTunes to see what price it was. Just £5.49 – so I bought it. So now it’s on my iPhone.

Pride still brings tears to my eyes and I still haven’t found what I’m looking for with the gospel choir is spine chilling.

Perhaps I like this album because it touches the gospel roots planted in me as a boy.

Zimbabwe: ‘The devil came late today.’

Ruth Gledhill – Times Online – WBLG: Zimbabwe: ‘The devil came late today.’
Mothers Union, HarareThis might not look like the average Mothers’ Union meeting as we know them in Britain, but in terms of peacefulness, good works, child-centredness and Christian goodness, the Mothers’ Union branch in Harare is no different from its UK counterparts. Having known more hardship, its members are probably even more good than the unsung English stalwarts who keep the churches here upright in every sense. There can be no true explanation then for why, shortly after this photograph was taken, this meeting was broken up by Zimbabwe riot police.

Evidence of pointless intimidation in Zimbabwe, and the resilience of The Mothers Union!

World Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe on Sunday 27 April 2008

Anglican Communion News Service: World Day of Prayer for Zimbabwe on Sunday 27 April 2008
CrestA desperate cry from the hearts of Zimbabwe screams across the world

It calls upon all Christians of every denomination in every nation to focus their prayers, in churches, halls, homes or elsewhere, on Sunday 27th April, 2008 on the critical situation in Zimbabwe, a nation in dire distress and teetering on the brink of human disaster.

Let the cry for help touch your heart and mind. Let it move you to do what you can immediately to ensure this Day of Prayer takes place in your country and neighbourhood.

A plea for help from Bob Stumbles, Chancellor of The Anglican Diocese of Harare. If you pray make the people of this oppressed country the focus of your prayers on Sunday.

The 10 deadly evils of life in Britain today

The 10 deadly evils of life in Britain today | Society | The Observer

 ‘The focus on greed as an issue reflects concern about the growing gulf between the rich and poor. Connected to all of these issues was the perception that we no longer share a set of common values and that we have lost our “moral compass”.’

As I wrote previously Joseph Rowntree’s legacy is still contributing valuable stuff to our national conscience.