These Lively Oracles

I remember one time sitting having my lunch in a large company that I worked for. There were about 6 or 8 of us sitting around the table drinking tea and eating sandwiches. I still remember the nicknames of some of the guys there - The Clipper. Chunky. Snoopy. The Biscuit Man. One guy, “The Clipper” (he was called this because his main job was clipping cables around the structures) said to me, “Right now. We all know that you’re a Christian. Right?” I looked at him and nodded. He went on, “How come we never see you saying grace or praying before your meals, or anything like that?” I replied, “How do you know that I don’t say grace before my lunch?” He said, “Well I’ve never seen you praying or heard you saying any grace before you eat”. “That’s because I wasn’t praying to you”, I replied. A couple of the other guys just looked at The Clipper, then sniggered and nodded. Whilst it is true that we should lead a life of testimony that reflects our devotion and dedication to Chris...

A while back I was standing at the doorway of St. Paul’s Church in Covent Garden, in London. The church is a thriving and active church and is more popularly known as The Actor’s Church. The name is a slight misnomer though, since many people from varied professions of the creative, entertainment, arts, acting, literature and music are all represented and memorialised here. However, you can stand and knock at this doorway all day long and no one will answer it. People will walk past you. Street artists will perform close to this doorway. And no one will ever answer this door. You see, this doorway is a fake. Oh. It’s a real door. But it has been covered over by a very large inscribed plaque. It is surrounded by columns and is set within a façade and portico. And, it will never be opened to you. But the framework is there for a door. The inside too has been covered over with an altar, chancel, transept, rood screen, and all the finery and trimmings of a traditional church. But behind it...

Life can be strange. No matter where we go no two people are the same. Some people sit and meticulously watch their favourite TV programs and Soaps or music. Other people get involved with their various wee social groups around the clubs, societies and churches. I noticed this recently while we were relaxing at home. I had recently watched the movie “Brassed Off” for the umpteenth time. And my favourite one-liner in it is when the late Pete Postlethwaite pronounced a song title   wrongly. He pronounced Rodrigo’s Concierto D’Aranjuez as “Concierto Orange-Juice”. The line always makes me giggle. As I was listening to the music being play through my computer and my wife was sitting watching some CSI crime dramas on television involving corpses and vicious crimes, It occurred to me that our interests couldn’t be more different in these scenarios. But we were happy together in our own wee world. The church I attend is pretty much like that too. We have the younger ones all enjoy...

  I remember as a child that there had been a toy available for children. It was a simple mechanical toy which usually resembled something like a clown or a gorilla and it was playing a musical instrument of sorts. Usually a base drum or a pair of cymbals. There was a length of string sticking out of the back of the toy and the idea was that you pulled the string out and then the toy would start bouncing, jumping and clanging about and playing the little instrument. Little toddlers and babies usually loved these toys as they produced a visual and audible reaction that made the children giggle. After the toy became battery operated a large company that made batteries did an advertisement that compared different brands of batteries against their own to see which toy would bounce about the longest. Over the years as I got to learn a little about human habits and human nature I often though about this toy, and how humans can resemble it so much. Someone would say something to som...