
Perfect freedom
Perfect freedom DM 30th August 2025 There’s an interesting verse in the final Book of the Bible on the topic of heaven. In speaking about
I have a vague recollection of making a scarecrow when I was very young. Its proportions and fashion accessories now elude my memory, but I do remember setting up the little guardian to watch over my newly planted vegetable patch. I was reminded of such wooden-wardens when passing a local school, where two scarecrows, about human size, guard the garden beds. Just how good a job they do, might only be revealed by interviewing the local crows.
The prophet Jeremiah used the image to take a mocking swipe at Israel’s idols. He likened them to ‘scarecrows in a cucumber field’ – his point being that the idols and the scarecrows shared the same abilities of speech and movement and auditory power. His mockery was meant to shake Israel from its fixation with false gods, but it seems the people to whom he prophesied lacked the powers of comprehension. (‘Those who worship them become like them.’)
In light of Jeremiah’s association, I now have to confess that I have indeed made a scarecrow or two in my life. Only two? John Calvin once lamented that the human heart is a veritable factory of idols. And can I deny it? Every time that anything or anyone takes preeminence in my heart, there the idol is. And while crows may be repelled by it, heaven’s judgement is drawn to it, to the danger of both idol and idolater. Which is ample reason why, when it comes to idols, this old crow ought to stay well away.
Perfect freedom DM 30th August 2025 There’s an interesting verse in the final Book of the Bible on the topic of heaven. In speaking about
Faint praise DM 23rd August 2025 I knew that the smallest bone in the human body was located in the ear. In high-school biology, we
The Wigtown Whistler DM 16th August 2025 In a diary by the proprietor of The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland, irritating patrons are named and shamed,
Patience with progress (& vice versa) DM 9th August 2025 A recent article in the Australian Geographic tackled the hot topic of fingernail growth, which
Shelter DM 2nd August 2025 You can find the story on youtube and meet the central characters – Theodore Malgorne the lighthouse-keeper and Jean Guichard
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The Father’s Estate DM 12th July 2025 My son is getting married soon, and one of his friends, who owns a winery, has generously offered
The bargain DM 5th July 2025 There’s a smile that never fails to amuse me. It regularly appears on Antiques Roadshow every time someone, who
Oranges and lemons DM 28th June 2025 Whoever composed the rhyme, “Oranges and lemons, the bells of St Clements” was a cheat! Lemons and Clements