
Recitations
Recitations DM 13th September 2025 It was a regular Friday night ritual, that I loved and loathed. My grandparents would arrive, armed with sweets and
I just meet Ehud’s wife. (Ehud was one of Israel’s famous judges – a left-handed assassin who knifed an oppressive king.) The location was the checkout at the local supermarket. I had a trolley full of groceries. She, the poor thing, had just one item. “Please go ahead,” I said. “No,” she replied with a smile; but I insisted. So she put her bottle of lemonade near the checkout, but then proceeded to pull twenty other items from her bag! And then paid for them with a credit card held in her left hand!
Ehud was a clever man, who constructed a clever sword, and strapped it to his side in a clever position. Then he used a clever ruse to outwit a gullible king. “I have a secret message,” he said, knowing full-well that no one can resist a secret. And when all the attendants had been dismissed, Ehud drew close and unloaded his weapon into the king’s rather large abdomen; in fact, such was the thrust, that the sword disappeared somewhere behind the royal ribs.
Ehud is a special character, and not really a role model for the ordinary Christian. Ehud was called, but we are not, to try to outwit others. Gullibility is not a virtue, but nor is ingenious disingenuity. Just plain and honest dealings with others. No hidden surprises strapped to our thighs, nor hidden motives behind our smiles, nor hidden surprises in our shopping bags. Just what you see is what you get. Lefthanded or not.
Recitations DM 13th September 2025 It was a regular Friday night ritual, that I loved and loathed. My grandparents would arrive, armed with sweets and
Finishing Unwell (Encouragement to the dying) DM 6th September 2025 The quay was awash with them. Lithe and impressive-looking people, smiling and warmly gabbling in
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
Botany 101 DM 26th July 2025 I walked past the sandstone memorial today to mark the life of Joseph Banks, the first European botanist to
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