Author Archives: firebrandnotes

Observe the Potter

I read something this morning that I was blessed by & ordinarily I’d have tucked the accompanying thought away but felt I needed to write an impromptu post instead – I trust this will encourage some of you.

Give Yourself Pause

“To share, or not to share: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To like: to not like…” ______ This featured image captures the story of a generation: anContinue reading “Give Yourself Pause”

The Valley of Achor

‘…thus says the Lord, God of Israel, ‘There are devoted things in your midst O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.’ (Joshua 7:13) It can be painfully frustrating to read through the accounts of the people of Israel. They seem to make the mostContinue reading “The Valley of Achor”

Dependence

Did you know that it’s possible to be addicted to exercise? In fact, exercise dependence is widely recognised as a form of compulsive behavioural addiction – a psychological state that is damaging to physical, mental and social health. The basic principle of establishing whether you’re addicted to exercise, or not, (or to what extent), isContinue reading “Dependence”

Augustine 

I was astonished that although I now loved you…I did not persist in enjoyment of my God. Your beauty drew me to you, but soon I was dragged away from you by my own weight and in dismay I plunged again into the things of this world…as though I had sensed the fragrance of theContinue reading “Augustine “

The Mystery of the Spectacular Ordinary 

For several years I have been struggling to forgive a very serious series of incidents that have had a major impact on my heart and mind as well as Mairi’s. Detail is unnecessary. But, suffice to say, I have been wrestling with the cognitive wisdom of ‘knowing’ that forgiveness was needed, for my own sake,Continue reading “The Mystery of the Spectacular Ordinary “

Open

You get chatting to someone new at church at the end of a service. To you she seems perfectly fine. She is smiley, she is polite and articulate. She is breezy. Her name is ‘any person’. Church gathered is over and you go home and quickly forget about meeting her.