Povey Prattle

(Second of two entries for today) I awakened at 4:15 a.m. today (Saturday 23rd February). I knew that I’d not be able to get back to sleep for a while. So I took myself, some coffee and cigarettes out to my Lanai. It was a lovely and balmy night. Just across the pond was a Mocking Bird, singing her/his songs in the stillness of the night. Of course she was singing for me. Lovely songs, just for me, in the early hours of the morning!

Years of service from an act of kindness By Cathy Zollo Published Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 at 4:30 a.m. SARASOTA — The first time Bob and Elaine Kyllonen helped a homeless person was in 1985, when the sprinklers went on outside their church, drenching a woman who was sleeping in the bushes. FUNDRAISER The 11th annual "Evening to Remember" on March 12 will be a special tribute to Resurrection House founders Bob and Elaine Kyllonen, who are retiring after 19 years of dedication to the homeless people of Sarasota. Along with saluting the Kyllonens, the party will include dinner, an auction and entertainment by the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. Tickets $150. More information Jean Fulton, 365-3759. The Kyllonens spotted the woman when they arrived for an evening meeting at Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. They took her inside. Then they and other church members helped her dry off, gave her some food and pooled their money to pay for a hotel for her to stay in that night. Within ...

Not far from where I grew up in Bristol, U.K. is the Greenbank Cemetery. I walked alongside it twice a day for two years when I attended Eastville Junior Mixed School. My four grand-parents are buried there, and by a nice bit of happenstance my cousin Janet now lives in a cottage within the cemetery. Her husband is the cemetery superintendent. On the east side of the cemetery is a road called Royate Hill, (pronounced “Roy-ut”). Royate Hill is really two hills. It descends from Fishponds Road to a valley with a stream, then it ascends towards Whitehall Road. At one time a rail line linking the old London, Midland and Scottish Railway to the old Great Western Railway crossed this valley using a magnificent brick built viaduct with nine arches. (A bit west on the railway line were the similar thirteen arches, demolished in 1968 to make way for a Motorway). Of Royate Hill is a little district called Clay Bottom. It once was a semi-rural enclave within the City. We would cycle or wa...

I am a total duffer at sports. I cannot kick a ball, throw a ball, catch a ball, or hit a ball with a bat. I cannot even dance at a ball. For a short while I tried 5 - a - side football (soccer) with a Bank team. Later I attempted to play in a football (soccer) team with some buddies in the Bristol Downs’ League. I played (if that’s the word!) tennis one summer whilst working at the National Westminster Bank residential training College in Oxfordshire. But it’s all hopeless. I cannot kick a ball, throw a ball, catch a ball, or hit a ball with a bat. And I am not even very interested in sports or athletics. Except that for 31 years as a Pastor in Massachusetts I learned that I should be enthusiastic about the Boston Red Sox (Baseball); the New England Patriots (American Football); and the Boston Celtics (Basketball). I needed to be enthusiastic about these teams in order to be a popular Pastor, even though I do not understand one whit about baseball, American football or basketball...

A friend in Seminary hailed from Pinner in north London. His father was reluctant to travel far, imagining, as his wife said, that just north of Harrow there was a sign reading “Danger: Here be Dragons”. Last Saturday my pal Joe S and I went out to the wonderful Myakka River State Park. We rented a canoe, and paddled out into the lake which is populated by many alligators. I was full of bravado, reasoning that the authorities would not rent canoes if the alligators were a danger to humans. Joe was not so sure. Then, at one point, it seemed that we were being circled by six or eight alligators, with just their snouts and eyes visible above the water. Now it was my time to be nervous! “Danger: here be Alligators”. “Danger: here be ….. you name it”. We live in a dangerous world. The semi-fascistic Governments in the U.S.A and U.K. warn us of the danger of “terrorists”, and have scared us into submission as they rip away our civil liberties. The stinking press ...

I've had a weekend guest, hence no blogs on Saturday and Sunday. The following article is about Sharia, written by a Muslim scholar. It's here with no comment or endorsement by me, but so that you can read what a Muslim has to say about Sharia. jmp What is Sharia? Usama Hasan The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah - the which We have sent by inspiration to thee - and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should remain steadfast in religion, and make no divisions therein: To those who worship other than God, hard is the way to which thou callest them. God chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides to Himself those who turn to Him. (Koran, chapter: Consultation, 42, 13, translated by A.Y. Ali) The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his historic lecture at the Royal Courts of Justice last week, referred to “Abrahamic” verses such as the above, where “establishment” (Arabic: shar') of religion refers to ...