Author: raymond

Mustard seeds aren’t very big. You can see them, and pick them up; you can plant them and watch them grow; you can grind them up and add them on your food. They may not be the smallest seed known

Abba wrote a song about money – perhaps you’re already playing the xylophone introduction in your mind? “In my dreams I have a plan, if I got me a wealthy man, I wouldn’t have to work at all” or “I

Some of the most effective stories we listen to and tell contain something that runs against what might be expected – something we may not notice at first take, but which makes us stop and think when we realise what

A wheel is such a simple thing. It’s round and it goes round; it has an axle and it has an edge. But what makes a wheel useful is when you use it (unicycle anyone?) or use a few (a

One of the things that holds a community together is the stories it tells. Stories we share about ourselves. “How did you meet?” Benjamin asked Jane and me this week. So we told the story – two slightly different versions

We often think of ‘The Wise Man built his house upon the rock’ as a children’s song, with the subtle implication that the story of wise and foolish builders is also for children. But why would that be? The child-builders

Froward and unable worm? Three-inch fool? As thick as Tewkesbury mustard? Shakespeare was a genius insults that amuse those listening – and also make us think again before we really understand them. But could an insult also be a gift

Have you ever wondered about the donkeys in the Bible? Donkeys carry burdens, and so they do for Abraham, for the sons of Jacob, for Moses, and a number of others. Donkeys are ordinary, useful, domestic animals; but not significant.

As the earth spins, we have evening and morning, and we count a day; The phases of the moon count off the months. And the cycle of seasons count the years. But there is no natural phenomenon to account for

Are you a Capulet or a Montague? Or don’t you care? Does it really matter what a Rose is called? But is a name really just a label? Would a valentine’s day be quite the same if lovers gave a