Breaking news...

I slept with a grandmother for the first time last night! ;-)

Borrowed Blog Post

Each Sunday I go for a walk/run with a friend. Over the years we have shared our life's ups and downs through the changing seasons.

Tonight I simply share a blog post from a friend's photo blog. I like the photo taken with an amazing speaking, listening, "awesomizing" iphone. The caption is my friend's but it could be mine as well. The low sun and autumn colours made this scene different. 

Tonight my wife and I are watching TV (and I'm promising to do some work some time) but the TV is not making much sense. Our son and daughter in law are in an Auckland hospital. Contractions have started so we are "with" them, at the other end of the country, waiting for the arrival of our first grandchild. I recall the arrival of our children waiting for hours with my wife in labour. It is now my son's turn to do that. Wish I could truly be "with" them but it is their journey..... woops phone just went! Watch this space.

Cut through the crap!

Religious "Spam"

While surfing through news stuff I somehow got onto a Utube of a UK Sunday TV program where people were arguing about whether Genesis is literally true in relation to the creation of the world. This Bible believing Christian was sounding forth about the world being made in six days and how the dating of evolutionists and pre-historians is all wrong etc.  Other Christians were trying to answer him… and I closed it down. Really? Still going on about that stuff?

Now I happen to believe that the Genesis accounts, properly read, are wonderful creative myth which speaks a whole lot of truth that we need to listen to. “Myth” does not mean “rubbish”! It means if anything, writing that speaks of even deeper more important truth than historical accounts. But I could not be bothered arguing about it with the literal creationists. There are more important things.

I was cleaning up my desk today and came across some papers a man in my church had given me. He has stopped giving me papers for a long time because he knows I disagree, but he handed these to me the other day. The writing was full of spurious interpretations of both the book of Daniel and writings in the book of Revelation. I would love to try to correct such interpretations, even ridicule them because I have heard of many over my years. Each one says that some phenomenon currently happening is a sign of the end times… but the world has gone on. A new “sign” is read into the writings and a new interpretation to meet the changed situation, by sometimes the same people. You want to say, “but you said…?” but I don’t bother arguing.  Why?

Biblical priorities 

In the reading set for last Sunday (John 15:9-17) John has Jesus giving his last discourse to his disciples. Here he shares what John would see as important directions. The word “love” is mentioned 10 times and Jesus urges them to obey his commands. His command mentioned twice in just the few verses is “love one another”. In Luke 10 when Jesus was asked “what must I do to inherit eternal life” Jesus ends up telling the story of the good Samaritan, and said, “Go do likewise.”  In Matthew in the parable of the “Sheep and the goats” he has a whole lot of loving actions we must do to “the least of these.” “As you have done to the least of these, you have done it to me.”  The prophet Micah was searching for what it meant to be true to God and came up with this statement. “He has showed you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

I will argue about creation, Daniel and Revelation when I am done dealing to these important instructions! The world is going to hell in a hand basket, there are people suffering in our own communities, poverty, war and injustice throughout the world and Christians are still arguing creation, weird prophecy and obscure Biblical passages! Even if I believed in Genesis literally, and in the weird interpretations of Daniel and Revelation, when I look at the “way” of Jesus, there are more important issues to be grappling with! In today’s world with its incredible needs, what does “love one another” mean? With so much suffering what does it mean to feed, clothe, house, visit etc. “the least of these”?  With incredible inequalities even in our own country, what does to “do justice” mean? Sitting around squabbling over religious arguments seems incongruous in the face of such realities. For God's sake, cut through the crap, focus on the important and live and love as Jesus did!

Missing

Missing heat.... 
We got our heat pump cleaned last Monday and by Thursday it had stopped working. It seemed the man who cleaned it had got moisture where he ought not to have got moisture. The firm is covering the cost, but we have to do without our heat pump until Tuesday. We realise how important it is. Our house is in the shade of trees in the paddock beside us and trees on the hillside behind us. When we moved here 24 years ago they were very small trees, now grown they keep heaps of sun off our house in the winter months. I long for them to be harvested. Our heat pump keeps our house warm. We did not have one for many years and it cost heaps to heat the house, and even then it was only warm in the rooms we used. But now we miss it immensely when it is out of action. Roll on Tuesday. I must say that the man who cleaned it and caused the trouble rang yesterday and apologised. I appreciated that, it does not heat the house, but makes the waiting easier. A sincere apology when you have stuffed up goes a long way.
Missing health.. 
I have had a heavy cold (some women unkindly say "manflu") for the past week. From Tuesday morning to Thursday I should have stayed at home. It was extremely hard to cope with. On Friday I felt better but I think the drop-in centre with hours of table tennis was not a good idea. On Saturday I was feeling worse again. I led the service this morning but have felt like death warmed up since. At one stage in the service a woman was speaking and I felt like my nose was beginning to drip. I was sitting in front of a full church trying desperately to sniff quietly and with dignity. I went for a leisurely walk this afternoon with a friend, which was great, but I do miss my health. I am hoping to be leaping with new energy tomorrow morning.
Missing extra workers...
My daughter and son in law usually edit the Church Newsletter, type up the hymn power point slides for our church service and insert the ones I do along with Utube clips I often have. They took a trip to the North Island, arriving back a few minutes before the start of Church. I had to do it all. It was a special service with St John Ambulance joining us for a Church parade so it had to be well done. I did it and did it well, but they have the confidence to do it faster and in an unflappable way. I must admit to a few minutes of panic this morning. I was glad there were no flight delays today.
Missing a normal congregation...
This morning we had more than double the usual number at Church. We had this Church parade for St John Ambulance. There were quite a few elements within the service so I knew it was going to be tight fitting it all in. One speaker went a lot longer than I anticipated so I had to try to reduce other parts of the service to suit. It was all very stressful. I had to wear my St John chaplains' scarf and they told me I had to wear my Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit medal. Well the medal so weighed down one side of the scarf that it made it quite lopsided. It might be fine for a refined clergyman who does not wander around the stage like I do. My guess is that most of those attending do not usually go to Church and were attending out of a sense of duty. They look at you as if to say, "OK you've got me here! Impress me and get this thing over with!" I felt stressed about what I did, I did not do as well as I had hoped, but I think they found to their surprise somebody who spoke their language. I did get really good feedback from quite a few people. I think some of my church folk stayed at home because they knew of the visitors and it was also Mothers Day.
I could soon be a grandfather...
My son and daughter in law in Auckland are expecting a child this week. I think there are plans to induce labour so sometime about the middle of the week I could become a grandfather. I feel like I would love to be up there. My son is keen for us to visit soon after the event but I have to find a gap when we are not busy. I was talking to him on the phone tonight and it was like two friends talking. He was planning projects we could do together when we get there and a walk we could do. All my kids rang home for Mothers Day and had long conversations with their mum. I know they must live their lives, but sometimes I long for the house to be full again. I miss them when I have not seen them. Watch this space, I could have an even bigger family soon. I really am a rich, rich man in so many ways. I should stop growling about "missing" things. It just shows how fortunate I normally am.

Mid week weakness, worship and wonderings.

Weakness
I have a heavy cold this week. I have put off visiting chaplaincies because I think I may pass on the illness. It has been hard to concentrate and to relate. Today for example we had visitors at the Church who  demanded that I listen intently.  A refugee from Bahrain talked of his country and experiences. Some people with mental health issues visited and ranted. When one man was crying and ranting I was listening intently, but saying to myself "I don't need this today!" You appreciate your healthy days when you have days like I am having this week. 
A special this Sunday.
This coming Sunday at our Church we are hosting a St John Ambulance Church Parade. I am going to use the set lectionary readings and have been reading through suggestions, prayers and resources on the "Textweek" site.  I really appreciate this site which often gets me started on my own thinking. As I plan worship this week I am holding in mind not so much the church community, but the people at St John I have sat and had lunch with two days a week since 1998. There have been a heap of conversations about "life". I have been for rides in the ambulance to "jobs". As I read, listen to and consider the various ideas and resources for worship I have been asking myself, "Where does this language, these concerns and this angle touch base with these essentially secular people, many of whom see life at its rawest?" I must admit I have been reminded just how inward looking a lot of our church culture is. Again and again I have pictured these people being turned off, not connecting or feeling excluded by the themes, priorities and language I have seen in these resources. The carefully worded prayers are great when read by Church people in a church setting, but exclude non-church thinkers. Religious sounding cliches, even modern up to date ones sound out of touch with real life. It may be that most of the offerings on the site come from North American culture and we New Zealanders are different? Anyway it has highlighted how we can so easily get wrapped up in a religious culture that unintentionally excludes others. I wonder how the Church can better keep in touch?
Life with nobody who cares
In our links with people through our drop-in centre and Space2B I am reminded that there are many people with nobody who cares about them in their life. Many of us have family, or a community in our workplace or some group of friends who we can sound off to. But I encounter people who have nobody, and because they have nobody they can get life twisted. I share one example. Today I was on the phone in one part of our Church building. As I was talking I heard this unearthly yelling coming from our Space2B area. I wondered what on earth was happening. Then Muthiah, who looks after Space2B came through and said, "Pastor (he is Indian and still calls me that though I have tried to get him to call me 'Dave') a man in there, wants to talk with you, he's yelling and crying!" I went in and for about an hour we listened to this man who was beside himself about health problems he was having. He demanded a miracle from God! In the process I asked about friends and family. "My father is in Christchurch in a rest home. I think he's still living." It seemed like he had not been in touch for some time but this seemed to be the nearest thing to friend or family this man had! He ranted, and ranted and we listened and made suggestions and listened some more. When he left he was smiling and laughing. I think his biggest need was not really health related, he just needed somebody to talk with, somebody to listen. Muthiah said with a grin, "He got his miracle. He came in here crying and went out laughing!" When we have people who listen to us and also share their understandings, our perspectives are more balanced and we can cope with life in a better way.  "Wasting time" talking and listening to others is not wasting time. I wonder how we can ensure more people have friends?
I wonder who is out there and why?
I started blogging more as a cathartic way I can "journal", reflect on life and let off steam. In some ways it does not matter if anybody reads my words, its good for me to write it. But I do keep in touch with how many page views there are and the country the viewers come from. I find it interesting. People in a whole variety of countries read it. I know some people who read it but I wonder about others? I notice recently that there are posts read regularly in Russia! Who in Russia would be interested in the ravings of an old heretic minister in New Zealand? Why?  I wonder why people read and then come back to read? Anyway thanks for reading, it makes me feel less alone in the journey of life.  

Is right belief that important?

If the Church were Christian gracious behaviour would be more important than right belief.

I often talk with people who have left the Church but are still devoted to the ways of Jesus. I know lots of ex-ministers who have moved on from the church, feeling disenchanted. I began preaching regularly in 1972, so for nearly 40 years I have been studying the Gospels and the life of Jesus. In the last ten years I have taken it on as a hobby to read the latest scholarship on Jesus and scripture. I often look at the Church and get the feeling that Jesus would sing with the 1970’s Malanie Safka, “Look what they’ve done to my song, Ma! … its turning out all wrong, Ma!”  I look at Church practices, pastimes and priorities and they often seem foreign to the Jesus I discover in the Gospels. Sunday’s sermon topic was “If the Church were Christian, gracious behaviour would be more important than right belief.”

The Church and Christians for a long time have attempted to get people to believe “the right thing.”  In other words “Orthodoxy” – right belief has been important. The early church met at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and established what is known as the Nicene Creed, which was and is still seen as normative for orthodox belief.  In the years since the Church has argued over such things as how Jesus was divine and yet human, the nature of the Trinity, and various theories of the atonement. But down through the centuries there have been shocking things done to make people believe the right things. Excommunication, divisions, burnings at the stake, the inquisition with its torture and promises of damnation are just some of the activities done in the name of God, to make sure people had “right belief”.  We read the Bible in our own language and take that for granted today, but people were burned as heretics for trying to make that possible!  Looking at this terrible history, Jesus could say, “Look what they’ve done to my song!” Thankfully we have stopped burning people but in recent times I can list a lot of things done to try and bring people around. I recall an elderly minister telling me that when he got off the train in Gardner Station, Melbourne, to begin his ministry training he was asked if he was pre or post millennium in his understanding of the Second Coming of Christ. It really was important to these people. I knew a theological college principal who was sent hate mail, a death threat and even cow dung in the mail from people who thought he did not hold right beliefs. Again… “Look what they’ve done to my song ma. It’s turning out all wrong, Ma!”  I recall working as a plumber about twenty-five years ago. We were trying to find a drain running underground down a road. In desperation I tried water divining quite successfully. I don’t have a clue how it works, but it did. A couple in the Church told me I had gone over to the dark side and would go to hell! Another time I was working with a ministry student from the USA. We were looking at the hymn, “Are ye able”. One verse goes, “Are ye able to remember, when a thief lifts up his eyes, his pardoned soul is worthy of a place in paradise.”  My student colleague did not like that verse. “No” he said, “the thief would have to be baptized by immersion before he could get to heaven!” … Is that Jesus’ style? Could I worship a God hung up on a particular ritual? I have been told I would go to hell for  - not believing in a personal devil, - for not participating in the Toronto Blessing/Spiritual laughter movement that went through charismatic churches a few years ago. – for not speaking in tongues. All sorts of Christians have angrily told me “You are going to hell” for not having the right belief. (These days I just say, “That’s OK, I’ve got mates in both places!”) Creeds, threats and excluding dogma… from my reading and study of the Gospels, I just don’t think Jesus would want those. They are not his style! There are at least four reasons I shy away from definitive, exclusive creeds, dogmas or statements of faith.

1.     The meaning of the word “Believe” in the New Testament. The creedal/dogma approach to faith tends to interpret “Believe” as intellectual assent to metaphysical statements. The question they ask is, “Can you put a tick beside certain religious dogma?” But “Believe” in the New Testament has a different sense about. The Greek word translated  “believe” can be translated “to be loyal to” or to “trust or commit myself to”. The word is used in a sentence like, “Some generals deserted, but General ‘x’ was loyal to the emperor and stayed to fight with him.” It is a much more relational concept than being able to say “Yes” to the likes of the Nicene Creed or other dogmas or statements of faith.

2.     I think our “belief systems” have distorted biblical language.  The New Testament writers were sharing their experience of Jesus, their deep life-changing journey. Their language was experiential, often metaphorical and picturesque. I am sure they would not have expected their words to become dogma and serious excluding theological statements! To illustrate; A friend of mine went to Perth recently. She took a photo of Perth clouds, put it on her photo blog and wrote these words. “I landed at Perth airport and started thinking about clouds. Perth clouds are different to Dunedin clouds. They are big and fluffy and float in the air like they have nothing better to do. They have nowhere to go and feel like friendly creatures who are laying about watching the humans for fun. In contrast Dunedin clouds are all go. They are on a mission. They are thin and wispy and rush across the sky in a hurry (might be why they are thin and wispy). They don't have time to take notice of what the humans are doing, they have their own business going on”. These words give you the feel of the clouds in both Perth and Dunedin. But they would be meaningless down at the meteorological office. The weather people would give long intellectual sounding names and definitions to the clouds. It would be wrong to take my friend’s paragraph as scientific knowledge about the clouds. But those words have a truth about them. The Biblical writings are more like my friend’s description! They were not meant to be metaphysical definitions. The Church has taken their language and given it meaning it was not meant to have. The Gospel writers experienced Jesus. I can imagine them saying something like, “How can you ever describe this man?” In their scriptures the kings of Israel had been described as “sons of God”. The Roman emperors called themselves “son of God”. These disciples were so impressed with Jesus that they rather radically said, “Nah… this Jesus is THE Son of God” picking up a phrase in use in their day. The Church has picked up that phrase, made it a metaphysical statement and argued about what it meant, often without being open to the spiritual experience these disciples were trying to convey. The Church has argued about the Trinity. I once was part of a Ministers’ Association and the only denominations allowed to be part of the group had to be “Trinitarian”.  “Father, Son and Holy Spirit” are mentioned together only twice in the New Testament. In the last verses of Matthew’s Gospel and in the familiar benediction at the end of II Corinthians. (Scholars question whether these are later additions to the original texts.) I don’t think the New Testament writers meant for some sort of trinity doctrine to come out of their words of their spiritual experience! Paul talks of being “In Christ” and “In the Spirit”. John writes of the “Father” and the “Son” and then again the “Spirit” (actually “paraclete”) abiding with the believer. This was their experience. Sometimes “the presence” felt like “the Father”, sometimes “the Son” and sometimes “A moving Spirit – dynamic”. I don’t believe in their wildest dreams they expected the Church to try to define “the God-head” using these terms! I don’t think they would ever imagine it being a test of membership and often a source of theological debate in the Church!  They were simply describing a new awareness of the sacred! Another example is what is called the “Substitutionary theory of the Atonement” that has become a major part of the message of the Church. The Apostle Paul and others experienced a new freedom and grace through Jesus. How do you describe it in their setting? How do you put the feeling of this marvelous new freedom into words? All about them there are slaves. A common experience for people would have been to know of a slave set free by a ransom paid. I can imagine the New Testament writers saying, “That’s it! That’s what it feels like! A slave set free with somebody else paying the ransom! It is so great! A gift! Amazing grace!” The Church however, has taken this amazing picture and made it “theology”! They argued about  Jesus’ death, who was paying what to whom, the Devil or to God? .… By so doing they distorted the experience the writers were trying to describe.  “Look what they’ve done to my song!” indeed.  The more I read the New Testament the more convinced I am that we have read them in a dead, analytical and institutional fashion. They are evocative often-metaphorical writings and our dogma has killed their dynamic. To use them to define and enforce “right belief” is to distort the spirit in which they were written.

3.     Speaking about “the sacred” demands humility.  I occassionally attend lectures my son-in-law gives. He is a Doctor of Chemistry. I understand just some of what he knows. I am left in total awe at the world about us. That is just chemistry! How can I hope to understand or to even begin to describe “the sacred” that we experience? When it comes to “God” we must recognize that we cannot define him, there is always mystery. I often say in my wedding or funeral services, “God, or ‘the Great Spirit’ is bigger than our various religious interpretations of him.” In the face of such mystery isn’t it arrogant to write creeds, statements of faith and to be aggressive in defining “right belief”?

4.     Jesus’ example showed that for him “right belief” was just not important.

·      In Luke 6:1-11 Jesus got into trouble because he set aside the Sabbath laws for gracious behaviour. The disciples “harvested wheat” on the Sabbath. Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Jesus was a loyal practicing Jew, and yet for him life and people were more important than religious rules. I once supported a man who had terminal cancer. He was a member of a mental health drop-in centre. He died and a clergyman from his family’s denomination took the funeral, which I attended with some of his mates. After the funeral the lady leading the drop-in centre rang me. She said that many of her clients would have loved to have gone to the funeral, but it was not really their scene. It was difficult for them to go. She asked if I would take a memorial ceremony at the drop-in centre. Being ecumenically minded I suggested that she ask the clergyman who took the funeral. She said, “I did and he refused.” “Why?” I asked. “Because he told me the drop-in centre was not a consecrated building!”  Religious rules were more important to him than gracious behaviour. What would Jesus who healed on the Sabbath have done? (I led a memorial service there.)

·      When Jesus called his disciples and others he simply said, “Follow me.” He did not tell them they had to believe “A” “b” & “c”. Right belief it seemed was less important than “following” – doing the things he did.

·      When Jesus was asked, “What shall I do to enter eternal life?” his answer was to say “love God and neighbour” and to tell the story of “the Good Samaritan”. He did not say “You must believe in “the trinity”, “a literal understanding of Genesis”, “the right kind of baptism”, etc. etc. He did say, “Go do likewise!”

·      In Matthew 25 Jesus tells a parable… and it is a parable we must remember. It is the parable of the last Judgment and “the sheep and goats”.  Through it Jesus tells us what is ultimately important! The questions asked are, “Did you feed me when I was hungry? -give me a drink when I was thirsty? – visit me when I was sick and in prison? – clothe me when I was naked?” None of the questions relate to believing the right things!

If the Church and we Christians were following this Jesus, gracious behaviour would be more important than right belief! We are too engrossed in “beliefs”, perhaps as a distraction from truly following. We should be simply calling ourselves “followers” rather than the more common “believers”.

In the First letter of John the writer says, “Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.” Somehow in the loving, we “know” the sacred. The Church has tended to say, “If we can recite beliefs about God we know him.” – wrong!

In First Corinthians the Apostle Paul is talking about gifts in the Church and what is important. He finishes chapter twelve with, “I will show you a more excellent way.”  … then comes chapter thirteen; “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing….. etc.”

Philip Gulley is right, If the Church, (if Christians) were more Christian, gracious behaviour would be more important than right belief.


My "denomination" began in America as a movement to try to unite the then splintered Presbyterian Church. Ironically it ended up a separate movement and has since split within itself. Human nature aye? One of its early slogans was "No creed but Christ." I still like that. 

Weekend meanderings...

Bathroom done.

I like the floor I put down last Monday.

With the exception of some tile work behind the vanity (my daughter has promised to do this) and paint on a skirting board, our bathroom renovation is completed. On Saturday I did not wake up with that hanging over my head.
Skype still blows me away...
I spent time on my service, exploring options and looking at YouTube clips to use. While mucking around with the computer, a friend from Adelaide Skyped me. We had a conversation for about half an hour. I then chatted via Skype messaging with a friend in Perth. Just now my sister in Christchurch Skyped me and we have talked for well over half an hour. Now I know such technology is old hat to many, but I am still blown away by it. I can sit in my study, see the person on my screen, chat to them whether they are near or far away and it does not cost much! If I had told my father that would be a possibility he would have told me I was into science fiction.
Mountain trips...
I have walked the Organ Pipe track up "my" Mount Cargill on Saturday and today, Sunday. Today's trip I was pleased about because I did it at speed. I don't know what has happened, but there seemed to be a lot of people on the mountain. On Saturday there were quite a number of young student type people. Today it looked like family groups, the car park was full. On Saturday I realised I was getting old. As I headed up the beginning of the track I noticed a young couple arriving. The first five minutes is steep going and I was puffing away, but still pride myself in the fact that I don't stop for a breather, I keep going, and can generally keep ahead of most. This young couple (they both looked like film stars) came up behind me at quite a fast pace. I pulled to the left and let them past then walked up behind them. It annoyed me! They were wandering up the hill conversing, not puffing, just as if they were going along the flat! I, on the other hand, probably would have gasped if I had tried to talk! Old age is not much fun even when you keep yourself reasonably fit, you know you are on a downhill slope.  I did notice later on they slowed up and I was catching them up again. I think my arteries take a few minutes to wake up to the fact that they need to expand to let more blood flow! Today I noticed that people were happy. Most people were coming down as I was going up. The mountain was covered in fog so there were not great views from the top. But people still loved the climb and expressed their enthusiasm as they passed me. They were buzzing from the bush, the exercise and somehow the fog blowing past makes the mountain seem alive. I came to a junction and a group of three were looking at the noticeboard which says 30 minutes to the top. I advised them it was a long way shorter than that. (I did it in less than 10) They arrived up on top when I was sitting having my drink. I explained that there are usually great views for miles - apologising for my mountain. "We guessed that." they said with happy grins on their faces, "But this is still sooo cool!" I love seeing people enjoying "my" mountain. It has one down side for an old man with prostate problems. It is much more difficult to find a spot to "relieve myself". I nearly embarrassed myself yesterday when a young woman came along the track when I thought I was far enough off the track and alone! I go up there so often but still enjoy every trip.... strange man that I am.

This little guy came right up to me on the Mountain track. I wish I knew where he came from.

I have not got the sack... yet.
This morning's theme was, "If the Church were Christian gracious behaviour would be valued over right belief." In my sermon I guess I exposed more of my "progressive Christian" and heretical understandings about Jesus and scripture than I have before. People seemed to accept it, and I had positive feedback. One man said it was my best ever sermon. I suspect that most did not understand the full implications of what I was saying, but it felt good not compromising or fudging. I will not bore you tonight with a summary of my sermon.
Friday night funny...
We had a wee woopsy at the Friday night drop-in. We had about 50 through, all was peaceful and quiet till a couple of guys suddenly yelled at each other. One older guy has real issues and ran out the door. My wife followed to sooth him but he kept going out to the street yelling abuse at her as he headed down the road. A caring lady passing by came up to my wife to ask if she needed help.  "That's your husband?" she asked assuming it was some domestic quarrel. My wife explained what we do and that no this poor guy was not her husband, just one of our guests with mental health issues. She said when she came back, "I could have said, - Oh no that's not my husband! He's much worse than that!" Surprisingly we celebrate 43 years marriage later this week.
Two different Facebook posts for your consideration...

My son posted this... maybe he is sick of my moaning?

I spend a lot of time with people struggling with mental health.