Personal Blogs

Sambovikt: The contentment derived from long-term trusting relationships

Image kindly provided by https://unsplash.com/@whereisfarid

I was having a chat with a man who was doing work in my house recently. In our brief conversations, we had much in common. We both lost our parents in our teenage years and one thing becomes apparent, the loss hits harder as you get older. In both our cases, it was death that caused the loss.

The conversation rewound me back to the mid-90s whilst crossing over from Newcastle to Gothenburg on the Princess of Scandinavia. I had a drink before bedtime and went upstairs to the top deck to shake off the vodka effects. The Northern sky was clear, all the stars were out, all of them in infinite silence. Being alone, they belonged to me; no one else would ever see this exact constellation again. Feeling helpless in the moment, I became like Bergman in The Magic Lantern, who also had his demons, I silently concealed my insane wail and feeling imprisoned forever as I thought of my adopted father whom I lost when I was 12 years old. I mused:

Meet me amidst the ocean

Under my Northern sky

To the light of constellations

As our restless stars pass by.

This is why I like the Swedish word, sambovict, It stands upright and for me, it is what it means to be human. Too many children are growing up without one of their parents, quite often the father. I pray for the pain they go through and will go through in the future.  Happiness comes from secure long-term trusting relationships, not only for the couple, but the children born to the couple.

My father closed his eyes when I was twelve, I understand the pain a child goes through in the absence of the father figure. Children need guidance, daily direction, and bedtimes stories that capture their imagination. The stories that make us human. Goodness, I recall my dad reading David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and Pinocchio. Many single fathers and mothers rise to the occasion, but trying to prop up house and home and deal with the emotional fallout of divorce intensifies these pressures.

Children also need both parents to say, “Well done” or both parents to be honest and suggest improvements.

But when one parent is not around. Well… they grow up with a deep sense of loneliness and the feeling that something is missing in their life.

“ Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection.”

Colossians 3:14 WEB

“The mediocre teacher tells. 

The good teacher explains.

 The superior teacher demonstrates.

 The great teacher inspires.”

― William Arthur Ward

Image by https://unsplash.com/@mockupgraphics

When I think of the German word Fingerspitzengefuhl, I think of Mr Abbot, our science teacher at St Gerard's in Govan, Glasgow.

Academics were in 3A. Girls were 3B, and we were in 3C. Whilst 3 A were absorbed into the more scholarly curriculum that included subjects like Latin, French and German, we, 3C focused on technical subjects like metalwork and woodwork. We were the offspring of hard drinking, macho shipbuilders. We were destined for the shipbuilding yards like our fathers and forefathers.

With that in mind, Mr A knew we would never be Nobel Prize Winners in science, so, he taught us to make fishing rods. Every Thursday, with our two periods of science, we would get out the fiberglass, glue and twine, and skilfully make seven-foot fly rods. They were works of art and it engendered self-esteem in us teenagers.

When the project was completed, he would take us all in the minibus over to the Clydebank canal to catch 1-to-3-pound goldfish. Yes, you read correctly: goldfish.

During the war, families could not obtain food for the pet fish, so they did the humane thing and poured them into the canal. The warm water emanating from the nearby Singer Sowing Machine factory allowed the fish to thrive and reach considerable sizes.

Fingerspitzengefuhl (literary finger-feeling) describes someone who has the finger on the pulse. Someone who can assess human nature and bring the best out in them.

Mr Abbott changed our life. Every weekend, Sammy, Tam and I would hop on the bus with our rods and fish in the Barrhead Dams and Loch Libo in Neilston. Many young people in those days adopted a life of gang violence and crime and I often wonder, what if I, we, never  experienced Mr A's Fingerspitzengefuhl?

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart…” 

Image by https://unsplash.com/@cosmictimetraveler

I live in Scotland, and I know it’s rude to ask people’s age, but what age are you? Not that I’m prying —— goodness, I run away from prying people. Anyway, I’m just wondering if you are at this stage in life where you wonder, what’s it all about? Life, I mean. Why are we here? Are we just products of an aimless evolution and were just dancing to our DNA?

Well, you may believe that, but is that something you reasoned into or something you just accept because everyone else does? Hmm!  That’s no way to understand why we are here.

Let’s look at the evidence: We live on a beautiful planet. To be honest, it’s man that’s ruining it. Science doesn’t know who or what put the universe here, and yet, our planet is perfect for human habitation. We see beauty in flowers, animals, the microcosm, and the macrocosm. We see all this in colour. We love poetry, music, sport, dancing and just sitting in a summer evening with that hygge feeling as we sit watching a sundown with family and friends.

But then, we grow old, and wonder, why all this? Will it all be over for me soon. Yes, and torschlusspanik kicks in; that feeling that the doors are closing in on you. And you ask yourself again, what’s it all about?

This is where it all gets contradictory. You see, if evolution were true, we wouldn’t ask these questions. We would just say hatches, matches, and despatches, concluding that we are here to be born, mate, keep the line going and then depart. But no, we want to live forever. No. you don't believe that? Okay, when would you like to die? Tomorrow, next week, next year. No, we want to hold on to life as long as we can.

My sister was out one day and observed an old man crying as he looked at the landscape.

“Are you okay?” my sister asked.

“I see all this beauty and I don’t have much longer to live, but I want to stay.” He answered.

The old man felt like that because we have been programmed from birth to have life indefinite in our heart. Look at Ecclesiastes 3:11,

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart…” (NIV)

So, what about you and me? Is God going to give us that feeling and not open the door for us in some way?

Jesus spoke to a man when they both were dying, the man asked for Jesus to remember him when he got into his Kingdom. Look what Jesus said,

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43 (NIV).

This tells us where we can go, but not why we are here, right? Okay, here is my theory. Could it be that we are born here as a test?  You see there is this story in the Book of Job where Satan said to God that man only serves God for what he can get. Job chapter 1.

Let’s just stop there to take this all in. Satan has claimed that we would serve God for selfish gain only. I think Satan has a point, don’t you? But wait, that may be true of some, but not all. There are many people out there that would give their life to God and Jesus.

But there’s another factor here. 

God permitted Satan to test Job. So, there’s no doubt who’s in power here. Rather, it’s a moral issue. A moral issue that takes humankind’s lifetime to settle.

Let’s illustrate. If I were to say to you “I’m more honest than you. “How do we settle that? It would take our lifetime. And so it goes with God putting us here. We are here to be tested as to whether we are willing to side with God or Satan on this issue regarding man being selfish or selfless towards God. Look,

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16: 9 (NIV).

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.

Proverbs 16:28 BSB

Image courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@bahr_splash

Can I ask you to put yourself in an imaginary scenario? Suppose by some miraculous means someone knocked on your door and offered you £10.000.000 with only one string attached:  as soon as you decide to take it, a poor farmer in Mongolia or somewhere else will drop dead. 

If you refuse to take the money, he lives. What would be your decision? You have his future life and the happiness of his family in your hands. Does a rural farmer you have never met have value in your eyes?

Before you decide, think of the poor farmer whose family depends on him for survival. He has a child who needs medical care but can barely afford it. Added to that, the farmer has cancer and worries every night about what will become of his children when he dies.

So, what would be your decision?

Gossip and slander are like that. We may pass on a bit of gossip for the reward —— the temporary dopamine lift ——, but at what cost? Someone at school, work, family, or congregation ,whom you have grown to dislike or hate for some reason,  is lying awake with hurt.

Do you feel that is worth the cost of the dopamine lift? Think about this, if you gossip, what kind of crowd will gather around you? I guess those who may talk about you. People who gossip cannot be trusted. Therefore, in trying to raise their self-esteem by putting down others, they lose self-worth and dignity.

Besides, and above all reasons, there is our relationship with God to consider. No one would want to be viewed by God as "corrupt" or "perverse",  Proverbs 16:28,

A corrupt person stirs up anxiety and divides close friends.

If we have failed in this, let us resolve to speak positively of fellow humans.

Proverbs 16:28 WEB

Yūgen is often connected with our natural world, a sundown, fog-covered mountains, a moonlit night, or the fleeting bloom of a cherry blossom. These scenes evoke a sense of transient beauty and the vastness of the universe.

Image kindly provided by https://unsplash.com/@martinbennie

I'm a nature lover and I have often visited the Cairngorms. It is a four hour drive from home. Whilst sitting in such places, I often say a silent prayer to the Creator for allowing me to spend my life on this planet. I know there are some out there who would deny the existence of God, and yet, we still enjoy the earths bounty. In truth, we cut down the tree to enjoy its fruit.

Some centuries ago, a certain healer was walking from Samaria to Galilee. Stopping by a village, he met 10 lepers (a death sentence back in the day). The healer instructed them to go on a short journey.

When they carried out the healer’s request, they were cured of their leprosy. One of them returned and prostrated himself before the man with the healing powers and demonstrated appropriate gratitude.

The healer asked, “Were there not ten of you? Then where are the other nine?” Luke 9. Were indeed?

I guess we all have in that part of our memory that we archive as experiences from hell, encounters that we have filed as "ungrateful people."

It may be things we have done for others, and they never returned to thank us. On the other hand, there is the happiness we experienced when someone returned to show their appreciation. Showing gratitude is one of these qualities that's not necessary in life, but doing so, embeds a memory in the recipient's mind that will never be forgotten. It brings and happiness, completeness.

"One wants to be loved, failing that admired, failing that feared, failing that despised and loathed. One wants to inspire some sort of emotion. The soul shudders before oblivion and seeks connection at any price." ----- Hjalmar Söderberg.

Image by https://unsplash.com/@pawel_czerwinski

Three young girls in Costa.

"What’s your favourite movie Fiona?”

“Without a turning of a shadow, Fiona says, “Beauty and the Beast.”

“What’s yours?” Fiona asks.

“The Phantom of the Opera, but it made me cry at the end, I mean really cry.”

The third girl whose name I never got brought a philosophical tone to the table and said, “Yes, everyone wants to be loved.”

This epigraph quote reflects a deep yearning for connection and recognition, even if it comes in the form of negative emotions.  Söderberg was known for his exploration of human nature, often delving into themes of loneliness, love, and the need for acknowledgment.

Paul, in Colossians 3:14  wrote,  ^"Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection."

I've known people who crave love, but never shown it. The most effective way to receive love is to show it.

Writing:  © 2024 Jim McCrory

Verse from The World English Bible

Image courtesy of Josh Fuller at  https://unsplash.com/@joshuafuller

The most enduring thing about being human, is our desire to connect and no more is this self-evident than the message in the bottle.

In 2015, Luke from Germany, threw a bottle with a message into the sea whilst on holiday in the Dominican Republic.

The Aberdeen Press and journal reported that two years later, a man who had just finished his shift on the Island of Barra on Scotland’s west coast discovered the bottle whilst walking along the beach.

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/1306651/message-in-a-bottle-travels-from-the-caribbean-to-barra/

The Irish Times reports one that was discovered by a German women 108 years after it was launched by a biologist in 1906,

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/offbeat/message-in-a-bottle-washed-up-after-108-years-is-world-s-oldest-1.2617371

But please don’t do this at home; the wildlife dearly need our help.

Edward Hirsch in his book How to Read a Poem compares a poem to a message in a bottle. When the poem is written and put out there, a circuitry connection takes place between the poet, the poem and you and the reader. Consider a poem as a personal letter to yourself; a figurative message in a bottle.

How to Read a Poem | Edward Hirsch | Big Think (youtube.com)

I think of William Carlos Williams poem when I consider the following poem,

The Red Wheelbarrow

 so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

I see this poem as one of those captured images that had become eternally locked in his head. There's nothing deep or lost in the poem, he is simply telling us with a poetic language what he saw that day and he desires to tell the world. And you and I open it, like a message in a bottle and connect with someone who lived a half century ago.

I guess this blog is a figurative message in a bottle. I get up early in the day and start my writing process penning some basic thoughts into my e notebook. Thoughts that I plan to develop. You come along from who-knows-where and connects. I would love to know who you are and where you are and why you are here. You are the addressee to this private message  Drop me a line- JimAlba@proton.me

‘I am a child of this age, the child of disbelief and doubt, until now and even to the grave. What a terrible torment this thirst for faith has taught me, and now cost me, which is stronger in my soul, the more in me the arguments to the contrary.’ ----  Dostoevsky 

Image courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@vivom

A profile of Dostoevsky reveals a man who experienced considerable injustices in life.  Diagnosed with Grand Mal Epilepsy as a teenager, a last-minute reprieve from a firing squad, exiled to Siberia, death of his second wife whom he loved, death of his child from an epileptic convulsion and the distress of raising a troubled teenager.

Scholars recognise the Karamazov book mirrors Dostoevsky’s life. That being the case, it was the existential angst that troubled Dostoevsky’s later years. Mourning the repeated inhumanity of Russian society, he inevitably turned to thoughts of Divine justice. A question that is as relevant today as it was two centuries ago.

When he was exiled to Siberia, an old widow supplied him and his fellow prisoners some hospitality. She signalled out Dostoevsky and gifted him with a Bible. He later wrote:

‘I am a child of this age, the child of disbelief and doubt, until now and even to the grave. What a terrible torment this thirst for faith has taught me, and now cost me, which is stronger in my soul, the more in me the arguments to the contrary.’ Letters XXV111/1, P.176, 

The Bible, she gave him, was still in his possession at his death.

Fascinating that The Brothers Karamazov was, despite careful reading, I never found that attributed phrase where Alisha said to his atheist brother, ‘If there is no God, then all things are permissible.’ The problem lies in the translation it seems. Nonetheless, the aphorism stands as a valuable argument for objective morality and the personal God. Why does something exist rather than not exist? Why are humans who are apparent chemicals that have come about in the big cosmic game of chance directed by this virtue called justice? Are all the evil and good deeds carried out by humans all for nothing? Are the acts carried out by Pol Pot, Putin, Stalin, and others, permissible? Will there not be a great judgement? If we are alone in this dark universe, then anything and everything goes. But the lived experience reveals otherwise.

We are governed by an invisible force that bends towards justice. We feel it in our lives daily. I say bends because we are free moral agents on a level playing field where goodness and wickedness meet. There’s too much wickedness for God to exist some might say. But isn’t the reverse also true? There’s considerable goodness. Why would any virtue exist in a universe that just happened? I see medical staff going to war-torn countries and risking life to provide care for those who are not their kin. What about Ignacio Echeverría, the 39-year-old Spanish lawyer who confronted the terrorists in the 2017 London Bridge attacks and sacrificing his athletic future and life in the process? There’s the stranger who sacrifices a kidney for the person he will never meet. The millions of charitable givers who make life more endurable for orphans in Brazil, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and other parts of the world. These acts defy the theory of reciprocity allogrooming. They describe altruism in the true sense. Just pure, unconditional love. And history is filled with such.

Back in 1979, just like Dostoevsky, I had many vexing theological questions I wrestled with. One Sunday morning, a man who looked dressed for a funeral, knocked my door and asked, ‘If you had an audience with God, what would you ask him?’

Between a blink and a wink, I asked, ‘Why so much injustice in the world?’ I was expecting this tall thin man with heavy black glasses to ferret away in view of my difficult question. But no. He read me the following:

‘We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time … For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay…’

Why would God create a beautiful planet then subject it to futility? I have thought of this most of my adult life. Here’s what I think. Are we not free moral agents? Then it’s back to that level playing field scenario. How will humans conduct themselves in the absence of a creator? The presence of injustice is a factor caused by man. This gives the illusion that there’s no God. But are humans not like the child who behaves in the parents’ presence and disobeys in their absence? Is there a place for the child who always conducts himself unselfishly, metaphorically speaking? I say that God has us in this seemingly futile situation to test our worth. Not knowing if he is there for sure, reinforces our true selves. What we value most.

C.S. Lewis wrote, ‘If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world will satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we are made for another world.’

All the books I read as a child was about a craving. The hero’s striving for something. I could not put my finger on it at the time. But it was the human impulse for justice. Something books will never satisfy. I found that hope in the further words the man read to me that day as he stood at my door:

‘He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, the old order of things has passed away.’

 Revelation 21: 4.

I shed many a tear as a child. I shed some now. But to embrace a hope where a universe will prevail and justice being at its centrepiece, I wipe my eyes. The dark and stormy night looks brighter in the end.

A special thanks to Nik for the image https://unsplash.com/@helloimnik

I was singing a song one morning as my wife was getting ready for work. She is from the Philippines. She asked, 'where did you get that song, did you make it up?' 

'It's an old Glasgow street song,' I replied. 

Perhaps you sung it as a child? I would  be interested to know if some of you from various countries sung it. When I did a bit of research on it, it seems it originated from Tonga in the 13th century. I guess Glasgow being a maritime city, it travelled with sailors from the area. We will never find out who the mystery wordsmith was who taught us how to hide from humans, and brought joy to countless millions of kids. Here is the melody at the end, if you wish to karaoke with it.

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me

I think I’ll go eat worms.

Big fat juicy ones

Emsie weensy squeensy ones

See how they wiggle and squirm

Down goes the first one, down goes the second one

Oh, how they wiggle and squirm!

Up comes the first one, up comes the second one

Oh, how they wiggle and squirm!

I bite off the heads, and suck out the juice

And throw the skins away

Nobody knows how fat I grow

On worms three times a day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3MZlRPEMBA&t=1s

"“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”
― C.S. Lewis

Image by https://unsplash.com/@matblueforest

I have an embarrassing  secret. I am happy to tell you what it is so long as you don’t tell anyone. Is that a deal? This is my secret. I love children’s books. At my age I should know better, but it's an addiction . I love them so much that I changed my degree from a Literature Degree to an Open Degree to accommodate EA300 Children’s Literature with The Open University.

Gyo Fujikawa is the most addictive for me. Children in paradise. Waving from tree houses. Gentle fairies and children no bigger than polka-dot toadstools. Captivating. But, there's the loneliness of the child with no one to play with except a frog. That saddens me. I was a lonely child and I empathise. 

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/how-gyo-fujikawa-drew-freedom-in-childrens-books

Then there’s Astrid Lindgren’s The Children of Noisy Village. I’m a Swedophile who can speak a few words of Swedish and I am in awe of the beauty and setting where the tale is filmed. An age of innocence. Swedish village life that will never return, perhaps.

https://tv.apple.com/no/movie/the-children-of-noisy-village/umc.cmc.13bmjs0xgg1sv8sju2tv3za5j

There’s the Portuguese word that best explains my longing to enter a world that these stories encapsulate, Saudade,  a longing or nostalgia for something that cannot be realised.

I guess the reason such stories appeal is the desire to escape mentally from this broken world. C.S. Lewis wrote:

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

Interesting, but what world did C.S Lewis mean? Did he mean the world of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? No, he was a Christian and an academic who wrote children’s books, Christian, apologetic and academic books. The world he was thinking of was the world recorded in Luke 23:43 “Truly I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Writing:  © 2024 Jim McCrory

A special thanks to Benjamin Voros for his image at https://unsplash.com/@vorosbenisop

It was February 2023. I was returning from a wedding in the Philippines on a late evening flight from Manila. After crossing the Bataan region on the western edge of the Philippines, we were flying over the South China Sea and over to Changzhou in China.

I would look down and see little droplets of light like a half-lit Christmas tree throughout this region of China. The day had ended for them. I began to think of Dylan Thomas’ epic poem, "Under Milk Wood", where the narrator imagines what the people in the small Welsh village are dreaming about. I looked down at this Asian nation with similar sentiments. People with rich inner lives filled with experience, disappointments, love and hate, goodness, and selflessness. Was there a father reading a bedtime story to his four-year-old? What stories do children like in China? I recalled reading The Little Seamstress a few years ago. How will these babes grow up, will they learn to love and show gratitude? They have more advantages to do so. Many children’s books today teach empathy and selflessness.

And what about the poor rice farmers. Would they be awake, wondering how they will get through the forthcoming year as anxiety floods in like a Chang Jiang flash storm? And there’s the teenager still playing his video game with the kid in Oklahoma, both struggling with their schoolwork as they live for the moment.

Crossing over the Gobi Desert, the patches of light became sparce. What was going on down there I wondered? Bedouin shepherds awake and guarding their flocks from predators. They would be looking up at us and wonder what it would be like to fly in a plane and imagining who we were, what countries we came from. And musing on how little of this world they will ever see. What else could one think of whilst awake at this deathly hour? I envied them as they staired into their dark skies filled with the universe.

But they were not alone. Here I was, I’ve been to the Philippines, a few European countries, and Boston in USA. Like these Bedouins and people of the Gobi and China, I have seen so little of this planet and a feeling of lost opportunity began to overwhelm me. Now I became discontented at missed opportunity and thinking of young people who take a sabbatical and wander this earth with a backpack and a pair of sturdy walking boots. Bless them.

But there is something refreshing that offers hope of gained opportunities. Jotted around the Bible are verses like Peter’s words in 2 Peter 3:13 where he wrote,

“But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” (WEB).

The scriptures also speak about “The renewal,” “paradise” and “the meek inheriting the earth.”  It becomes apparent that humans who have the right motive will one day inherit a paradise. Then, we can return to our youth, put on those walking boots, throw on the bag pack, and meet the human family.

See Job 14: 14 (NIV).

Luke 23:40 (WEB).

Matthew 5:5 (NIV).

Imagine you had the power and resources to buy an island on say, the South Pacific. On this island, you would build beautiful houses suited for the environment. There would be rivers, streams, Japanese gardens, and a bountiful variety of wildlife to enhance the quality of life.

What could possibly spoil your project? Humans.

Image by https://unsplash.com/@jailam_r

The Why Question

To combat this moral deterioration on your island, you would observe and scrutinise the human family. Looking for those that would appreciate you as a landlord and respect their neighbours by following the rules necessary to keep this island a tropical paradise.

When God put our first humans in the Garden of Eden, he said,

            "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Genesis 1:28 (WEB).

He then said,

"Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die " Genesis 3 (WEB).

God laid a moral requirement upon man, not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Possibly a symbol of loyalty to God’s ways.

One of the greatest gifts we have from the creator is free will. However, it is not absolute. We have the freedom to drive, but we must respect the driving laws less we encroach upon others’ freedom.

And so it goes with life on earth. We can use our free will to do good or do evil. Now if you plan to populate a society with the right kind of people (as God intends), you will observe. And that’s what God is doing.

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” 2 Chronicles 16:19 (WEB).

But what if man was unaware of his being observed by God. Isn’t it true that when there is no police or traffic lights around, people abuse the law. So, could this be the reason why God tolerates suffering; to put humans on a level playing field where they believe we are dancing to our DNA in a dark, aimless universe. That is when we show who we really are.

We read the following account when Jesus was being put to death,

One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!” 

But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

            He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 

Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

 Luke 23: 39-44 (WEB).

Over the centuries, God, and Christ Jesus, are preparing certain humans to inherit paradise. It’s those who have a loyal heart and a will to enhance paradise.

Writing:  © 2024 Jim McCrory

Image  provided by https://unsplash.com/@seteph

You, stranger! Why have you taken up residence in my head? You surface when I walk in the woods, when I hear a song, when I lay in my quiet moments? You entered my life with the briefness of a falling snowflake. Yet, you hide in my vaults. Friendly ghosts from other lives. Our ephemeral moments are as detailed as a 17^th century Baroque painting. I ask, why are you there when all other fleeting occurrences dissolve in the liquid default of memory? Yet, you travel with me, shimmering in my consciousness like the gentle, mesmerising freshness of an energised snow globe. Transcending space and time, you share my passage in life.

1963: The Incongruity of Self-Awareness

I was six years old. You had this routine. Every Sunday at 11am, you would come round the back of my Govan tenement building and stand on a box. Wearing your bowtie and and suit jacket, you were out of place in a working men's environment; you looked like a music hall artist. You took a swig of wine and sang Mario Lanza’s Be My Love, a favourite song of my fathers. And every week, when you finished, my mother would open her purse, throw out some coins, close her purse and say, ‘why doesn’t that darn man not sing something new?’ she would say whilst wiping her eyes with her hanky.