Yesterday my wife and I attended a funeral in a small community on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. The usual practice there is to conduct family worship and then the minister gives a short address at the local cemetery after the burial. The hearty singing of the praises of God from the Scottish …
Category: Biography
Milestones and summaries
Today I have reached my 67th birthday. It is a palindromic date 22/2/22 or 22/02/2022. This time last year I celebrated my State Pension at 66 years. My older brother never reached 67 years old so, after following behind him all his life, in this one respect I have overtaken him. I wondered how to …
A Royal Platinum Jubilee
Tomorrow will mark the remarkable Platinum Jubilee of the accession of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Peaceful transitions Queen Elizabeth acceded to the British throne on 6th February 1952, 70 years ago, when her father George VI died, the last Emperor of India and thereby the last ruler of the largest …
Another anniversary
Today, if he had lived to see it, my only brother Andrew would have been 70 years old. I cannot let it pass without a few moments of reflection. He died four calendar years ago, aged 66 years old. I have not yet reached the 70-year milestone, being three years younger all his lifetime, upon …
The end of a Royal Chapter
His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, died this morning at Windsor Castle, a few months short of his 100th birthday. As Consort to Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, he was the longest-serving Royal Consort in British history. The Scottish Christian Party "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship" expresses its Christian condolences …
State Pension age
Today I qualify for my State Pension, delayed in recent years from 65 to 66 years old. It was a long time coming. I am sure my mother thought the same when she was finally delivered of her second son at 15 minutes after midnight! Like the Royals, what do you give to people who …
Repurposed medicines
Repurposed medicines are well-known medicines being used for a new purpose. Sometimes a new medication's side effects prove more useful than its original purpose. Amiodarone was originally developed to treat thyroid disease, but its 'side effect' on the heart proved so useful that it is now a heart medicine with side effects on the thyroid! …
2020 and 20/20 Vision
20/20 vision indicates excellent eyesight, so we may hope that 2020 will be a year of Vision for the UK having left the European Union. My first 20 years Roughly, the first 18 years of my life were spent in the UK outside the European Economic Community (EEC) and the remaining 47 years were spent …
John Bunyan and biblical metaphors
I attended a useful lecture last night on The Forgotten John Bunyan, whose Pilgrim's Progress is a Christian classic. The adjective 'Forgotten' in the title referred not so much to Bunyan himself but in part to Bunyan's language, imagination and use of metaphors, which were controversial in 17th-century British Christianity. Pilgrim's Progress is sometimes described …
Reunions and Partings
The One Show on BBC 1 tonight draws attention to reunions and partings. I was watching this programme because the results of the BBC programme 20th-century Icons are announced on it. The finalists were clarified in tonight's programme and I have updated my blogpost. However, the same show had a marvellous story about the reunion …
Donald's Thoughts 