Wednesday 6 January 2010

New blog

I've stopped using this blog now and have started another. It's called PeterJMcC@large.
Hope to see you there.

Monday 27 April 2009

Two year on

It was two years ago today that I started this blog, and today I have started another one.

I have decided to change this into Pilgrim News.

I'll keep this one online so it can be a permanent online reminder of two years of agony and ecstasy, mainly the former.

Join me on my pilgrimage.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

weary

One of the main problems with depression is tiredness. My energy levels are pretty low and I often feel tired and don't feel like doing anything. Yesterday one of my successes was getting out of bed. I managed to do that at 10.00 a.m. after a lot of self-persuasion.

Today my legs are so weary that I wonder how I can face pedalling to Bentham and then to Ingleton. But the sun in the sky, the blue bits surrounding it, and the whispiness of the clouds tell me that I will enjoy it really.

Tuesday 31 March 2009

Positive punctuation and Negative news

I couldn't decide whether this should be a positive blog or a negative one. So you get both.

The positive is provided by Lynn Truss through her book "Eats, shoots and leaves" which I am reading at the moment.

This should be a boring book because it's about English grammar and punctuation. But in fact it's a very funny book because of her writing style and her quirky use of examples. This was why it was a best-seller a few years ago and gave her the fame and fortune she so richly deserved. A cliche anyone?

The negative comes from Sky News. They promise me "Fifteen minutes of news every fifteen minutes." So I sat down at 9.45 p.m. last night prepared to be told the latest current events and rose at 10.00 p.m. in a rage. Why? Because they showed endless pictures of Prime Minister Gordon Brown meeting and greeting people whom I took to be heads of state and talked over them about the Home Secretary fiddling her expenses.

I was incensed. The business about the expenses will be forgotten next week while the talks the PM has with these people will have an affect for a long time to come. AND THEY NEVER TOLD US WHO THEY WERE. How frustrating and maddening!


Monday 30 March 2009

Getting out and doing it

Living in the countryside is a wonderful thing. Yesterday was a fabulously clear day with bright sunshine. The Dales and the Lakeland hills looked gorgeous.

Matthew and Audrey wended their way up Wernside in the afternoon while I snoozed on the sofa and then prepared my thoughts for preaching at Newby.

As it was Passion Sunday I got them thinking about the Passion of Christ. We sang five hymns and thought about the way Jesus was flogged, crowned with thorns and mocked. It was pretty tough but it was worth it.

I didn't feel like going but I was glad I did.

Saturday 28 March 2009

Well, hello....again

I'm sorry I haven't been around here for a while. It's just that the horrendous weekend really got me down and I could not bring myself to write a bright, breezy blog. And I did not think you wanted to read a right down miserable one. But I am on my way up again now, so here I am.

These last few blogless days have taught me something, . One is that people appreciate it when I do appear here. The other is that I don't seem to be able to use my skills in wordsmithing unless I am feeling well enough mentally.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Horrendous weekend

This has been the most horrendous weekend for our family. On Thursday Nathan got sent home from his Apprenticeship.

On Saturday he went to visit his girlfriend in Hull. I had arranged the train trip for him but he missed his connection in Leeds and I had to sort out his catching a bus instead.

Eventually we ourselves set off for Liverpool and an Open Doors meeting launching the Walk with Them campaign. We then went to see my Aunty Mary in her residential home.

After that we saw the Anthony Gormley statues of himself totally naked on a windy beach in Crosby. This was followed by a visit to Tescos in Southport for hamster food and bedding, a pub meal somewhere in West Lancashire and a trip through the city centre of Preston.

On Sunday things didn't improve. Nathan had another bad journey home and got stranded in Leeds. I was due to sing with the Shepherds Choir in Burton-in-Lonsdale but had to hare off to Leeds Station with Audrey to rescue Nathan.

He hadn't enjoyed his visit, and the relationship ended yesterday. So things are falling apart. What a mess.

We are clinging to the promise in Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose." We are clinging to it like wreckage in a storm.