MY mum is really pleased with herself because she's taken the dog for a long walk today without any problem. She's only been able to do short walks for the last wee while. She says she's getting old.

THE CHURCH is on its way out. After 2000 years it's past its sell-by date and about to be given the last rites – at least that's what the pundits would have you believe.

I'VE had an attempt at trying to tidy out the study in the house. Five completely full bin bags later and the relocation of enough bits and pieces to fill at least another two, and you can just about see the study carpet!

THE OTHER half (some would say the better half) has been in Arkansas in the USA this week. He tells me he's at a conference for hospital chaplains but he seems to be doing a fair bit of sightseeing while he's there. Not that I'm jealous of course. Not much!

WE live in a world that never stops moving. I know this planet of ours spins on its axis on average once every 24 hours (to be exact it rotates once every 24 hours plus 0.0016 seconds) but that wasn't really what I had in mind when I was thinking about our world on the move.

WHY do they call it good? Good Friday, I mean. It's anything but good for Jesus and his disciples.

PRAYER is a bit of a problem. I don't mean whether it's answered or not (although perhaps that could be the subject of some future Food for Thought): prayer is a problem when it comes to knowing what we should and shouldn't be asking God for his help for.

I'M not an overly grumpy person (good job my children are not reading this first sentence) but there are certain things that do ruffle my feathers and cause the blood pressure to rise.

AT the youth group last night we watched Ratatouille – a great film in terms of entertainment value but great, too, as a way of getting young people to think about things like loyalty and friendship and not pre-judging other people.

TEN years is not a long time in the grand scheme of things. In fact, it's just a drop in the ocean when you think of the billions of years the earth has been in existence.

I BOUGHT a pack of filter coffee. Nothing too exciting about that. What attracted me was the name. "Rich Italian" it said on the label – but there wasn't one inside!

EARLIER this week we were given the welcome news that for the first time in over a thousand years the number of people moving into the Highlands exceeds the number of those moving out.

AT YOUTH group this week, I gave the youngsters piles of newspapers (Northern Times included of course!) and asked them to cut out words that they thought others might use to describe them.

THE same... but different. I'm a twin. I have a twin sister and even although we look nothing like each other, when we were growing up we were dressed the same, which managed to cause a certain amount of confusion – especially among our teachers at school.

HANDS up if you're perfectly happy with the way you are. I don't sense a great flutter of copies of the Northern Times falling to the floors of the houses of the people of Sutherland as all hands go into the air!

I USED to visit a lady who, at the time, was in her 90s and every day she’d watch the six o’clock news on BBC1 whilst riding her exercise bike.

THEY SAY that confession is good for the soul – so let me begin this New Year with a confession.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28; NIV)

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2; NIV)

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. (Isaiah 26:3; KJV)

THE shops were crowded. The woman had been shopping for Christmas presents.

ONE freezing winter's night, a farmer heard a ragged bump-bump-bumping against the glass of his kitchen door. He went to see what was causing it. A flock of frightened, shivering sparrows had been attracted by the light and warmth and were trying to get inside.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise. (Proverbs 12:15; NKJV)

Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly. (Proverbs 17:12; NIV)

IN THE operating theatre of a large well-known hospital, it was the nurse's first day on the surgical team.

When you say yes, mean yes; when you say no, mean no. (Jesus of Nazareth)

In this world you will have trouble. But don't be afraid – I have overcome the world. (Jesus of Nazareth)

THIS is a true story. It happened to a mate of mine (I'll call him Jim) and it could have scarred him for life.

IT'S AN odd thing about life, how we so easily allow things to get out of proportion.

The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17; NIV)

Be still, and know that I am God (Psalm 46)

THE writer John Ortberg speaks about DTR (define-the-relationship) conversations – conversations that define and crystallise relationships between individuals, often changing those relationships in a radical and revolutionary way.

THREE guys were playing golf. The conversation turned to work.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (Colossians 3:12,13; NLT)

Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter? (Woody Allen)

IN 1942 Ernest Gordon was a captain in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. After the fall of Singapore he was captured by the Japanese and sent to work on the infamous Burma Railway. He was one of the POWs who built the real bridge over the River Kwai.

I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. (Mark 10:15; NIV)

God made the wild animals according to their kinds. ... Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. ... And there was evening and there was morning – the sixth day. (Genesis 1:25,26,31; NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9; NIV)

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36; NIV)

He cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out. (John 11:43,44; NKJV)

"A community is never there just for itself or for its own glory. It comes from and belongs to something much greater and deeper: the heart of God to bring humanity to fulfilment. A community is never an end in itself; it is a sign calling further and deeper, calling people to love." (Jean Vanier)

He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray. (Proverbs 10:17; NKJV)

WE’RE just home from holiday. Two weeks in a cottage above Brora, reading, visiting old friends, chilling out and walking Lucy the dog along the beaches and through the woods. A quiet time for recreation and reflection.

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

I'M SURE you've all heard of the Lusitania. She was the 36,000-ton passenger liner torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20 off the Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland on 7th May, 1915. A total of 1201 people lost their lives in the disaster, including 785 passengers. Among them were 94 children, 39 of them infants.

Whoever has the Son, has life; whoever rejects the Son, rejects life. (1 John 5:12; The Message)

IN 1999, the American golfer Payne Stewart died when his LearJet crashed.

"The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms..." (Deuteronomy 33:27; NKJV)

Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently He spoke to us directly through His Son (Hebrews 1:1,2; The Message)

A MAN went to the slave market to buy a slave. He chose his slave, paid his money, and took his purchase home with him.

TECHNOLOGY'S humiliating. Even low technology. I had a call to make in the high-rise block behind the church where I'm standing in as caretaker (so to speak) until the congregation gets a new minister.

A UNIVERSITY professor once asked each of his students to write out his or her personal list of the seven greatest wonders in the present-day world.

Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. (Proverbs 10:4; NIV)

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3,4; NKJV)

The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. (Psalm 18:4,5; NKJV)

In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.

God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. (1 Corinthians 1:17; NKJV)

“TWO THINGS I know: I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great Saviour.”

“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18; NKJV)

YOUR attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8; NLT)

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8; NKJV)

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! (Psalm 46:10; NKJV)

God saved you by his special favour when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-10; NKJV)

This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12; NKJV)

A MAN went to his doctor. After examining him, the doctor told him, “I’m terribly sorry; you only have three weeks to live.”

I WAS visiting a couple in the congregation last week. “I’m so happy,” she said. “After thirty years I’ve finally cured my husband of biting his nails.”

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. (Psalm 46:10)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made...

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2; NKJV)

THIS ISN’T a nice story. People of a nervous disposition might like to look away for the next few minutes.

OVER the past few days I’ve received a number of communications from church headquarters.

“The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself….” (James 3:5,6; NLT)

Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for all his wonderful deeds to them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:8,9; NLB)

You shall give Abubu eight portions of… SOMEONE wrote these words on the wall of an Egyptian turquoise mine deep in the Sinai desert 4500 years ago.

SOMETIMES you come across a story that you just have to share with other people.

LAST WEEK we met Jacob, the J. R. Ewing of the Bible. We heard how he lied to his father and stole his brother's inheritance. And now he was on the run.

The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilful hunter - while Jacob was a quiet man, living among the tents. (Genesis 25:27; NIV)

What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

THERE are houses going up across the burn. The lorries go in and out regularly, delivering prefabricated components such as windows, door frames and roof trusses.

ON CONGRESS Street, Boston, Massachusetts, you will find the New England Holocaust Memorial, six 54-feet glass towers each about 15 feet square, etched with the numbers that were tattooed on the arms of the six million Jews (and others) who died in the Nazi death camps during the Second World War.

A PLEASANT and insightful book of Christian counsel is C S Lewis’s Letters to an American Lady.

Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

I DON’T normally go shopping in my working clothes; going round Morrison’s frozen food section wearing a clerical collar tends to attract odd looks. And occasionally, as on Tuesday, some folks get the wrong idea.

WE HAD a break in our electrical supply this morning, just enough to set off the burglar alarm in the contractors' premises across the road.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you … (Isaiah 43:5; NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (1 Corinthians 1:3,4; NIV)

"Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him half enough?" (Psalm 106:2; NLT)

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord….” (Romans 6:23; NKJV)

And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone... (Genesis 2:17; NKJV)

I DON’T know about you, but I’m easily irritated by certain TV advertisements and advertising slogans.

I will not leave you nor forsake you. (Joshua 1:5; NKJV)

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another - even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Colossians 3:12,13)

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (Galatians 6:7)

IN AUTUMN 2003 the Reverend Joe Wright was asked to open the Kansas State Senate with prayer. It's usual on such an occasion to "pray safe", avoid controversy, and not rattle anyone's cage. The Reverend Joe, however, was of another mind. This is his prayer: