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The Ignored Genocide of Christians in Nigeria
Earlier this year… [Boko Haram] released a video of a masked Muslim child holding a pistol behind a bound and kneeling…
The Ignored Genocide of Christians in Nigeria
History
Slave traders
At last an acknowledgement on the BBC that the Atlantic slave trade was not solely the responsibility of Europeans, but that Africans themselves provisioned it, that the slave trade itself was already in existence when we arrived and that it survived until the second world war despite our attempts to suppress it. You may notice however that the article reads more like the speech of Mark Anthony than an apology for any part played in the trade.
Continue readingA matter of wind
In the days of lockdown one of our pastors thought Philippians would be a good place to be. Lockdown proved to be longer than that, so where then do you go? To that great and exciting book of reflections, the book of the wind or breath, no, not the Acts of the Apostles but the preaching of the Preacher, Ecclesiastes. PeteT asked for a profile, but what does a profile matter now? Three years ago it did a little; ten years it was worth something; twenty, thirty years ago surely it was something which we polished up now and again. The Preacher reflected: it was all wind or heavy breathing.
Continue readingBlack but comely
Do those words cause offence? Is it the sort of thing you should shout out in the streets these days? Does it make you think of skin colouring? There are many skin types from black through browns, olives, yellows, reds, pinks, pales to white. If Coco have missed any please tell me [off?]. Please do not think that Coco has forgotten about frogs, fish, flora and feathered friends whose colourings are far more vibrant than our own. Does it make you think of complexion? A dark (to submit to modern perspectives on the matter, but Coco really means black) complexion is much more robust than a pale [white] one and longer lasting. But it is not just skin colouring that is in view here.
Continue readingLockdown
Coco has been clearing out for shredding old files which have lain in loft space for twenty years….not much changes apart from the writing technology. The attached picture is a scan of the opening paragraph of a letter sent to him in the ember months of, Coco thinks, 1987 but it may have been ’86 or ’88.
Continue readingA great and terrible plague
When David counted
Continue readingTheir foot shall slip in due time
August 4th 2019 West Hill
Deuteronomy 32:35 Their foot shall slip in due time (the word order varies in our English translations)
Introduction
About 3500 years ago the descendants of Jacob were delivered out of the house of bondage in Egypt and started their journey to the Promised Land. The passage (Deuteronomy 31:30-32:52) which was read in your hearing this evening, records Moses’s words spoken to the people before he was to die on Mount Nebo and before Joshua was to lead the people across the Jordan and into the land. At that time they had already tasted the goodness of the land, as two and half tribes had already settled on the east bank of the Jordan.
Continue readingFake News
Fake news is nothing if not new
Something you might need to relieve it.
I have not seen it, why would I want to? When a unique opportunity presents itself, we should not play with trifles. The BBC article refers to a film clip which has apparently been doctored, a term which is strangely used, but regardless:
Continue readingThe second thief
Did you see what is going on in China?
Coco thought he would offer two different perspectives on the day which we call Good Friday. Please grant him an indulgence for this first one. The second perspective has been inspired by events at the focus of the Sinospheric regions. He shall come to that shortly.
Continue readingAT
AT: what can one say?
AT and Coco worked together for twenty years or so apart from a brief period when he escaped to a competitor firm, so you might think that I have a few tall tales to tell about him. Well, perhaps sadly I must say no. AT is so well behaved that it would be impossible to find even a single strange hair on his shoulder. That said however, when he was the custodian of some very fine white cats, you did have to be careful if you happened to use his chair in the office.
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