One of the most telling memes on Facebook in the last few months has been a picture of a row of history books or chronicles: 2014, 2015, We Don’t Talk About This One, 2017, 2018…. For many people, 2016 would be a nice year to forget,...
(Happy New Year to all readers!) I know, I know, Christmas is over. But before stashing away the decorations, I thought I would just contribute a few thoughts on the great church debate of the festive season, which of course centres round the fourth verse of...
I would like to write a few words about Nahum Tate (1652-1715). The Wikipedia article on him provides some fascinating facts. However, according to this, he is best known for his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear. This raises an interesting point about the meaning of fame. Adapting...
As we wander round the shopping centres or do the washing-up, favourite Christmas songs and carols come at our ears from all directions. And every family has its Christmas film and TV traditions. What about books? I am not here talking about Advent reflections, which I...
In November 2015 I established this website, and on 19th November I posted the first entry in this blog (https://www.penelopewallace.com/introduction/ ). In it I listed the purposes of the blog as follows: Publicising my work. If you have already viewed the rest of the site (if...
In a previous blog post/rant about the busyness of Christmas (https://www.penelopewallace.com/christmas-busy-ness/), I said this: “Most bought Advent calendars are a consumerist tacky nightmare, but that is a completely different rant.” Today I’ve decided to write that rant. This may offend… What is an Advent calendar? Basically, it’s surely...
Well, so here we are again. With regard to recent news, I don't think I've got much to add to what I said on this blog when the UK voted to leave the EU. It's here if you want to reread: https://www.penelopewallace.com/here-we-go/ - and it still...
I was reading the 5th chapter of the First Letter to the Thessalonians recently, in my trusty RSV version, and I came across the following injunctions: “So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those...
My Facebook friend, Amy Boucher-Pye of the Woman Alive Book Club on FB, has written a book (recommended) called “Finding Myself in Britain”. It’s a light-hearted Christian memoir about being an American living in Britain as the wife of a vicar, the resultant culture clashes,...
Today is 21st October, CE, or for the more old-fashioned, Anno Domini. Our years are counted from someone long ago’s approximation of the date Jesus Christ was born. (Tom Holland’s interesting novel “Olympiad” traces modern dating back via the birth of Jesus and the founding of Rome...