Rev. Joe's Irregular Blog Stuff
5th August 2026
Where is heaven? Stuff
In 1950s Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, a 10 year girl (who lived with her two aunts) caught double pneumonia. Her condition deteriorated and one night at crisis point she looked up to see an old woman sitting in the chair next to her bed. The old woman looked the girl straight in the eyes and smiled. She was dressed in black and leant over the little girl, stroking her forehead with a rough and papery hand. The fingers were twisted but her touch was cool and gentle. On the middle of her hand was a wedding ring.
Years later, the girl – now married – was visited by one of the aunties, who gave her a package with her a wedding ring in it. She instantly recognised the ring as the one on the old woman’s finger and told her aunt the story about the visitor on the night she had been so ill with pneumonia. There were no visitors on that or any other night, her aunt told her. It was your grandmother, who died when you were very young. Her aunt did not seem at all surprised about the other-worldly guest. Instead she said, “I felt her there, many a night”.
You’ll find that story in Christina Hall’s autobiography about growing up in the Outer Hebrides, ‘To The Edge of the Sea’. Delusional memories of a very ill person or real other-worldly visitor? Ghost or soul? Where is heaven? Above, below, or with us here? A quantum realm? Is it a mystery that we do not need to understand, just have faith that it is there, somewhere?
There is a parable about the Weeds and the Wheat in Matthew 13:24-43. It suggests that at the end of time the Son of Man (Jesus) will send his angels to remove the weeds (the causes of sin and all those who do evil) and what is left will be the righteous, who will, “Shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom”. That suggests to me that heaven may be right here with us, which makes the visit of the grandmother in black not so surprising.
Peace and prayers, Joe
JOKE OF THE DAY
An atheist is fishing in a boat on Loch Ness...
When all of a sudden, the Loch Ness Monster comes up and begins thrashing his boat around. The monster tosses him into the air. On his way down he shouts "God, help me!"
Everything stops. He is mere feet from the monster's mouth. Then a loud booming voice comes from the heavens and asks:
"You have not followed me for your entire life and have discouraged those who did. Why should I help you now?"
The atheist thinks for a moment before saying:
"Look, five minutes ago, I didn't believe in the Loch Ness Monster either.”
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23rd July 2026
Encouraging (Hopefully) Stuff
Hello,Do you ever feel discouraged by your efforts in life? Ever feel out of control? Ever feel that you haven’t achieved what you wanted to achieve? Perhaps you feel that you don’t have the skills, or the energy, to be the best that you could be for yourself and others? Maybe you feel that a lot of it has been a waste of time.
I came across this prayer somewhere I can’t remember and found it again when I went to put my jeans in the wash. I’m guessing it was at a church in Cumbria or Suffolk, as that’s where I’ve been this year. After finding it in my jeans I moved the prayer to my shorts and have finally got around to rescuing it before they go in the wash as well. Time to share before it goes missing again!
The prayer was written in 1979 by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw (Michigan) and used by Pope Francis for his 2015 Christmas address. It is called the Romero Prayer, but as far as I know it was never spoken by him. However, the author included it in a book to reflect on Archbishop Romero’s assassination in 1980.
The prayer is obviously couched in religious terms but could just as easily be applied to any relationship, any work situation, bringing up a family. It also applies equally to priests and lay people, all of whom are ‘ministers’ in some way or another in their churches, in name or action, recognised or largely unseen.
I hope that the prayer is encouraging and helps to put ministry and life into some kind of perspective.
The Romero Prayer
It helps, now and then,
to step back and take the long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts;
it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime
only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise
that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water the seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that.
This enables us to do something
and to do it well.
It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace
to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between
the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders;
ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
There was a boy that had a question about God. He goes to his local priest to see if he has an answer. The boy presents the question and the priest is completely at a loss of words. The question is so challenging that he could not give an answer. Unwilling to let the boy go unsatisfied without an answer, the priest takes the boy to a local bishop that knows even more about religion than the priest
The boy approaches the bishop and asks him the same question. Again, the bishop has no answer that will satisfy any of the parties. Seeing that the boy is getting discouraged that no one can answer the question the bishop sends the boy directly to the Vatican to talk to the pope.
This pope was very popular among the people. And he knew everything. He was so smart they called him Pope The Wise. The boy walks up to the pope and asks him the question. The pope begins to answer but then gets choked up and realized that not even he has the answer for the question.
As all hope was just about to be lost, an old nun walks into the room. The nun asks the boy to ask her this famous question and the boy does. The nun formulates the most perfect answer to the boys question. Almost everyone rejoices and all is good.
Except the pope looks a little upset. He exclaims“This is impossible! Explain to me how a simple nun could be smarter than me! Pope The Wise!”
But she was Nun The Wiser