I am my mother’s favourite child. It’s a bold statement but I know with a hundred per cent certainty that it is true. How can I be so sure? Plain and simple: I am her only child. And – to be honest – that fact aside I wouldn’t know it. For most of my life spent in the family home,…
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When children draw a rainbow, it’s usually a part of a feel-good picture, pretty often with the sun being part of it. Several times I’ve seen the sun put centrally under the rainbow’s arc. It shows how deeply positive is the perception of the rainbow in our human culture; how we associate it with hope and happiness. But those children’s…
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On Tuesday 9th February a spacecraft started orbiting the planet Mars. It made headlines because the probe was sent there by the United Arab Emirates, a country we don’t associate with space exploration. Another Mars probe arrived a day later, on 10th February; this one was sent out by China. And tomorrow, on 18th February, an American spacecraft has its…
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He was carefully examined by an officially appointed and approved specialist and the diagnosis was positive. It was devastating news for the man because it meant self-isolation away from his family and friends. He tried to negotiate with the man in charge but deep within he knew it was pointless; the rules were clear-cut and the procedures well established: ‘he…
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Not so long ago I was called to the hospital to administer the sacrament of the sick; or – as some wrongly call it – the last rites. Getting into an ICU ward is challenging in best of times; these days it’s near impossible because of the ongoing pandemic. Having gone through all the necessary hoops I stood by the…