Welcome to my blog...whatever image springs to mind, be it a hippopotamus, Tigger, red-haired Highland cattle, or a simple kitchen table, 'Unless a Seed' is a four-legged creature. My hope is that having read a Book Review, a Poem, or a What is a Christian? or some random post in Everything Else, you will be kind enough to leave a comment or a short reply. And I hope you enjoy reading its contents
What is a Christian?
Book, Podcast, Film, and Blog Reviews
Poetry
For Writers, Writing and Everything Else
Book Review: Fully Alive, Elizabeth Oldfield, Hodder 2025
Fully Alive - only read this if you’re curious about the human condition and spirituality, Christianity and community, and want to be ‘fully alive’.
The Lover of My Soul ii Like Mary
‘Jesus, lover of my soul’ is the title of John Wesley’s 1740 hymn. It sparked controversy then…maybe the same now as you read this poem? But why?
Silence at 7.05
One of those deep silences came and poured itself around me early in the morning, after I’d finished my normal routines, exercise, tea, cereal, read bible/pray…then it came…surprisingly like a gift.
Would you have gone to see Jesus?
The answer to the question posed here is ‘Yes, I think would have. Especially if I knew someone else going or could persuade someone to go!
A Three-Dimensional Church?
The process of maturing physically and/or mentally and emotionally is rarely smooth, a continuously unblemished upward trajectory. Same true for us spiritually?
The Beer Beech Report
Beer beach never fails to produce a pleasurable sense of calm. It’s a special place. It’s good to have a few. They are like old friends. My ‘Report’ will not do it justice. I apologise.
A Haiku Triple Serving
A triple helping to three disconnected Haikus. I suppose they are riddles but then many things are, aren’t they?
Matthew Chapter 11
I read Matthew 11 a few days ago. I felt I should write a few words in response.
A Beer Beach Poem
Enfin! My first visit to Beer Beach in 2026. I think part of my soul has a beach hut here. Cornwall is stunning, the Algarve equally so…but
Upstream – the new ARC heresy
I’m both a fan and, ultimately, a critic of the Canadian intellectual, Jordan Petersen. Heretic?
Two Nine to Ninety Poems: What it is to be nine & Will we make it to ninety?
Don’t ask me how I started thinking of the nine year old boy emptying his pockets or the running down the clock at the end of life…but I did.
Believe it…or not
What we believe to be true controls our experience of the world. If I believe I can’t swim…this will be proved correct. If I later believe I can swim, I’ll swim. What changed?
Kissing the Feet
I’m always moved by Luke’s account of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet. I feel sure that she had met him before the supper and had received His forgiveness…her response was to find him later and wash and anoint his feet. Her tears a sign of the life changing effect of His forgiveness after years of dislocation and carrying the loneliness of guilt.