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S T O R I E S ....... of hope and transformation
During Covid lockdown there have appeared on our service web-pages several stories each month read by Paul Heppleston.
This page collects them all together in one place, under various headings. They are all audio files,
to be listened to, not written text. The sources and timings are given together with a one-sentence description of each. Others will be added from time to time.
Some have appeared as read-only files on the Reflections page of this website.
For each one there is a rough time-duration and a one-sentence description of the theme of the story.
They are grouped in themes as far as possible and all are written by PH except where noted.
Current Themes (February 2021) are :
The natural world
Life revelations
Tales of the unexpected
Christmas
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L I F E R E V E A L E D
David and the Desert Fathers (? mins) One man's search for God Covid reflections (3.5 mins)
Wisdom on ‘waiting’ from an Orcadian minister. One man's search for God Living with fear (4.5 mins)
Remembering my need for trustfulness on the Greenland icecap. Pattings (1.5 mins)
How modern devices take us home. But what is ‘home’? Penalty area communion (3.5 mins)
The wonder of communion in a novel setting. Three short poems (2 mins)
Finding God in unexpected places. Eddie Askew (3 mins)
The good things he created came out of struggle. Be prepared to fail. Mark and the dance (3.5 mins)
How a disabled man was encouraged to blossom, rather than being ignored. Jaime’s story (5 mins)
The ups and downs of a Bolivian urchin who was accepted by a church pastor. Mixtures (3.5 mins)
We’re made of a myriad of bits. Including what’s important - and what’s not. Identity (3 mins)
What (and who) makes us who we are. Belonging (3 mins)
Exploring the idea of ‘home’. Origins (? mins)
"Where d'you come from?" Conflict (3.5 mins)
Ideas on how to cope....in many circumstances. Care (3.5 mins) Coping with not feeling loved.
Arnold (4.5 mins)
The story of an iconic New Zealand character who proclaimed the gospel just by being himself. The answer (2.5 mins)
A story including some of John Bell’s words on ‘priorities’. In Absentia (4 mins)
A sense of ‘place...’ 3rd November 2020 (2 mins)
A short reflection on the USA election The Rowan tree (5 mins)
Are mistakes possible? Big Bang No. 2 (2 mins)
The release of heavenly power Where are our deepest desires (? mins)
They're in a secret place and you know it.... T A L E S O F T H E
U N E X P E C T E D Kintsukuroi (3.5 mins) A Japanese story of 'beauty from broken-ness'. The Bank Manager in white (? mins)
Singing? Not quite what you'd expect at all.... On Lambeth Bridge 2019 (6 mins)
Challenged by God - and the Police |
C H R I S T M A S
Four Christmas stories from Orkney Christmas Card Star (14 mins) A story by Harry Berry from Hoy about a Christmas stranger [Three by George Mackay Brown (GMB)]
Miss Tait... (5 mins) GMB The power of Christmas transformation in Rousay The box of fish (6 mins) GMB
Orkney December priorities for four old men and a boy... The Christmas Horse (9 mins) GMB
One peedie boy's Christmas - long ago. The Fourth Wise Man (3 mins)
An imaginary reminiscence from a Welsh writer Christmas Children (2 mins)
Christmas priorities of Children and adults - a true story from near Glasgow. T H E N A T U R A L W O R L D
The ice flower (2.5 mins) The beauty of flowering in the most challenging circumstances. O.O.O. (6 mins)
How a bird taught me about how God knows me intimately. The Oystercatcher & the wind (5 mins)
How the presence of an Oystercatcher told me about the Holy Spirit Grass Moths (4.5 mins)
The significance of the apparently insignificant. Heaven – maybe (7.5 mins)
Inspiration from stars on a dark winter night in the wildness of western Scotland |