Preaching with a purpose

In the Old Testament times the heathen worshipped idols and often the Jews were led astray into doing this too.  In New Testament times the Ephesians worshipped Diana. The human heart wants something they can see to run after.  In the West where there has been much Evangelicalism, still the old tendency comes through.  The preacher who should be pointing to the Unseen God gets in the way and becomes the focus of the people's attention.  They can be treated in much the same way as the Pop Idol. Man's heart is made to worship and if it refuses to worship the King of kings it will become the slave of someone with feet of clay. Whether that adoration is of a footballer, a musician or a princess, it is misplaced and will lead to disappointment. By all means appreciate the interesting people around you but don't let that appreciation grow into worship.  Worship is for God alone.

Always refer to the Bible when you want to test the truth about something.  Never follow after men, or women, hanging on their every word. Don't listen to me unless you can back up what I say from your reading of the Bible.  If you are following Jesus and trusting in Him alone He has promised to send you His Spirit to show you what the Bible means.  People can muddy the issue and lead you astray, but if you read the Bible and pray for the Spirit's guidance you are in the best hands of all.  When we sincerely desire to know God's will He will guide us. However it may not be an easy path you have started on, but it will be the best.

How wonderful to be freed from the obligation to do what we cannot fulfill.  To have that burden rolled away when we put our trust fully in the wonderful Lord Jesus who does fulfill what God requires and says to us,"Come unto me and I will give you rest." He clothes us with His robe of righteousness and cleanses us from the filthy rags we used to trust in.  As we keep our eyes on Him alone He leads us in the way everlasting.

No amount of going to church, reading your Bible, doing good turns for your neighbour will ever get you into heaven.  We can't even live up to our own standards let alone God's. If you are going to get to heaven by earning your way, God says His standards are perfect and you have to be perfect.  Not your standards apply, but His.  So you say, "But that is terrible. How can anyone get into heaven?" "There is a way for man to rise to that sublime abode, an offering and a sacrifice, a Holy Spirit's energies, an advocate with God." As the hymn puts it and that advocate or go between is Jesus.  His death on the cross enables us to be accepted by God if we put our trust in Jesus.  That means that instead of proudly thinking we can be accepted on our own (stinking ) merits we realize that only Jesus in His perfection can save us from eternal loss. As it says in Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing , and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and...

Since the advent of the silver screen and television we have been inundated by a way of looking at love. It is portrayed as a must have terrific feeling, a total absorption in the other person, an expectation that this will be returned. It is in fact about worshipping another human being. In today's era it is also a sensation that we are told we can look for again with another partner if the feelings fade. Indeed these feelings are strong and compelling.  But there is something fundamentally wrong here.  In all this, worship is taking place and it is directed at the wrong person.  In the Bible we read that God requires us to worship Him only. That is what we were made for. When we worship God and of course, Jesus is God, we worship someone who is perfect and will always love us and never let us done. Human beings always let us done at some level.  If you have two human beings who love God, together they can lead a life where they are depending on God and not each oth...

When we say those words, a part of what is called the Lord's prayer, we don't always realize how important they are and what power they have to free us from anxiety.  God 's will is inevitably unfolding in front of our very eyes.  He is in control and all things will be for His glory.  Once we acknowledge that God is all powerful we realize we have nothing to fear. if we are His children.  God is at work in our lives and we just need to say,"You know what is  best for me Lord, even when the difficult days come.  You know best." As we go through those difficult days we grow stronger in trusting Him. When we trust Him He can use us to do His will.  When we trust Him fully, we will go to the ends of the Earth for Him, if He wills. Or we will stay at home if He wills.

When I originally named my blog "Preaching with a Purpose" I did intend that I would be speaking about my beliefs that are dear to me.  Sometimes however I write about "ordinary" things and recently I have written about my holiday in Russia, which I actually find quite extraordinary.  The ordinary things are all a part of our lives and all planned by God, so the ordinary things matter too.  I feel that in a special way God planned my visit to Russia and He has given me a real love of the Russian people and I very much hope He plans for me to go there again. It was extraordinary how God took me on a journey from reading a free kindle book about Katherine II of Russia and then a book about Peter I and then to a desire to learn the Russian language.  I then felt a desire to go to Russia even though I was 69 (at the time) and had never been abroad!! I got over financial hurdles and then found a friend who would like to go with me.  The next hurdle was getting a pass...

When the Samaritan woman spoke to Jesus of her people worshipping God by a mountain and the Jews worshipping God in the temple in Jerusalem,  He didn't say, "Oh yes we Jews have got it right, you should worship in Jerusalem."  No He told her that the Father wanted people to worship Him in spirit and in truth.  Most of the people who built great cathedrals were not worshipping in spirit and in truth.  They were glorifying themselves.  They didn't even have the decency to help with the manual labour, but watched as others not only risked life and limb, but also gave life and limb in the construction of these spiritual monstrosities.  The cathedrals may look beautiful to some but spiritually they have no worth at all. Jesus said that the temple in Jerusalem which was renowned for its beauty, was soon to be destroyed and He didn't say, "What a shame."  No, Jesus is interested in our worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.  Mostly that means what we ar...

In our little villages in Devon at some time or another in the Summer months there will be village fetes usually used to raise money for the church of England churches. All large denominations have a big financial problem, a building to maintain.  The Church of England has an added problem in that its buildings are ancient and particularly costly to maintain.  I'm sure our Lord never intended for His children to be burdened with this problem.  When He said,"Go you into all the world and preach the gospel." He didn't say, "And build huge buildings to lumber future generations with onerous problems."  No we did that all by ourselves.  People purporting to bring glory to God by building ornate buildings were really wanting the glory for themselves.  They were thinking,"Look what I have done, what a good chap I am." I attend a small Baptist church most Sunday mornings and they do have a building, but in the evening I meet with a few friends in the hous...

So much so-called Christianity is like any other religion, just a matter of following various rituals.  Your whole life can be taken up by this and you may have a sense of fulfillment in doing it, but I assure you it is a false sense.  What fulfillment is there is being in chains when there is another master who can set you free. Jesus didn't die for His people only to have them chained up in doing stuff that brings no benefit.  Read the book to the Galatians and you will find right back then people were being pushed in the direction of doing things to make them more acceptable.  The Jewish Christians wanted the gentile christians in the province of Galatia to take on the Jewish law by being circumcised. Paul wrote specifically to say that this was totally wrong.  He said that if the Galatians did this they would be required to keep the whole law of the old covenant and then Christ would be of no use to them.  Just take that in.  If we try  in any...

All the major religions of the world are about doing stuff to get into a god's favour.  Unfortunately this includes the Christian religion as it is portrayed by the majority of the churches that go by that name.  But true Christianity is about realizing you can't get into God's good books by what you do.  This is because to please God you have to be totally perfect.  Can you manage that? I certainly can't.  It isn't good enough to be a nice guy who does kind thing, when your thought life leaves a lot to be desired. We can fool our neighbours that we are good people but it won't wash with our Holy God.  Our standards are nothing like as exacting as His.  However He is such a wonderful caring God that He has made a way for us to be made perfect and acceptable to Him.  That is through the death of Jesus on the cross.  Jesus did live the perfect life that we cannot manage and He will give that perfection to anyone who will put their trust in Him....

I was brought up to go to church twice on a Sunday with Sunday School in between.  Today I went to church in the morning and the evening, but I believe there is far more to being a christian than this.  It is possible to just go through the motions and do what we did as children, after all who knows that we have just put an attentive look on our faces, while we spend the sermon thinking about lunch and the coming week! No there is much more to being a true believer.  It is about completely trusting Jesus to make us fit to meet his Father and our realization that He has made this possible by His death on the cross.  Because of this we love Him because He first loved us and every moment of our lives is lived in the light of what He has done for us.  That is what makes us tick and makes us who we are now, with all the old sinfulness washed completely away.  This is for those who will believe. Then the church going is about meeting with other believers and shar...

When I was a girl we didn't have computers and those that did (scientists) had huge rooms to keep them in, they were so big. In our house we didn't have a phone or a television.  In fact to start with we had no electric and had to use a Tilly lamp and candles.  We didn't have a car, but when I was a teenager my Dad bought a BSA Bantam two-stroke motor bike.  We had a radio and that was a delight starting with Listen with Mother, when I was little and all kinds of classical music and radio plays as I was growing up. We had a harmonium from U.S.A. and I learnt to play it.  No lessons at first.  We simply went to town and bought a beginner's book from the music shop and I taught myself.  I didn't understand much about time so played the upper notes with the lower notes that were beneath them and with dotted notes held on and popped the quaver into the space above.  There was plenty of time to practice with so few books in the house and no X boxes or Play ...

When I was a girl there were comedians who had sticking out teeth and that was part of their attraction.  They took what they had been given and made it an asset.  There was a Welshman called Griffiths I think, a character actor, he had protruding teeth.  There was Ken Dodd complete with teeth and sticking up hair.  Now all the children are whisked off to the orthodontist and made to look ordinary.  Everybody has to conform to someone else's idea of normality.  So now we have designer children.  I saw a little girl of about five yesterday and thought what lovely gentle red hair she had and then I realized she had highlights!!  Fancy paying out good money to treat a child like a model.  Also is there not a message there telling the child that she needs changing to be good enough. Someone pulling the strings of society wants us to conform.

When I was a girl nobody was on the autistic spectrum, nobody had hyper-activity, nobody had Aspergers or OCD.  We just had normal little boys who were sometimes full of energy and liveliness who didn't like being cooped up in a classroom.  Who didn't want to read and write and do math, but wanted to grow up quickly and work on the farm with their Dad. Now there is this utter nonsense of labelling children for life with something which is actually quite normal and it doesn't do them any good.  Give a child a label and they will conform to it and this just intensifies any underlying problem which may or may not be there. In my day they didn't do that, but they did label people as failures and sent them to Secondary schools.  I went to one for two years but then passed the 13+ exam and escaped to the Grammar School.  When we were 50 the adults who had been to the Secondary School met up for a reunion and I was struck by how many of them were very bitter about the ...

I've spent all evening trying to get to my stats and at last I've cracked it.  I'm sure there is a conspiracy out there to stop us oldies coping with the internet.  They will keep improving things which were perfectly alright in the first place.  When I say "I've cracked it," I mean I have fumbled my way into the system, but I'm not sure I will be able to do it again tomorrow. However, don't think you've seen the back of me as I have already found the way to make a post.  I suppose it is silly really that I find looking at my stats so necessary, but I don't want to be writing to a totally disinterested world.  It is bad enough that you are all so silent and no one makes a comment.  One friend explained that the process of making a comment entails giving all sorts of details about yourself, so I don't blame you.

I told you how I had been unable to access my English teaching course.  All seems to be well today and I  have read a few more modules.  Over the weekend I managed to get a bit of work done by swapping to other browsers I have on my PC. At one point I had to resort to my phone.  Then the pop up videos sort of worked.  They switched off every few seconds and I had to turn them on again. I hope this doesn't happen too often. I'm looking to find a pupil or two soon; after all as an experienced violin and piano teacher I don't think my teaching skills can be questioned. So I am ready to get going.

When we were moored in St Petersburg we were , of course, on the Neva.  This the the river where they finally managed to drown Rasputin.  I have downloaded a recent book about Rasputin, written since the end of communism by a man who then gained access to papers not seen before. I wonder if Rasputin was all bad.  When someone's character is ripped to sheds I wonder why.I shall enjoy reading that book but at the moment I am knee deep in Dostoevsky, who also writes about St Petersburg.  Somehow I seem to be reading Crime and punishment in English whilst having a recording of it in Russian which I listen to on my phone; also I am reading Poor Folk and The Idiot.  Poor Folk is short and based in St Petersburg and I want to see if it talks about the White Nights at all. All these books are full of strong emotions and angst, I think it's a Russian thing. I guess there must be a lot of depression in St Petersburg during the winter with limited light.  The summer n...

There it was a different life, fed on interesting nutritious food, with no dishes to wash or cooking to do.  We were transported to see the splendour of the Hermitage, to really walk where the Tzars had walked and see what they saw and the beautiful rooms they had planned and had constructed.  If you had a little touch of megalomania you might think it had been made just for you to enjoy and walk through that day.  The decor was splendid and included lots of gold.  There was a ceiling whose pattern was mirrored in the parquet floor, the same design on both.  We saw a clock with a peacock, we were told would lift its tail while a cock crowed on the hour.  We didn't get close to that as megalomaniacs  from another country seemed to think they could monopolize the floor nearest the birds.  We British are so used to queuing that we don't understand that this a completely alien concept to other people. There were beautiful paintings to miss, but I man...

You will see from my previous post that I love my home.  That means I am contented with it.  In the Bible it says that godliness with contentment is great gain.  Being godly is not about being as good as God but about trusting in Him for everything, knowing that His will is the best for us and being content with that.  It means I never have to envy those who have pots of money and fast cars.  It means I never have to envy the brilliant concert violinist.  God has placed me here in the life I have and I am content with it, especially as He has recently given me the treat of going to Russia.

I really very much enjoyed being in Russia and I want to go again, but there really is no place like home.  Silver birch trees are beautiful but I missed the variety of oak, ash and beech etc.  The part of Russia we visited seemed to be very flat, but in Devon, where I live we have lots of little hills all around us.  They are not mountains but we do enjoy climbing up them sometimes. It is a tribute to Russia that I was not longing to go home, but pleased when we were on our way to the airport. Once in Britain we had a people carrier to take us home, with a very nice considerate driver.  It was good to see as the miles passed that we were in familiar territory. What bliss to get into one's own bed and relax.  It took several days to come down to earth.

The boat we were on, on our cruise through the waterways of Russia belonged to Mosturflot. I' ll put a link to them in case you are interested in a holiday with them.  We had one of the cheapest cabins but it was adequate for our needs and roomier than many shared rooms in caravans in Britain.  Basically it was a place to sleep, wash and get dressed and somewhere to leave things not wanted for the day. I would rather spend my money out in the country than have a palatial cabin and have less money to spend. I spent my money on a pretty hand painted pendant at Mandrogi, a fur hat and scarf near Uglich, a matrouska doll and an amber bracelet.  I wanted a few things to remember the trip by. Mosturflot http://mosturflot.com/

We went to Russia with Swiss Air.  This meant the journey was not direct to St Petersburg, instead we went to Zurich first.  This was all made up for by the good treatment we were given. On the first plane we were served a light breakfast.  A slightly more substantial meal was served on the second flight.  At the end of the journey we were given Swiss chocolate.  I was delighted to see that the air hostesses wore flat shoes.  Well done Swiss Air for caring about the long term welfare of your staff.  I think it should be law that all airlines at least allow women to choose their footwear. The taking off and landing was very smooth.  I am not an experienced traveller and was a little perturbed when the wing, right beside our window, started to split apart.  I reassured my friend that this was just to slow the plane down, though I was not entirely convinced!! The other silly thing I found myself doing was leaning out into the gangway to see if I...

Our permanent guide was Nicolai.  He was twenty five and came from the Caucasus (as did one of the receptionists) Nicolai had a Gengis Khan hairdo; his hair was short around the back and sides but long on the top and he wore in it a topknot.  He was quite shy with us and often his voice was not loud enough.  I noticed that when he was talking to his compatriots he was quite assertive.  He could have done to be a little assertive with the "guests." After all if someone sounds as if they know what they are doing it makes the "guests" feel safer. He had beautiful blue eyes and was young enough to be my grandson.    I can't remember the name of the guide who took us on the evening boat ride along the waterways of St Petersburg, but the one on the next day to the Hermitage was Oleg and he became cross with the Chinese tourists who disobeyed all the rules and went where they pleased willy nilly.    The guide who impressed me the most was the one who l...

Russians are noted for being a bit frosty at first meeting them.  It was certainly the case with a Russian woman on our plane, but after a while she melted and was very friendly.  Some of us are inclined to rush into accepting people.  This lady seemed to assess what myself and my companion were like before accepting us.  Our guides each day were professional and approachable.  The receptionists on the boat were quite shy and retiring but not frosty.  The least frosty, because they already knew me online were some women who visited me on the boat.  I had known them for over a year and they suggested we meet in Moscow.  I was a little dubious about this. I wanted to meet them but I also wanted to be safe. After all the pleasant lady of the photograph might turn out to be someone from the Russian mafia.  I am so glad I went ahead with meeting them.  By asking them to come to the boat I felt that was safer than trying to find someone in the...

I am taking a course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  Yesterday evening I couldn't get into the course, the button provided did not work and today is the same.  I have reported the problem and been assured it is being looked into.  At first I was frustrated, but where does that ever get you; so now I am seeing it as a much needed break from studying. This afternoon I have been shopping with a friend.  Also we paid a much needed visit to the recycling centre where I off loaded an old microwave and my friend threw away old tins of paint.  The empties were thrown away and the others were to be given to some centre for visually impaired people, we're not quite sure what for.  We then went to the local supermarket and bought a few groceries.  When we arrived back at my friend's house we went in for a cup of tea and were joined in the garden by an old friend of mine whom I had not seen for some time. Sometimes the simple pleasures are the best.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/k5lZbIG5b0uKnQEi1 Click on the link to see the video of Mike and me singing,"There's a hole in my bucket." We put this together in a hurry.  We spent two minutes checking that we knew the words and then just did it.  It was great fun.  My family consists of introverts who cringe at watching me do this, let alone facing the idea of having to do it themselves. Our audience was made up of seven nationalities.  I had always thought that "foreigners" all learnt English, but this did not seem to be the case here.  They could not understand the words, but the body language spoke for itself.

This is a wonderful way to travel and live abroad.  TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  I have recently started a course.  I am enjoying the wonders of the English language.  As a native speaker I am finding much of the course quite straight forward and a relaxation after my tussles with Russian.  However it is not all plain sailing as it is amazing how many topics were never taught to me in school, In my usual enthusiastic way I have almost completed the grammar module having only begun it on August 8th !! I used to think that multiple choice questions were a cop out, but now know that they can be very testing.  I am learning online with TEFL.org.uk. In Britain there are many immigrants and so there is plenty of scope for teaching in this country.  Doing this can make a big difference in someone's life, the difference between a menial job and a satisfying one. Being the teacher can also be most satisfying.

Perhaps you think I will now want to conquer India, or China ,or Africa or go West.  No I've fallen in love with Russia in a big way and I'm already formulating plans to go there again.  I've done the tourist thing and I'm glad I did, but now I want to get to know real Russians and live as family.  In Britain we have a marvelous invention known as a Twinning Association.  It all started many years ago where towns from Britain were twinned with towns from France, and then Germany and so it spread.  Then one day the university of Exeter, near me became twinned with the university of Yaroslavl.  Next the cities decided to be twinned.  I heard about this last year and joined the Association.  Every year the Russians come to us for a week and we return to them for a week.  I couldn't go last Spring as I had already booked the cruise, but next year I shall be ready and waiting. Meanwhile I email Ludmilla and try out my Russian on her.

No, I don't think you can have jet lag when the country you have visited is only two hours ahead of your home country.  The day we returned home we were up at seven Moscow time and didn't sleep until 3 a.m. U.K. time.  That was because we were excited still by the whole experience and didn't sleep on the plane.  I do have a bit of a problem with sleep loss and I become sensitized to various things.  For at least four days I was dogged by the motion of the boat even though I was on Terra Firma.  It didn't really interfere with life but I was glad when the sensation went away.  We brought home all the usual souvenirs.  I said I would not get a load of stuff to clutter up my shelves, but I couldn't resist a matryouska doll and an amber bracelet and a fur hat, and a pendant and a shawl.  After all those Russians have to make a living!

Before this adventure I had only flown in Britain, to Glasgow and back and Norwich to and from Exeter.  My friend had never flown before.  Our worst experience was in Heathrow.  We had booked airport assistance because of various health issues. This meant we were separated from the rest of our party.  An airport worker was pushing a lady in a wheel chair and we were asked of we could walk for two minutes.  We said "Yes." but ended up following the wheelchair all the way to where we would join the plane.  We had asked for seats together but were allocated tickets several rows apart but were able to sit together, but not after some alarm. Once away from Heathrow things improved.  We were on a Swiss Air flight to Zurich.  We really liked Swiss Air and the service they gave and the tasty food supplied.  The change at Zurich for a flight to St Petersburg went smoothly and assistance was given. Again in Russia assistance was prompt.  It seems ...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/k5lZbIG5b0uKnQEi1 There were plenty of times when we were sailing from one place to another and the time needed filling.  The first lock was a distraction but after that we needed other things to do.  We had a few gentle lessons in Russian and then went on to sing in Russian.  Inevitably we sang Kalinka but it was good to do it authentically.  Also we sang Katouska. Ksenia in the picture taught us and Yvgeny played the accordion. Near the end of our time on board there was a talent evening.  Somehow our Tour Guide and forgotten to tell us about this, but at the last minute two of us decided to sing something.  We were placed at the end of the evening and listened to the other groups of various nationalities singing slavic melodies with great fervour and angst.  Then it was our turn and we sang "There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza." Not quite what was expected but we put everything into it and received good applause ...

We were well fed on the boat.  We had breakfast, lunch and dinner there.  That was one of the things that made the trip value for money.  Most other holidays on land in Russia were bed and breakfast only in a hotel.  Also you got to see Peter and Moscow only and none of the out of the way places we visited. Breakfast was a buffet which included toast, fruit, boiled eggs and porridge and pancakes(bliny).  One strange item on offer at breakfast was brussel sprouts!! Lunch and dinner were very similar meals but always different.  The four course meal began with a salad.  The Russian word for salad is salat and this is also the word for lettuce, but lettuce was rarely included in the course. After this came a soup.  We much preferred the thick soups.  The thin soups were like our chicken noodle soup. There seemed to be a certain oiliness about the courses and we did get upset stomachs at one point.  I hasten to add that these were not due to...

Our guide told us a few things about Red Square and then we were free to wander.  We always felt totally safe in Russia.  Although there was some talk of pick pockets we never experienced this. I guess there is greater danger of those in London. My friend took lots of pictures, some of the "Christmas" trees against the red walls of the Kremlin, some of St Basil's and some of the museum next to Gym(goom) the big expensive shop in a corner of Red Square.  We browsed here noting Versace and Armani.  But all we bought was a box of chocolates to share with our friends back home. Later when we were home again in Britain we saw a programme about the super rich in Russia and included was the lady who is CEO for Gym.  It's another life but I suspect I am the happier, with my one adventure in foreign travel. I appreciate it highly and have no sense of being jaded by a surfeit of experiences.

The late night did start to have an effect on me.  Generally what happens is that I become more sensitive to my situation.  I had had no trouble adjusting to being on the boat.  Of course, being a river cruise the motion was very gentle, but now on land in Moscow I began to feel as if everything was gently moving.  I hadn't properly got my land legs.  It wasn't a great problem.  As leaping around the Metro had strained the muscles in one hip I took to using my stick and of course this helped with the motion problem.  We went to the Kremlin.  As we were a  pre-booked party we didn't have to queue for very long. It was raining but not badly. The word Kremlin means a fortress, an enclosed area. Inside is the President's residence and place of work.  There was the clock tower which I recognized from watching President Putin's New Year address, which he gave after the clock struck midnight. I am an  unashamed fan of President Putin and w...

I'm afraid I have no photos of Moscow for you.  By this time I was just enjoying being there.  My friend took photos and I have access to them but I don't think I should use her photos here.  Our first view of Moscow was, of course, from the boat.  First we came across residential apartments.  We had a bus tour around the city during the day.  All along the whole holiday we had included trips with the price of the holiday and optional trips.  This first night in Moscow an optional trip on the Metro was planned, which would take place in the late evening, getting back to the boat at midnight.  I like my bed and at first decided to have a night in.  I have to be careful that I get enough sleep or I can get mood swings. However later in the day someone in the party dropped out of the trip and I was asked again if I would like to go.  I am so glad I said "Yes." It was a bit daunting going to the Metro as we were told the escalators could be ...

I don't seem to remember Uglich.  I left the photography to my friend. I do like to "soak up the atmosphere" of a place and not be too concerned about taking pictures.  I think Uglich is the place where we saw a lady in pink singing on a bridge, which fortunately did not have any traffic going over it. She had a receptacle for donations.  The only busker we saw in our entire journey. After this or before we went to Yaroslavl.  This was an impressive town which is 1007 years old.  It had many fine churches, also well laid out gardens. We saw bell ringing out of doors.  The musician twisted strings around his fingers connected to the bells and deftly produced a faultless performance.  I think it was also here that we heard male singers singing a capella.  That was a delight and I bought a CD. I came out of the church where the singing was done and found I could not see anyone from my group but I looked behind me and there was our guide, obviously ke...

We were in St Petersburg in early July the time of the White Nights.  We were further north than I had ever been and so experienced the daylight hours being extended far more than we were used to.  The photo here was taken at about 11.15p.m. and the sun was only just setting.  When we looked out of our cabin window at 2a.m. the light was already growing. There are other places on Earth that experience this phenomenon but St Petersburg is the biggest city that experiences this.  The streets bustle with people day and night and street lights are not needed.  Of course it is a very different story in the winter. As we travelled on and reached the more southerly Moscow we noticed that the daylight hours there were much the same as at home.

I have been learning Russian for about a year.  There were times when I felt like giving up, but   something would come along to cheer me up and I redoubled my efforts.  But why do this at 70?  When I had already started learning I heard a programme about dementia and apparently learning a new language, it is claimed helps to put off the onset of dementia.  So there, indeed, is a good reason. It is one thing to learn to read and write a foreign language but speaking it and understanding it when spoken is another thing.  So how do I help myself with these things.  One thing I do is to listen to Russian on my phone.  Even when it is in the background I believe my brain is receiving it.  Just as a baby learns to speak from being surrounded by the spoken word in the home so if I listen eventually it will have a good effect.  I have the Bible recorded in Russian.  I was brought up on the Bible and know quite lot of the Bible and so ...

I have problems with my camera.  I can't get it to switch off the flash.  In some buildings you are not allowed to use flash. Fortunately my travelling companion is a keen photographer so when we went to The Hermitage in the Winter Palace I could safely leave the photography to her.  This meant that I could soak up the atmosphere and impress upon myself that many Tsar's had actually stood and walked in these highly splendid rooms. I also thought of the four daughter's of the final ill-fated Tsar.  Were they allowed to play and run about amongst all this opulence? It is questions like that they make one appreciate the experience of sharing the same space but not the same time as these figures of history. St Petersburg is not ancient ( settled in the  early eighteenth century),but it was the main residence of the Tsars from Peter I onward. He chose it for his base because it is strategically placed with an exit to the Baltic Sea.  Once he had established th...

My first sight of iconic cathedrals was in St Petersburg.  Probably the most famous there for foreigners like myself is the Church on the Spilled Blood. My grandson described it as having lots of cup cakes stuck on it!!  It is indeed a dramatic building.  We saw it in the rain. You might be forgiven if you thought the spilled blood referred to that of Jesus on the cross.  However, the blood referred to is that of Tsar Alexander II.  His blood was spilled on this very spot when he was bombed by a Polish "terrorist." His legs were badly damaged.  He did not die on the spot but was taken to the Winter Palace and died there. He was the Tsar who freed the serfs.  However he had colluded in his father's death. This church is indeed typically Russian to the outsider's mind, but the tourist may find St Petersburg a little disappointing at first, simply because its architecture is quite European.  In fact it was designed that way.  Tsar Peter the Grea...

The boat for our trip was reasonably comfortable, but the air conditioning was not good.  My intrepid travelling companion found it very hot in our cabin. I was slightly too hot but seem to have a body which prefers a little heat.  However, I did not enjoy the constant fumes from the engine while we were moored.  Of course the engines had to be kept running for the lights and air conditioning.  There were several locks along the course of our travelling which were the occasion of loud bangs sometimes in the middle of the night. This was not a problem, just something to savour as a part of the experience.  When we were out in the country there was a bit of a problem with the mosquitoes but we had come prepared with repellent and cream for afterwards.  This was more a problem for my friend.  Strange to say I was bitten one night on my return home and suffered much worse from that than in Russia. On the boat there were many stairs to climb to get to our r...

I was fascinated by the wooden buildings in Mandrogi.  the uprights of some buildings were very similar to the totem poles of Canada and may have a Finnish influence.  After all this is Karelia which I believe in the past belonged to Finland.  I am familiar with the name Karelia from hearing the suite of that name by Sibelius, who was, of course, Finnish.

After visiting St Petersburg our ship steamed to Mandrogi and later to Kizhi where we saw the amazing wooden church there, made entirely of wood, including the nails.  When we were there it was undergoing renovation work and so in my photo you see the middle onion domes are missing.  I bought a book which had a photo of the church when entire. We saw a man making shingles to be fixed in the domes.  Someone pointed out that the ends of his first and second fingers on his left hand were missing!! Use Google to find more details of this church.