After Bill and with reference to Gita...

The strains of the familiar song reached his ears. "When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me..." Was she coming? From across the seas? Thirty years dead to the day he was, his hero John Lennon. It was an omen, he knew it.

He never said good-bye from the heart. He was a man in whom hope sprang eternal and he thought that maybe one day he'd get in touch with his emotions. In the meantime he put the expressions expected of him on his face and wondered by people reacted oddly.

He blamed his parents, who were androids. Well, that was his opinion of them. You can only feel sorry for them.

Graham drained the last drop from his glass, dragged himself to his feet and staggered over to the television. He poked at the switch and it burst into colour and song. The shadows of dead wives and lovers and other assorted Christmas nightmares retreated as the dancers swirled across the screen. But not for long. The spirits were up now and nothing was going to keep them from that benighted house. Doors flew open front and back and in they all marched, all the disappointments of the past sixty… Continue

I once worked at the next desk to, and shared a phone with, a guy I really liked. We got friendly and he told me all about his girlfriend, who he subsequently married. I did think it was strange that although she apparently telephoned him frequently, I never picked up the phone to her, though I did pick up to his male friends.

I moved jobs and we lost touch, but I heard from someone that he'd dropped dead in the office one day. I was, of course, shocked, and asked after his…

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I want to tell you about a wonderful piece of music. It's by the contemporary Scottish composer James MacMillan and it's called Seven Last Words from the Cross for orchestra and chorus.

I had the huge privilege of singing in it last Saturday in St George's, Bristol, which is a fine and prestigious concert-hall. It is a deeply spiritual piece, but you do not need to be a practising member of any church (I'm not) to appreciate it.

If you get a chance, do…

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