Reflections

Reflecting on life, living and other things

Jan

2024

Walking with Grace

In Box Alert

My laptop pinged as another cluster of emails landed in my in box. One of them in particular attracted my attention. It was from a respected associate, informing me that he knew of a young woman who had written a memoir and that she was seeking a publisher. Was I interested in the project? “Why would a young woman want to write a memoir?” I found myself wondering. As I perused the email further, the reason became evident. She was newly married, just in her early twenties, a gifted musician. As I reviewed her writing, I learned how late one afternoon as she navigated a pedestrian crossing on the way to a music recital where she was to play her violin, the trajectory of her life was dramatically changed as she entered a parabolic arc from the impact of a speeding motorist. She lay inert on the asphalt, her body crushed from the trauma.

Humanly speaking, Grace Utomo’s life could have ended that night. Traumatic Brain Injury is not a diagnosis anyone wants to undergo. When her family were called in to visit her in ICU, the nurses attending did not put any limit on the numbers of visitors permitted in the room—an ominous sign of the low level of life expectancy they anticipated.

Soon, hundreds—then thousands—of people were praying for Grace as she lay intubated in hospital. Ivan, her husband, had numerous friends praying on the other side of the Pacific (his family background is Indonesian), and other members of the family and friends soon mustered prayer support from many regions of the world.

As I continued reading about Ivan and Grace, and as I viewed Grace’s blog (HERE), I felt overcome by the magnitude of her story—weeks and months in hospital, the challenge of recuperation from strokes, the onset of migraine headaches, and a diagnosis of epilepsy—and with each of her blogs or Facebook posts, Grace’s face smiled radiantly from the pictures she posted.

“This project is too big for Great Writing,” I mused. “I must see if she would be interested in having this published through Shepherd Press.”

The consensus was a speedy yes—definitely a book for publication. And so the vision grew further. “Grace, we’d like to do this as a color illustrated book,” I communicated to her. “Do you have additional graphics to the ones we’ve already seen on your site and social media?” Did Grace have graphics? She sure did, evidenced by links she soon started sending me from her Google Drive folder. “You may use whatever you would like,” she announced.

And so the vision for Grace’s book was born. I knew straightaway that this would be an editing project for my wife, Sue, so some weeks later, the four of us—Ivan and Grace, Sue and I—were huddled over our devices on Facetime discussing developments and edits to enhance the already excellent writing that Grace had submitted.

Launching Live

There was a tense sense of excitement in the text that came from Keith Crosby, Grace’s dad. It informed me that there was the possibility of a live-radio broadcast launch of the publication of Walking with Grace. This would be via syndicated talk radio hosted by Craig Roberts (Life!Line / KFAX), with a listenership of hundreds of thousands of people in the San Francisco Bay area. In fact, the week that this was possible was the very week I would be present in southern California—the Los Angeles area—and in theory it would be a straightforward matter for me to add San Francisco and San Jose to my itinerary, but, as things worked out, I had already booked my southern California flights and there was no way I could factor in a visit to Grace’s book launch on that itinerary. But then I had an idea: why should I not make two visits from South Carolina to California the same week? I was game—and that way, Sue could join me.

So it was in early October that I found myself on another Delta flight heading out west for an overnight San Jose visit, this time with my beloved wife seated next to me. By then, my body clock was somewhat messed up, but it did not—not for even a millisecond—interrupt my enjoyment of being able to celebrate the launch of Grace’s beautiful and remarkable book.

There’s one more window on my work in this post: my phone pinged in the early hours of Saturday morning, just hours after the live radio launch of the evening before, notifying me that the Delta flight back to Atlanta was delayed by a couple of hours—and the knock-on effect was that we would not be able to make the connecting flight to Greenville. So, for another hour or more I was in a terse discussion (all by text and email chat) with a Delta rep who kindly and eventually secured flights for us back on two different carriers—United Airlines and American Airlines—via Dallas Fort Worth. The expression of relief on Sue’s face (and probably mine, too) was palpable once we had checked in at SFO and finally cleared a line of around 300 people waiting to go through the TSA checkpoint, and we were comfortably seated on United’s Airbus A319 and watching the Golden Gate Bridge slipping past in the distance. Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful and a few hours layover in Dallas Fort Worth proved opportune for a welcome break, interesting conversations with strangers, and an eventual on-time return to Greenville, South Carolina.

Readers interested in buying a copy of Grace’s remarkable book may do so from Shepherd Press or Amazon.

: At GSP Airport en route at the beginning of the journey

: At the launch in San Jose

: Grace autographing copies with help from her mom

: Waiting for a book to be autographed

: Craig Roberts, the radio host (left), his assistant, Brian, (right) and Keith Crosby (center)

: Sue and some of the crowd who visited

: At SFO airport before returning to South Carolina

: Flying over northern California

: Approaching Dallas Forth Worth before making the final leg home to SC

Dec

2023

Holmes Christmas Greetings, 2023

2023 Newsletter

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

Micah’s prophecy of the coming of Jesus in the incarnation provides some fascinating glimpses into the results of the work He would do. “He shall be great unto the ends of the earth” (Micah 5:4). In sending Jesus into the world, it was not God’s purpose simply to bless His people the Jews; it was so that people from many nations would turn from unrighteousness and their empty way of life and trust in Messiah to be their Prophet, Priest, and King. Jesus as the Christ–God’s Anointed One–came as a prophet to bring God’s Word and teach needy sinners about Him and His grace; as a Priest to represent them to God, to sacrifice Himself for them, and to bless them; and as a King to rule over them as their Lord and to defend them from their enemies. This briefly describes what some people refer to as the threefold offices of Christ.

This time of the year provides an excellent opportunity to consider God becoming a man so that we may be brought to God. Have you come to Him in repentance and faith? The invitation of Jesus is still open: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

View our family newsletter in pictures HERE

NEWS UPDATE AT A GLANCE

Greetings again from the Holmes family! Matthew continues his studies at college and is well over halfway through. He has enjoyed serving some of our clients in book rollout and promotional videos. Sue helps Jim in various editing and related book-production responsibilities as well as continuing her MA study program–with just one more year to go. Jim continues to serve Shepherd Press on a part-time basis as well as numerous other clients.

Travels have included California, Ohio, the northeast (Boston and Philadelphia), and Michigan. Jim’s sister, Janet, visited for two weeks in the fall, her first-ever visit stateside. As US immigrants, our status changed from being permanent residents to citizens in February and we celebrated this in September at an event with several friends attending.

We send love and best wishes to you for 2024.

Featured Image: Under the Stars and Stripes

Dec

2023

Celebrating Citizenship

On September 9, 2023, we celebrated our US citizenship. Below the videos, read the notes that I prepared for my (and Sue’s) speech. Matthew’s speech was improvised, so there are no notes!

Special thanks to Samantha Powell for providing the raw video for both pieces below, as well as to Matthew Holmes for editing the various clips into the more seamless videos with titles and some added still graphics.

Jim’s Video

Matthew’s Video

Life in One Act and Six Scenes So Far. . .

Thanks to Mel Duncan, the girls Megan and Claire, Dr. Megan Stapleton, the seminary, (and Sue for all her behind-the-scenes work to make this happen) and to you all for being here to share this day with us. And thank the Lord for His providence that we can be together in this way.
Sign our visitors’ book, please.
Take a flag as a memento of sharing this day with us.

Today, we stand in front of you as three new American citizens, but it was not always that way. Join me in your mind’s eye—your imagination—as I take you back some decades to the dark continent of Africa, where life is quite primitive

Scene 1:

Here’s a little boy who sees TV and movies for the first time. It’s cowboys and Indians, it’s chasing robbers, and it’s glamorous people in California living in mansions, high-rise buildings, and driving fast cars (on the wrong side of the road).

A little later in this scene, it’s tourists with funny accents and loud voices visiting Africa—people who seem to brag a lot and swagger when they walk.

This little boy in Africa doubts if he would ever even want to travel to America, never mind live there or become one of them!

Scene 2:

Here’s a man in his late thirties with his beautiful wife; he’s matured somewhat since scene 1, but he’s still doubtful about Americans. But the executive director where he works calls him into the office and says, “I want you to often visit America and meet our customers, and I want you to sell books there. Go there with your wife for a week and see what it’s like.”

Not many weeks later, that man and his wife are standing in Logan airport in Boston looking somewhat bewildered and feeling even more so. They are on a ten-day visit that will take them from the northeast through Mississippi, Oklahoma, and California. The man is thinking something like, “I hope this visit goes by quickly so we can get back home.”

But just a few days later, this same man is thinking something like, “Americans are just like me; they are ordinary people (apart from driving on the wrong side of the road). They don’t swagger, and I have not heard any of them brag. He asks his American counterpart, “So Mike, do you think you could see me and my wife living here in America one day?” His answer is quick and unequivocal: “Yes!”

Scene 3:

This man, now in his forties and with more than thirty transatlantic flights on his record is standing on the campus of the Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, (MacArthur’s church) at a Shepherds’ Conference. There’s a big, smiling, friendly man with a southern accent he meets there. He works for Ligonier Ministries. “Jim,” he says, “I would love for you to come to Greenville, SC; it’s a beautiful place and you would love the people there!”

Not too long after that, someone else from Greenville SC persistently invites him, so on one of his visits from the UK, he adds more flights to his itinerary and takes a weekend in South Carolina. He finds himself thinking, “Hmm, this is a really nice place; I think I could live here. There’s Bob Jones University, a school where my son could go to, and the people are so friendly.”

Scene 4

Some years have passed and this African-born man, now past the fifty-year mark, is loading several luggage pieces into a rental car having just arrived at GSP. His wife and son are with him. They are exhausted after nearly twenty hours of traveling from Britain. He’s come to America on a work visa with a mandate from his British bosses: “Stop flying to America all the time. Go there and build the business!” Soon they are settled in a rental property near BJU and driving a beat-up old Volvo with nearly quarter of a million miles on the clock. Their son is checked in at the elementary school and they are learning the new language of American!

Life is not easy for this family. There are health and economic hardship challenges to navigate. No one in this family was born with a silver spoon in the mouth. There is, as it were, blood, sweat, and tears. They learn to “Suck it up, Buttercup!”

Scene 5:

Now into the 20-teens, this same family—now much better at speaking and understanding American and loving being in South Carolina—are praying that their Green Card application will be approved. There have been some hiccups in the process and he’s feeling, to quote John Calvin, that “We’ll need to have a lot of luck if the authorities really do approve this application and we will likely have to return to the UK.” It’s that sinking feeling in your gut.

But many people are praying for the family. One man from Ohio says, “Jim, you have embraced us, and we have embraced you.” Another man from Pennsylvania says, “Jim, you were an American long before you ever came here.” There are two factors at work here: prayer and the providence of God. Late one night, as he is viewing the status of their permanent residence application online, he calls his wife to the computer: “Sue, look at this—do you read it that our application is approved and we will get a Green Card?” They are ecstatic!

Scene 6:

It’s now 2023 and, much sooner than expected, there are three official-looking pieces of mail in this family’s mailbox. They are being asked to report to the Department of Immigration in Greer in February to take the US Citizenship test. With a rush of blood to their heads, these three family members begin to review the citizenship application test questions and soon they know more than 100 aspects of American history and values—and in February, they swear the oath of allegiance to become genuine Americans—just like you all here!

As we close off this speech, we want several things to be clear to you:

Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (KJV)
Phil 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; (NASB 1995)
Ps 16:6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. (KJV)
2 Peter 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (NASB1996)

I was on a plane last week in the northeast and met with a US army serviceman. I expressed appreciation to him for his service and told him we had recently become citizens, but I found it easy to say this to him: “Scott, I’m first a Christian and then an American; everything else flows out from that.”

We left our earthly family in Africa and Britain. We have no blood relatives on this continent. But we have new friends who have become family to us, and many of you are blood-bought children of God—saved by His grace. You are His family, and you have become our family.

God bless you all; and God bless America!

Dec

2023

Majoring on Film

A Guest Post by Matthew Holmes

At the end of each semester, I try to post a short semester recap post on my Instagram page. However, as I was reflecting on my past semester I was led to sharing something I learned during the semester in place of my usual recap. This is adapted and slightly expanded from what I shared on Instagram.

As a film major, I have to participate in production classes (where the focus is on producing videos rather than lectures and tests) each semester. This semester, I took the biggest and most important video production class I’d ever enrolled in. It was called Documentary Production Seminar, and I had to produce two major video projects for it. The first was required to focus on the work of the Greenville Homeless Alliance (a collective of Greenville homeless shelters) and I was able to pick a subject from a series of stories I was presented with. Once I made my choice, I reached out to my subject to discuss producing the video. Because of this, I had to demonstrate my personal integrity to people I had never met with or knew about before. This was especially challenging when I interviewed my subject, a lady who I had only met the day before and who was incredibly nervous about being interviewed on camera.

After I finished that project, I had to produce a significantly longer video where I was required to find and approach a subject. I approached John Lehman, a pastor at Hampton Park Baptist Church in Greenville who my Dad has edited and published a number of books for. Mr. Lehman quickly and enthusiastically agreed to be my subject, meaning I was now in a scenario that was both the opposite and the same as my previous video. While Mr. Lehman has known me for many years and has a strong relationship with my Dad, there was just as much pressure on me to establish my personal integrity as a truthful and ethical documentarian while ensuring that I didn’t do anything that would hurt my Dad’s reputation with Mr. Lehman.

From these two projects, I learned one major lesson. The way I maintained a positive spirit and gained joy from working on intense, high-pressure projects was to keep in focus the importance of service to my interviewees and collaborators. Once I discovered that focusing on how I could tell their stories and give them a voice they otherwise wouldn’t have had gave me joy, I was freed up as an artist to focus on refining my craft and ensuring my films were not just good stories, but were emotionally meaningful and true. Rita (the lady I interviewed from the local homeless organization) wouldn’t have been able to alert people to the facilities that assist the homeless in getting their lives back on track if I didn’t have the equipment and the technological know-how to tell her story in a short video. John Lehman now has an additional tool that he will be able to use to promote his global ministry because of my initiative to make a short film detailing his life’s work.

I think that’s what great art is all about: it serves and glorifies God while giving a voice to the voiceless and inspiring an audience to achieve great things.

I’ll end by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jul

2023

Thinking about Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

I am preparing this blog in consultation with my son, Matthew, aged twenty years. He has prepared the text below, so the writing is entirely his. He and I saw the movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny recently and found it entertaining. It’s rated PG-13, mostly for some violent action scenes, but there isn’t anything that pushes the boundaries of that rating in those scenes.

It’s an action-adventure movie with a period setting from the late 1960s, the time I was growing up. It was fun to see how authentic the setting was—the style of cars, dress, décor, etc.

Matthew continues…

Intro

Dad and I recently saw the film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Dad enjoyed it, and was interested in having me write a review for it that could be posted on the blog. I agreed to share my thoughts, and I’ll try to communicate my feelings without revealing anything that hasn’t already been shown in the trailers.

Plot Summary

The film begins with a much talked about sequence featuring a digitally de-aged Harrison Ford. This scene is set at the end of World War II and strongly evokes the feeling of adventure from the first three movies. Indiana Jones has infiltrated a nazi camp and is trying to retrieve a priceless and powerful artifact: the blade that the Roman centurion stabbed Christ with during his crucifixion. The weapon is going to be sent to Hitler, who believes that its power will enable him to turn the tide of the war and defeat the allied powers. Jones is captured by the nazis before he can retrieve the weapon. However, one nazi scientist doubts the blade is real and sees true power in another weapon at the camp: the Antikythera, otherwise known as Archimedes’ Dial. Jones chases after a nazi train carrying both artifacts, rescuing a British archaeologist/professor at the same time. Indy shares the nazi scientists’ suspicion of the blade and retrieves Archimedes’ Dial instead. However, it is not clear what happens to the dial at the end of the scene. After this the film moves forward in time to 1969, shortly after the moon landing.

Now, Indy is an aged archaeology professor who plans to retire. He doesn’t want to go back into field work, but his goddaughter, who’s the daughter of the British professor in the previous scene, reveals that the dial is still out there. She tries to coax Indy back into the field, but he refuses However, a series of inexplicable events and the return of the nazi scientist from the opening scene force him back into the field, despite not knowing who is friend or foe.

Acting Improves the Film

Harrison Ford delivers a great final performance, particularly during the action scenes. Incredibly for a man his age, he risked injury to do many of his own stunts. Most noteworthy is his digital de-aging in the opening scene, which is some of the most convincing work I’ve seen with that effect. However, his face is often lit darkly in that scene, to prevent any animation inconsistencies from being visible.

The other actors in the film turn in solid performances. Mads Mikkelsen plays the nazi villain, who acts as a fairly typical Indiana Jones antagonist, both in characterization and in performance. Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays Indy’s goddaughter, who acts as the female foil, although she isn’t a love interest, unlike previous female characters. I was worried her character would always be saving Indy from jams he’s too old to get out of himself, but this is mostly avoided in the film. I particularly enjoyed John Rhys-Davies return as Sallah, and I wished he had been given a more prominent role in the story. The weakest link is a “kid sidekick” character who appears in the second half of the movie. His actor gives a decent performance but the character isn’t given anything to do for much of his screen time.

De-aged Indy (Image from Rotten Tomatoes)

Comparisons to Other Films and Evaluation

This film shares many similarities with director James Mangold’s previous movie, Ford V. Ferrari. These films are both set in the 60s, focus on older men who aren’t content with their current times, and feature throwbacks to action films of previous eras. However, Ford V. Ferrari is significantly better as it isn’t saddled with high expectations from previous films and it tells an inspiring and little known story, rather than having to service fans and include callbacks to previous films.

However, I think Dial of Destiny is a decent finale to the franchise, and it certainly feels more like a classic Indy film than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Dial of Destiny does subvert expectations significantly by focusing on an artifact that’s powers are based in science rather than religion or the supernatural. Indy has a decent character arc that brings his character full circle from the first film, and there’s nothing in the film I would consider outright bad. However, I don’t think it ever is as electrifying as the first film, or as funny and shocking as the third. The best part for me was the music. John Williams, in what could be his final film score, delivers more classic adventure music that’s based on his original themes but includes a few new and memorable melodies.

Final Verdict

Overall, I would recommend watching Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in theaters, as the action of the film plays best on a large screen. The locations visited are visually engaging, the action is well staged, and the film moves at a consistently fast pace despite being two and a half hours long. Don’t go in expecting a film as good as the originals, but the film provides a satisfying conclusion to the story of America’s most iconic archaeologist!

Overall Grade: 7.4/10.

Listen to John Williams’ Soundtrack HERE.

View the Trailer HERE: or below

Featured Image Credit: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/indiana_jones_and_the_dial_of_destiny

Jan

2023

America from the Air

Dec

2022

Holmes Christmas Greetings, 2022

ADAM’S LIKENESS REMOVED

A lesser-known verse of Hark! The Herald Angels states this:

“Adam’s likeness now efface / Stamp Thine image in its place / Second Adam from above / Reinstate us in Thy love.”

They articulate a wonderful truth: when a person comes to Christ in repentance and faith and is made a new creation, he or she begins the long process of progressive sanctification—that is, being set apart from old ways of life that were driven by the values and priorities of a secular worldview (with self very much at the center)—and commencing a journey whose purpose is to be made like Jesus, and which is expressed in such ways as bearing the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc., see Galatians 5:22, 23) and being prepared for life in “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

Christlikeness is as simple as the words suggest—gaining the likeness of Jesus and putting off the likeness of our original parents. Sinners—and everyone by nature is a sinner—are under the wrath of a pure and holy God and yet are called back to Him through the loving and reconciling work of Jesus, whose life of perfect obedience to God’s law and whose substitutionary death for others secures and guarantees their entrance into heaven. Bethlehem’s Babe was destined for Calvary’s Cross so that sinners like us may be reinstated in the love and grace of God.

View our family newsletter in pictures HERE

NEWS UPDATE AT A GLANCE

2022 has speeded by! Matthew has entered his sophomore year at college and has enjoyed his studies. Sue’s work circumstances changed;she now works freelance on a full-time basis as well as continuing her MA study program. Jim has worked on some big and exciting book design and publishing projects this year.

We were able to have a few enjoyable days of vacation in Georgia before traveling to Britain for a week to see family and friends, and to hold a short memorial service for Jim’s mom (who passed in 2021) in the Lake District.

We are very thankful to the Lord that Sue’s health has improved greatly in the latter half of the year. In God’s kind providence, she is now under a doctor who is treating the cause (rather than just the symptoms) of her problems.

We send love and best wishes to you for 2023.

Featured Image: UK visit, traveling back stateside on Delta Boeing 767

Dec

2022

A Video for You to Enjoy

A Guest Post from Matthew Holmes

As a capstone project for my course of cinematography and lighting this past semester, I was required to create a short lighting project illustrating one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. As I was pressed for time with a thousand projects due in my other classes, I decided to create a short documentary film, as those are quicker to light and shoot. I asked Mum and Dad to come to BJU’s cinema building to record a quick segment tying the fruit of the Spirit to the process of book editing. I had no idea what they were going to say before they came in… this is the end result. Hope you enjoy!

Press play to view the video below.

Dec

2022

Hillbilly Wisdom from Nature Journal

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks, bankers, and politicians at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
If you don’t take the time to do it right, you’ll find the time to do it twice.
Don’t corner something that is meaner than you.
Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.
It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
Don’t be banging your shin on a stool that’s not in the way.
Borrowing trouble from the future doesn’t deplete the supply.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
Silence is sometimes the best answer.
Don‘t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Most times, it just gets down to common sense.

Found on Facebook from Nature Journal / http://www.sonyaz.net/nature-and-animals/
Featured image from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/photos/banjo-player-outback-hill-billy-2427086/

Oct

2022

Visiting the Mother Country

“If we don’t leave now, we could miss the flight,” I urged.

With one final, last-minute inspection to confirm that our home was as secure as possible, we climbed into our trusty Volvo station wagon and reversed on to the road.

“We’re on our way!” exclaimed Matthew.

Fifteen minutes into our drive to the local airport, GSP, Sue spoke up, her tone anxious: “On, no, I left my cereal in the fridge. And I don’t think we can turn back now, can we, Jim?”

“It’s going to cut it fine if we do,” I answered tersely. “Do you think we can get something in Britain that you can easily digest?”

“Guess that’s all I can do,” Sue replied. Sue had been facing a challenging health-and-diet-related condition for some years, and was only now just beginning to get enough strength to embark on a one-week visit to Britain–a long overdue one–but then everyone appreciates what COVID did to international travel.

A few hours later, on a comfortable layover in Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport (one of the busiest in the northern hemisphere), we reflected on how providential circumstances had worked to bring this day to transpire the way it was. My mother, Jean Alison Holmes, had passed from this life to the next more than a year earlier and it had been almost impossible to make travel arrangements for her funeral at that time. She had requested that I would speak at her funeral (which I was able to do remotely by a video recording) but I felt it only right to be present at the sprinkling of her ashes.

Several hours into the transatlantic flight, I found myself musing on what it might be like to be back in Britain after some years. Life in America is lived briskly, conveniently, and efficiently, so the idea of having to navigate narrow streets, busy motorways, and drive a car without automatic transmission played somewhat on my mind. And what would it be like to face Britain’s warmest weather on record? That seemed counterintuitive!

Terra-firma and Terrible Tire Trouble

“So glad that you made it safely.” Jan’s voice was warm, if a little metallic-sounding on WhatsApp as I updated her from Heathrow that we had our feet well and truly on British soil. But some hours were yet to elapse before we could all embrace after what felt like a lengthy drive to her hometown a little south of Birmingham, made not a little difficult by the low-tire-pressure warning light that flashed on as we made our way along the motorway toward Oxford. “We’ll add some air,” I announced, sounding more optimistic than I felt as I broke the news to Sue and Matthew as we pulled into a motorway services location. But each terminal I tried to get compressed air from failed to operate, notwithstanding my insertion of different one-pound coins to claim my little extra portion of compressed British air. “Well, let me check the spare tire, anyway,” I said, as I wanted to be sure we could at least keep mobile, especially if what was maybe a slow leak turned more catastrophic. Opening the trunk, I looked to see where the tire was–presumably in a sub-compartment. “Hmm: no sub-compartment,” I muttered. “Let me look under the car,” I said to myself, thinking the spare would be suspended there in the cavity space. Groveling underneath, now sweating not only with the heat but with frustration at the sloppiness of the rental car agency, I beheld…nothing. “Well, let’s just drive on and pray that we don’t deflate a tire,” I announced. There didn’t seem a better plan.

Thankfully, although the warning light continued to burn, whichever tire it was did not go flat. When I called the rental agency, a bright, British accent announced, “O, sorry, sir, no, we don’t supply spare wheels with our cars; you just have to use the repair emergency kit to pump it up.”

“How dumb that sounds,” I thought as I politely thanked her. In my convenient world, I like to be prepared. That means a jack and a fully inflated spare wheel.

On with the Visit

After recalibrating to UK time, just five hours ahead of eastern time in the USA, (and also finding out that the rumored heatwave was a reality–it was exceptionally hot weather for Britain) we headed north to the beautiful Lake District. Navigating traffic around Birmingham on a Friday afternoon was every bit as frustrating as I thought it would be, only even worse. Traffic backed up for around two hours. The main reason? A broken-down van occupying a lane a mile or so after an on-ramp. A rather perplexed driver stood by his van while yellow-jacketed patrol officers looked on in puzzlement, as they waited for a rescue truck to come and solve the problem. In my simplistic world, all they had to do (and there was enough muscle power, I would have thought) was to push the broken-down van off the road and let simple people like me (and maybe two thousand over drivers traveling on the same road in the same direction) drive past at something faster than stopped or slow walking speed.

The Lakes and North East of England

The location as beautiful as ever, we made our home for two nights in the town of Penrith in a small-but-comfortable air b-n-b. Joined by our good friend Raymond Zulu and with my sister Jan and nephew and niece, Shaun and Pru camped out in a nearby location, we were well positioned to prepare for the sprinkling of my late mother’s ashes in the countryside nearby.

Sunday took us to Northallerton to visit with friends Cyril and Margery Fawcett, senior citizens and dear saints now in their nineties, members of the Northallerton Evangelical Church, our former home church, with the happy providence of their daughter, Rebecca and family, husband Stephen, and their two boys, Jonathan and Matthew, on a short visit from Northern Ireland.

Darlington, just twenty or so miles further north, was our home for twelve years, and it was fun to be back in town, visiting our other home church in Aycliffe and enjoying meeting with old friends and neighbors. Two days spent there sped by quickly as there were various administrative matters to take care of.

Heading Back South

Tuesday was spent on the road, with a brief visit with John, Sue’s brother in the Manchester area. By then, the weather had turned much cooler and we felt that this was the “more normal” Britain, the Britain that we were used to living in those years ago when the overcast weather made it seem as if we were living in Tupperware, and never left a shadow even in the brighter light. The final day was spent enjoying a visit to Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford upon Avon.

Owing to expected labor union strikes, we knew the so-called London Orbital, the M25, could be seriously gridlocked with motorists avoiding the railroad service. It’s often been said that the M25 is London’s largest circular parking lot, and we did not want to experience it, so we were on our way back to London’s Heathrow Airport by just after 3am. It made for a long day, but we were thankful to be able to start the check-in process early, and good that we did, as Matthew repeatedly ran into security checks that looked as if they would bump him from the return flight. I don’t think he has ever been so happy to be sitting back on an airplane as when we finally reclined in the comfort of Delta’s Boeing 767 to ferry us back over the Atlantic for an extended layover in Detroit, Michigan, before we would finally catch our connecting flight and put our feet back on South Carolina soil sometime after 11pm.