The Gospel is particularly demanding today and our sermon drummed it home. Christianity is not easy. The choices can lead to strife in the home. But do entirely free choices lead to any less strife?

Before I went to bed I looked at the full moon in the clear Lincolnshire sky, the craters on the northern rim close enough to be touched. The Lord of the Rings had just finished on the television, the music as the credits rolled inspiring. The garden and the valley entirely, magically clear in the full moonlight. Magical.