Short Thoughts ...

On Kindness                                                                                                                                       13th November 2025

It’s World Kindness Day according to Google. Well done to Google for letting us know.  Kind and kindness are two words which I frequently hear these days and that has to be a good thing. We seem more inclined to use them and no longer feel any embarrassment when we do. Children especially must grow up hearing these words at home and in school and must constantly be encouraged to be kind to each other and all their loved ones at home.

It may just be that seeing it was World Kindness Day prompted me to make a phone call to a friend of mine to check whether she had been able to get transport to a hospital appointment. And I hope I don’t need any reminding of the incredible kindness shown to me in the past two years by so many people. Saying thank you to them on this website seems inadequate but is an absolute MUST.

Maybe like me you can remember when you were very young singing about Little deeds of kindness and Little words of love.  And if you have never heard or read the story of Mrs Malone and her wonderful kindness you will find it here. It is more than just about kindness to animals it is about BEING KIND to everyone. 

Autumn colours                                                                                                                                 13th November 2025

It's been a fantastic year for autumn colour.  The leaves on the trees and bushes have been absolutely glourious in their golds, reds, tans and many other hues.  

I hope many of you will have paused to admire them before taking a photo on your phone.

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Short thoughts … for Remembrance Day                                                                                                       9 November 2025

I would like to think that almost everyone in the UK remembers Remembrance Day but I doubt if this is true. I always do remember the occasion and fit my Sunday morning schedule round the national commemoration held at The Cenotaph in Whitehall. I have been doing this for fifty years or so. I also took part in many parades when I was a cub and scout and recalI proudly carrying the flag. This had to be lowered very slowly to the ground as we all stood in silence for a few moments before the church clock struck 11.

I didn’t understand the full significance of this annual event back then. I do now. Its purpose is to honour and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend all of us from enemies who would do us harm. By all of us I mean ourselves, our loved ones, our friends and acquaintances, as well as those who are complete strangers. We must honour those who died and those who have been maimed and injured – not in defence of abstract concepts like democracy, freedom or love of country, but in defence of real people, you and me.

As we honour them we must admire their great courage in battle and their courage in dealing with the physical and mental trauma of the injuries many of them suffered. We must make every effort to empathise with them and their families who have suffered the anguish of bereavement and the difficulties of caring for those who have been disabled.

But we must do more than this. We must remember the sheer horror of war and how unnecessary it often is. Tragically it was absolutely necessary when Hitler began the Second World War and we had Churchill to lead us.

We should not need President Trump to tell us that many wars are unnecessary and stupid. Nor should we need to see the rows and rows of war graves in the cemeteries of France and Belgium to understand the enormity of the killing, and its futility, in the First World War.

So as well as the poppy I will picture my Peace Rose and strive to spread its message as much as I can.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

East Brent War Memorial

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Alan Kerr

Short Thoughts ... Nagasaki - 80th anniversary                                                                                9th August 2025

It was 80 years ago today that only the second atomic bomb ever used was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. The blast alone instantly killed about 40,000 people vapourising many of them. It burned, injured and irradiated tens of thousands more and its destructive force razed a large swathe of the city to the ground. Three days previously the first atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima instantly killing and burning to death between 60,000 and 80,000 people. The horror of so much instant death and suffering inflicted on so many innocent civilians, including the very young and the very old, is something we cannot come close to imagining.

As a teenager I read a book about Hiroshima the details of which I cannot recall. But it was an eye-witness account of the event and it left a lasting impression on me. Apart from the Bible it may possibly have been one of the most influential books I have read. In later years it would have influenced my decision to become a member of CND although I am not a pacifist.