The Purpose of the Healing Signs in the Fourth Gospel Another essay from my archive — dated April 2001 - as with some of the previous essays, the conclusion feels somewhat rushed. I’m also not too fussed on my over-use of the word “thus” in this essay. …

How Jesus describes himself in the “I Am” statements of John’s Gospel Another essay from my archives — considerably shorter this time — that gained a 96% pass mark. Reading back over it over twenty years later, it is frustratingly short. There are a number of claims in here that…

Discussing the distinctive features of the Passion Narratives in the Fourth Gospel — Another essay from my archives — this was an exploration of what makes the account of Jesus’ Passion in John’s Gospel different from the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). The essay gained a 96% pass mark, with the comment that it was “a clear and lucid…

A discussion of the symbolism of the Johannine signs — Another essay from my archives, with a handful of amendments to word choice. It’s interesting to see how much of this is written with what I would call a Twentieth Century attitude, in comparison to how I write and thing about writing today. …

Thoughts on a boyhood dream, and a life, resurrected. — Following my post earlier this year about the pain and peril of giving up on your dreams, which you can read here: “When You Give Up On Your Dreams, You Die...” …when you allow yourself to dream again, you come back to life.medium.com Here’s a follow-up post about the dream that I rediscovered for myself last year: a dream so deeply suppressed that I wouldn’t allow myself to think about it…

Seeing the Best of Rome on a Budget — Rome is notorious for being expensive to visit-there’s so much to cram into your trip that the costs can add up quickly without you noticing. I’ve been three times now, both as a solo traveler and as part of a group, and each time I go I discover things new…

La La Land for the first-timer… — I have fond memories of my first trip to LA-landing at LAX with my best friend, climbing into the hire car, and jumping on the 405 in rush hour traffic to head off in search of some Hollywood magic. For some reason, we took the freeway north up to Sherman…

An introduction to the Cannes Film Festival for first-timers — With the 72nd Festival de Cannes coming to a close on the French Riviera at the moment, I thought I’d write a guide to the event for those who are thinking of taking part for the first time at some point in the future. Complete with photos from my own…

Reflections on a visit to the Arab Republic… — I was lucky to visit Egypt on a day trip during a family holiday to Cyprus in 2002. It was a formative experience for me, despite it being a whistle-stop tour of Cairo. We squeezed in time at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, and a visit to the Giza…