Sunday 26th May

 Last man standing. Or, equally, last woman standing.

I am thinking of Queen Elizabeth II, after the death of Prince Philip, as the last of her generation in the Royal Family.

Many many years ago I saw a moving television play, possibly one of the Alan Bennet 'Talking Heads' series, where a very old lady was mourning the death of the last of her very old friends. 

'There's no-one left to call me Margaret', she said. 

The listener, perhaps a carer or a social worker or a nurse said 'I can call you Margaret'.

'No you can't. It's not the same. You can call me Miss Hathaway', the old lady snapped.

I've changed the names, and very likely the dialogue as I only really remember the sadness of the phrase 'There's no-one left to call me 'Margaret'.

My brother is out of the country at the moment, and my father telephoned yesterday, in the afternoon, uncharacteristically for him. Just for a short chat; I could sense him dredging up topics to keep the conversation going as he didn't have much to say. He, too, is the last man standing in his generation of family and friends. It must be a lonely and possibly frightening place to be.

If, however, you have discovered, in the lines of the old hymn 'what a friend we have in Jesus', then, like the late great Queen, you will never be in the position of being 'the last man, or woman, standing'.

I used to have a twitter account, but deleted it when Twitter became X and changed in tone. I still 'tweet' all day long, not to living friends and family, but to Jesus, God, or the Holy Spirit, whoever happens to be in earshot. 

'God, what a glorious view,' I think, not as a casual disrespectful use of 'god', but  addressing a real person. 

'Now then, Spirit of Wisdom, what's the best way to do this? What would you say/do?' 

'Jesus, give me strength, hold me steady because I'm feeling a bit wobbly right now,'

Give it a try... just chatter. According to the scriptures, God is interested in the minutiae of our daily lives, however trivial, so take him at his word.