News: A Nostalgic Reminder of Happiness and Contentment: News: A Nostalgic Reminder of Happiness and Contentment

News: A Nostalgic Reminder of Happiness and Contentment

Date Added: 01/05/2026 @ 11:55am

I have just made a nostalgic trip with some of my family. They wanted to see where I grew up, and so we went.

The surprising thing is that none of the places where I lived have changed at all. (That’s 1930’s suburbia for you!) It looks, smells and sounds exactly as I remember. It’s so green, the trees bursting with blossom. And the lilac! The lilac is beautiful. The words of Thomas Hood’s poem came rushing back… ‘I remember, I remember the house where I was born…’

We caught the Metropolitan line up to Great Portland Street, making the journey my father made every day of his working-commuting life, to Fitzroy Square. What a beautiful square it is. And then we were off to Robert Adam Street and Manchester Square, where I went to church every Sunday (sometimes twice!). We were able to go into the church - a building my father and some others had the vision to see built. It was full of families with babies and children having fun, singing and praying for each other.  My Dad would have been thrilled. Then we ended up having lunch in the Wallace Collection, poring over the exquisite miniatures and ivories. All of this was a normal part of my everyday childhood. I know I was lucky.

‘What were Granny and Poppa like?’ one of my children asked. I thought for a moment. They were so full of many, many good things. ‘They loved and were loved. They were fun. They were happy and content’, I said.

Happiness and contentment are so important – but so underrated.

I have been re-reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The Tale of the Fisherman and his Wife is one that I have particularly enjoyed. A poor fisherman goes fishing and catches a Flounder. The Flounder speaks to the man and tells him that he is a magical prince-fish, and the man lets him go. His wife however thinks her husband has failed to make the most of a wonderful opportunity and compels her husband to ask the magical fish to give them what they want, and the fish grants her wishes. But the wife is never satisfied. She is never thankful. She is never content. She just wants more and more. She is never satisfied.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says: ‘Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.’ (Hebrews 13: 5) Being satisfied, being content is difficult. It’s not always easy to trust God, and to trust that he will provide and will not abandon us. But that is what this season of Pentecost is all about. God promised his followers that he would not leave them. He would send his Holy Spirit to be a constant living presence with them. And he did. The Holy Spirit of God, the Comforter, the Breath of God will be with us for all time.

May you know the Holy Spirit with you and those you love.

With my love and prayers,

Steph

PS We walked from the Wallace Collection to Selfridges. My daughter-in-law wanted to go. She hadn’t been there before. Is it like a big Banbury’s?!  Hmm. Sort of…a bit! We didn’t stay long. Funnily enough, just being there made us all feel rather dissatisfied….