I was born and brought up in the small market town of Sturminster Newton in North Dorset. My home was a miniature version of Regents Park Zoo; we kept chickens, pigs, rabbits, ferrets, plus cats and a dog. The dog’s name was ‘Spot’ because of the markings on his face. When it came to us kids Spot was a true tail wagging winner. I came home from school one day to find Spot sitting on the doorstep, drooping ears, limp tail, sad eyes, head turning sideways looking as if to say ‘how could they do this to me’.

The problem was that Spot had an incurable habit of scratching doors, if he wanted to leave the house, instead of barking or whining as most dogs would do, Spot would scratch. All the doors in our house had ‘Spot’ scratches on them, and no matter how much he was told not to scratch he took no notice. Spot was addicted to scratching, so my mum had had enough and shut the door on him.

One week into the New Year and how many of us are feeling distinctly unhealthy as a result of over-indulgence during the past two weeks? What do we need to be physically healthy?

The basics are - a good diet, enough rest and regular exercise. They can be used as useful illustrations for our spiritual health too. Take “diet” – what sort of “food” do we absorb each day to keep your soul well-fed? A healthy diet would include digesting God’s viewpoint and commands in the Bible, deliberately spending time with Christ-like people who enjoy God’s company, using discernment in TV viewing and reading. “Rest” we could liken to a peaceful mind which decides to trust in God’s goodness and wisdom, even when things are falling apart around them.

Today, the 1st January, is an ideal time to look both backwards and forwards (January was named after Janus - a Roman god who supposedly looked both forward and backwards)

Somebody once said about driving, “A rear-view mirror is great for glancing at but fatal for gazing at”.