Posted on: 6th August 2026

What was that? That was your life, Mate! Oh, that was quick. Do I get another? Sorry, Mate. That's your lot… Back to the world of dreams.

Sadly, very sadly, I can quote verbatim far too many lines from arguably the greatest comedy series of all time (in my humble opinion), the majestic ‘Fawlty Towers’ written by John Cleese and Connie Booth. The relationship between Basil and Sybil Fawlty has always intrigued me. On one level they seem to have so much antipathy for each other, yet at the same time, it feels like, in essence, they can’t exist without each other. That can be said for a lot of relationships, what you see above the ground might seem somewhat fragile, two distinct and disparate stems snapping and battling against each other in the breeze of life. Yet the unseen reality hidden underneath is that their roots are deeply entangled together, so profoundly that they cannot be ever completely separated.

Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven as like a mustard seed, from which a mighty mustard tree grows, and horticulturally not only was the plant known to be rapidly growing, and with a dense foliage that attracts birds and insects, as Jesus described, but it is also a plant that is well adapted to the difficulties of growing in a semi-arid region. It can survive low water availability and heat through deep and invasive roots which penetrate deep into the soil and become entangled. Maybe then the Kingdom of Heaven is more akin to the ‘love’ that exists between Basil and Sybil, than it is a cutesy and the kind of sugar-coated love that some suggest. Maybe the Kingdom of Heaven is a tough, unconditional, real and entangled love that permeates through all levels of society and creation. A love that washes the feet of the homeless, a love that feeds the hungry and welcomes the stranger…absolutely. But also a love that fights for the planet and calls out injustice and discrimination; a love that turns over the tables in the temple and sometimes feels constrained by the institution of the church; a love that is doesn’t pull the punches and sweep anger under the carpet; a love that surprises and confounds. Real love, entangled love, Kingdom love.

Well may I ask what you expected to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain…