We all love a bargain.

I was asked by a few friends what had happened to my two little birds. One person just the other day said she was missing them. I know one or two others who never liked them at all. But then what a boring life and world it would be if we were all the same. 

So for those who have missed them here is a little Chinese sketch and low and behold they have appeared back. Apologies that it is a very fast sketch time was at a premium. I will try better next time.

But having said that it is a bit of a bargain because if anybody does like it I have not put a copyright on it.  

We all love a bargain, but I also remember what my mother and my mother in law used to say about bargains and deals, " You only ever get in life what you pay for." What they meant was that many a bargain ended up not being such. Often a beargain lacked quality.

I remember when I was a very new minister and still a bit naive I was offered a bargain. it was just about the time when the new English Bible translation was being made available for sale. I was out with some friends when somebody I knew, but not well, sat beside me and whispered, "Minister, would you be interested in purchasing a case of those new bibles at a very good price?"

I remembered another saying I had heard, " Never buy a television at a bargain price from a man who is out of breath."

There are of course some real bargains if we are careful. I remember in the days when before my university working in a butchers shop. An older lady who was a good customer had paid for her purchases and remembered she had forgotten to get a bone for making soup.  I rushed through to the back-shop and selected a lovely large bone which would have made a grand pot of soup. I told her she could have it free. She said that there must be something wrong with it she would rather have one she had paid for. 

I returned to the back and took a cleaver and halved the bone. When I gave her the bone I charged her a small amount which she paid happily. So half of what she might have had for nothing paid for. 

At the markets in France, you can often hear people haggle over the price. Questioning a price was an almost standard procedure.  One such haggle went like this, "How much are these cucumbers?" "Two Euros for five." The lady pushed one aside. "And how much is this one?" "One Euro." "Okay. I'll take the other four for the one Euro."  Now here was a lady looking for a real bargain.

The leader of the City of Glasgow, when urged by Councillors to buy some property thought to be an "extraordinary opportunity for the city," said, "If they're selling elephants two for a ten pounds, that's a great bargain. But only if you have ten pounds and only if you need elephants."  

Beware of bargains. It is the same with life, if the road you are travelling seems very easy then it is possible you are travelling the wrong road.

Have a great day.