Today a nice man from Sky is supposed to be coming to fix our tellybox. This should mean that we are once more able to access far more channels than we will ever watch. For the past week we have been ‘slumming it’ with Freeview, which still has lots of channels that are caught effortlessly by our TV aerial, like a fly in a spider’s web, and then are stuffed unceremoniously down the cables into the TV box waiting for us to choose one of them.

When the Sky box died last week I was surprised at how much I had come to rely on it for feeding telly programmes to me, and how much I had come to expect the multiplicity of (sometimes useless) channels from which to select the few favourites I usually watch. The Freeview selection is smaller and feels somehow inadequate, even though it is far more than I have had for most of my life.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the first telly I can remember us having as I was growing up was a small black and white portable and we only had three (yes three!) channels available. BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. This is not a nostalgia moment, nor am I about to express how good it was in t’good old days. It’s simply a recognition of how quickly we assimilate to new technology and new additions to our life.

And that’s the rub. We also quickly assimilate stuff that is not so healthy for us (physically, emotionally or spiritually) and find that after a while it doesn’t bother us like it used to. We become flabby (physically, emotionally or spiritually) and are happy like that. Sometimes we need a moment to stop and take stock of what and who is important in our life. And to realise where we need to do some work (with God’s help) to get back on track.

Go on. Stop now. Pause. Reflect. Pray. Resolve.

Be blessed, be a blessing.

The top ten reasons men should join the church choir:

10. Rehearsals are every Wednesday night. Which means that for those few hours, you will significantly reduce your risk of contracting tendinitis from nonstop operation of a television remote control or computer mouse.

9. If you wear a choir robe, you are liberated from a task many men find quite challenging: finding clothes that match properly.

8. From your special vantage point every Sunday, in which you look out at the entire congregation from the choir seats, you will develop interesting new hobbies. Among these is a little guessing game called “Who’s Praying, Who’s Sleeping?”

7. On the other hand, sitting in full view of people on a weekly basis makes it much less likely that you yourself will give in to a chronic lack of sleep. Although it has been known to happen.

6. If you think your singing in the shower sounds good now, just wait till you’ve been singing with others for a few weeks.

5. Singing in a choir is one of the few activities for men that does not require electronics equipment or expensive power tools. This could be good for the family budget.

4. For the fitness buffs, singing in the Choir is not only heart healthy, it’s soul healthy. But there are no monthly membership fees, and it’s a lot easier on the knees than jogging.

3. If you think you’ve done everything there is to do, and there are no great challenges left in life, try singing and staying on pitch.

2. Choir rehearsal lasts half as long as a football match (with half time break included), but is at least twice as satisfying. This is especially true if you are a long-suffering fan of Ipswich Town.

And the number 1 reason men should join the choir:

1. When people ask you whether you’ve been behaving yourself, you can say with the utmost sincerity, “Hey, I’m a Choir Boy.”