The Beauty of Silence...

Friendship and the Unspectacular

I’m just back from a day with my pal Richard on, in his terms, a ‘cheeky wee Corbett’ (a Corbett is a hill between 2,500-2,999feet) near Crianlarich. Beinn nan Imirean can’t actually be seen from the road and is surrounded by much higher peaks both close by but also on the wider horizon, as we were to discover. It was a bit of a slog as the ground was rough and paths were few and sketchy but as we climbed slowly out of the frosty and frozen Glen Dochart with it’s -6 degrees C temperature and low lying cloud this was more than compensated for by the wonderful views that opened up in the clear winter sunshine. Finally from the top we had a good panoramic view over many miles and could indulge in one of our favourite mountain top past times…identifying all the hills we could see, Richard’s knowledge being much more extensive than mine, since he has climbed far more of them. As 2026 opens up I want to share a few take aways from this...

Lambing Snows and Holy Week

(photo courtesy of Abi Bull, Isle of Skye) Lambing snow is the name given to an early spring snowfall that can catch some of the wee lambs out who are born at the start of the season. Farmers have to watch out for this and, given care and shelter, the lambs are usually able to survive. It coincides too with the images of daffodils emerging through a covering of late snow, a similar sign of hope and new life in a forbidding and even hostile environment. Nevertheless there is something beautiful of this setting of fragile life against the rawness of nature, something that speaks to the heart of the human condition and the poignancy of it all. I write this on a Good Friday which is set in a global context of much uncertainty and even fear and desperation. The centuries old story that we are taken back to again and again by the turning of the season, of a God who died for a suffering and broken world, seems to have more resonance than ever. ...

The hopes of children and invention of new colours

On a dark cold winter night as I left the Leisure Centre just before closing time I noticed them ...suspended in the foyer, the stars that primary school children had made expressing their Christmas wishes and hopes for 2026. A surprising number asked for peace in the world and to see more of their family. And then there was this one which included the following: I hope Oban gets a Macdonalds I hope that more colours are invented I hope the everyone has a merry Christmas I hope that the women in Sudan are okay. What wonderful young human beings, able to express the joy and hopes of childhood whilst being aware that all is not well with our world. It's been a crazy roller coaster ride in the month since these stars were put up and it is easy to despair for humanity and our future. We are reminded though by George Herbert; And for all this, nature is never spent; There lives the dearest freshness d...

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