· stillpoint ·

  A Timeless Prayer. My Lord God I have no idea where I am going    I do not see the road ahead of me.   I cannot know for certain where it will end.   Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.   But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.    And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.   I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.   And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.    Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.    I will not fear for you are with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.     Thomas Merton,(1915-1968) Thomas Merton, as some of you will know, was a Trappist monk whose writings on the spiritual life were very influential in the...

  Yesterday was Ascension Day when we remember the physical departure of Jesus from this earth.  In the words of the Nicene Creed:  On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.    A couple of sentences before this we are told that  by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man. In church we say words like this Sunday after Sunday but can sometimes miss their import  -sometimes great truths can be hidden in plain sight.   One of the Christians claims about the Ascension is that now there is humanity in the heart of the Trinity.  The Jesus that was made man is the same Jesus that returns to heaven and God will never be the same again because of this.  I do believe God can change in some ways, not in...

  I am writing this on the evening of election day in Scotland and the local elections in England and Wales.  The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity re-released a song to the tune of Abide with Me inspiring and challenging us to live our Christian calling through the whole of  life and society.   https://youtu.be/2Lp2mMpSa1E We seek your truth throughout every sphere We long for heaven's demonstration here Jesus your light shine bright for all to see Transform, revive and  heal society. Before all things, in him were all things made, Inspiring culture, media and trade, May all our work serve your economy Transform, revive and  heal society. Peace truth and justice reigning everywhere With us be present in the public square Fill all who lead with your integrity Transform, revive and  heal society. Forgive us Lord when we have not engaged Failing to scribe your heart on history's page, Make us again what we were made to be Transform, revive a...

  Podcasts were one of my discoveries during this last year of lockdowns etc.   Not being able to visit people or follow a lot of my usual work patterns or socialising I really enjoyed listening to a wide variety of interesting and educative programs.   It was usually time well spent and opened up to me a whole new world of information and commentary, theories and discussions that I still find fascinating.   I love a good conversation that gets into the substantive issues of the day or a well delivered presentation that really enhances my understanding of important topics.    Or even an insight into a quirky part of history or our amazingly diverse cultures that I knew absolutely nothing about. We do live in an amazing world with so much to find out and learn and that includes the world of the Spirit and how God works in our lives.   There were many interesting podcasts I listened to covering a lot of theological and spiritual issues, and I would oft...

  Next weekend will mark the 30 th anniversary of my start in Christian ministry.   A large part of these years has been spent visiting homes.   First of all students from all around the world in their residences in Glasgow, then folk all over the south side of Glasgow, then in Kandy, Sri Lanka, followed by Aberdeen and now Bishopbriggs.    Thirty years of conversations in many varied contexts and through the whole gamut of human emotions and life cycles.   It doesn’t take much for memories to surface and I can recall hundreds of faces and innumerable homes.    It is a rare privilege to be welcome in homes in this way as a Christian minister and my life has been deeply enriched by it.   Ina and I have also shared our own home for everything from student supper parties to bible studies, vestry meetings to pot luck meals, pastoral conversations to teddy bear picnics in the garden. One of my guiding bible verses for this ministry has been 1 T...

The coverage of the life of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has revealed much about him younger generations (well anyone below 50) simply did not know.    For the last two decades or so his public persona has been as an increasingly elderly man slowly fading from the national scene.    It’s been quite a revelation to many, including myself, all that he had done in his earlier years and midlife and the profile he had.   This included helping to modernise the monarchy, encourage a more innovative and science friendly Britain, as well of course his role in the D of E scheme and the World Wildlife Fund. When a new minister comes to a church and meet our older church members it can be easy to forget that they were young once and in the full vigour of life.   The church too may have been younger and more energetic too, since churches, like people, have their own lifecycles.     And of course as we pass older folk in the street or the superm...

  “A  workaround is  a bypass of a recognized problem or limitation in a system or policy. A  workaround is  typically a temporary fix that implies that a genuine solution to the problem  is  needed.” For example at St James a combination of I-phones, lap tops and tablets in various locations and combinations patch together a decent enough online service.   However, workarounds are never a long term answer and the time is coming to invest in some proper technology and training that will allow us to have a far more straightforward solution that will also deliver the best possible quality of service. We can try to find work arounds in our ethical and moral lives too. We try to earn God’s forgiveness so our Christian faith becomes a religion of sin management. Or we try to run our lives or our church with our agenda and resources, unwilling to give up control.   Or we find workarounds in difficult relationships when a direct honest conversat...