Blog on the Learig

  12 March 2026 In ‘Common Order’ authorised by the General Assembly in 1994, there are five liturgies for the celebration of the Sacrament. In the   introduction to the book, we learn that the second Order ‘reflects the Celtic tradition’. Of the five orders for morning worship, the fourth ‘contains material from the    Celtic tradition’. In his history of worship in the Church of Scotland, Bryan Spinks records that Peter Thomson in his critique of ‘Common Order’ ‘believed that since the Celtic tradition is only a small part of the whole, the Celtic material stood out somewhat awkwardly.’ The Iona Community has been instrumental in popularising what has become known as Celtic Christianity. George MacLeod was the romantic exemplar. But Professor Donald Meek in ‘The Quest for Celtic Christianity’ considers it ‘one of the great illusions of our time’. Criticising the elasticity of this   phenomenon and its dependence on Alexander Carmichael’s ‘Carmina Gadel...

  11 March 2026 We have heard for ourselves … and we know that Jesus is truly the Saviour of the World. He is the one, nay, he is the only one who can ultimately remove the burdens which we carry on  our backs like an   erstwhile Pilgrim making his progress to the Celestial City.   ‘Rarely will anyone die for a righteous person …! ’ says St. Paul. Can you name one? ‘Though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.’ And who comes into this category of goodness? ‘But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.’ Now we have no problem asking, ‘Who comes into this category?’ It’s not just   one nor two nor one here nor there. It is   everyone and the beauty of it all is that we are all united in our need and in our sin! We may miss being classed as righteous and we may miss being classed as good. But none of us will ever miss being classed as a sinner. And if our boast is not in this categoris...

  10 March 2026 During the last week of his captivity, the prison Chaplain invited Jonathan Aitken, the former cabinet minister,   to preach in the chapel. He took as his text Psalm 130. The publicity given to this occasion greatly   increased chapel attendance. As the prisoners filed into their seats, Aitken got increasingly nervous. ‘ I think the idea was to give me some teasing … it was crammed like rush hour. ‘ he said. And just before the service began, the raucous rabble was silenced not by Aitken but by Big Face. He had been a gang boss in London. As he enters the chapel, with a couple of burly minders, people make way for him as he takes up his position right at the front of the chapel. Aitken’s nerves almost get the better of him. He’s just six feet away! Something remarkable happens during the service. Far from making trouble, Big Face is visibly moved. There’s some moisture around his eyes. When Aitken finishes, Big Face comes up to him and gives him a ...

  9 March 2026 The woman at the well is touched deeply by Christ’s intimate knowledge of her and the   acceptance he demonstrates through his engaging conversation at Jacob’s well. As a result,   she goes off to the city to tell other people about Jesus. And ‘ Many Samaritans from that city believed because of the woman’s testimony.’ Some may call this missionary endeavour. But that gives it a formal and fearful aspect. The truth is that she couldn’t do anything else. Something remarkable had happened at the well. She couldn’t keep it to herself. She simply had to share it! And this is our testimony too, isn’t it? We have met the risen   Christ by well or in kirk, in illness or in grief, childhood or old age, in shame or guilt and we have been touched by his grace, his forgiveness, his mercy. And things have never been the same again! When she goes off to the city,   she leaves behind her water-jug! I think this is the most charming detail of the whole ...

  8 March 2026 It took thirteen years for God to fulfil his promise of a son for Abraham. In the meantime, we see how faint-hearted, suspicious, jealous and cruel Abraham, Sarah and Hagar become. Forcing God’s hand has disastrous consequences. They lose their peace of mind. God’s purpose was fulfilled despite Abraham’s intervention. It makes you think about the life of faith and the things which God promises to fulfil in us. Sometimes we wait a long time for things to work out – and for some things we are still waiting.   What does God require of us? Isn’t it a steadfast spirit – a willingness not to be put off by a lack of success, immediate results, the fulfilment of his purpose, a willingness not to be so faint-hearted as to force God’s hand or even run away from our appointed time and place. Wherever Abraham went, he built an altar and worshipped God. This is the endurance of the kirk in the twenty-first century. Every Sunday, in every charge   throughout the ...

  7 March 2026 Abraham was obedient but he also exercised tremendous endurance. The writer to the Hebrews captures this beautifully when he describes Abraham and his descendants as ‘ strangers and foreigners on the earth’. Abraham remained forever unsettled, uprooted, vulnerable. He was a stranger. He didn’t belong. He was a foreigner. He lived by different rules. But he didn’t give up. His endurance was sustained not only by the promise but by God’s continual confirmation that his promise would be fulfilled. Abraham lived for a quarter of a century in this uncertain and uncomfortable place. God had made a promise. ‘I will make you a great nation.’ But when was he ever going to fulfil it? Sarah is barren. Abraham is old. They have no children. And even when a son is born, this hardly constitutes a great nation nor fulfils the promise of the starry sky and the sandy seashore! In his obedience, there was much uncertainty. In his endurance, there was much loneliness. Abrah...