Blog on the Learig

  16 July 2026 At school, we discovered Cartesian co-ordinates. In two dimensional space, each point has two co-ordinates which can be mapped onto a grid with horizontal and vertical lines intersecting at the point (0,0). The system was created by Rene Descartes, hence the name. In this way, the French mathematician was able to transform geometry into algebra. Geometrical shapes became algebraic functions which could then be handled much more readily. Geometrical shapes and pictures cannot be easily manipulated. In the introduction to, ‘Sense of the Sacramental’ which was edited by David Brown and Ann Loades, the editors write about the co-ordinates of sacred space.   It is faith which generates   its own set of spatial and temporal co-ordinates. Are these co-ordinates like the co-ordinates in Cartesian space which mark the transformation from geometry to algebra? What is the transformation being effected here? What happens in sacred space allows us to enter the K...

  15 July 2026 ‘What’s your best discovery?’ asked the mole. ‘That I’m enough as I am.’ said the boy. ‘I’ve realized why we are here.’ whispered the boy. ‘For cake?’ asked the mole. ‘To love,’ said the boy. ‘And be loved,’ said the horse. This is an extract from an extraordinary story book entitled, ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’. It was written by Charlie Mackesy. The dialogue is handwritten and the illustration is a mixture of water-colour and ink. The characters in the book are on a journey to reach home. ‘What do we do when our hearts hurt?’ asked the boy. ‘We wrap them with friendship, shared tears and time, till they wake hopeful   and happy again.’ ‘Do you have any other advice?’ asked the boy. ‘Don’t measure how valuable you are by the way you are treated.’ said the horse. ‘Always remember you matter, you’re important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can.’

  14 July 2026 Every Spring, something tumultuous happened in our house. My mother embarked on her annual Spring clean! The whole house was cleaned and dusted from top to bottom. The big square carpet in the living room was taken out to the garden and beaten mercilessly. The blankets were whipped off the beds. They were washed thoroughly in the sink – two joined together with a ringer in between. As boys, my brother and I stood in the sinks along with the blankets and stamped them to death! Every cupboard in the kitchen was emptied of dishes, pots and pans, old jam jars, shoes, food, packets of custard, semolina, sago and lots more! The cupboards were thoroughly washed down and the contents returned. Well, not quite. My mother didn’t like clutter. She hated having things she never used. Excess crockery and ornaments, tins and utensils were all thrown out or kept aside for the next kirk sale. Recycling and decluttering are important virtues with a spiritual dimension. ‘Go, s...

  13 July 2026 On my bookshelves, I have a book   entitled, ‘The Edge of Glory’. It is a book of prayers for personal and group use written by David Adam, formerly vicar on   the Island of Lindisfarne. I bought it forty years ago   in 1986 with its   alluring   subtitle, ‘Prayers in the Celtic tradition.’ Adam begins his introduction with these words, ‘Whoever wrote St. Patrick’s Breastplate has certainly caught the essence of Celtic prayer.’ We sing two versions of this great hymn in our Church Hymnary. Mrs Alexander’s ‘I bind unto myself today’ (Hymn 639) and Father Quinn’s delightful ‘Christ be beside me’ (Hymn 577). The last forty years has seen an extraordinary interest in what is called Celtic Christianity. It is largely illusionary inspired by Alexander Carmichael’s fascinating six volume, ‘Carmina Gadelica’. He was a tax official working across   the Hebridean islands and   collecting prayers and runes which had been passed down by w...

  12 July 2026 Carlo Rovelli, world-renowned Italian scientist, has written a book entitled, ‘There are Places in the World Where Rules are Less Important than Kindness’. It is a compilation of articles which he has written over the past fifteen years. The first   is about, ‘Aristotle the Scientist’. His theory about objects of different weight falling to the earth at different speeds was debunked by Galileo Galilei. Rather than take Aristotle’s view as fact, he carried out a famous experiment from the leaning Tower of Pisa. Rather than take Galileo’s view as containing a generalised truth, Rovelli writes, ‘Try dropping a glass marble and a paper cup from a balcony.’ As a consequence of this experiment, it will become clear that the glass marble falls much faster which is what Aristotle had said! He is challenging the bad press which grew up around Aristotelian science as a result of Galileo’s scathing attacks upon him. Whilst it it true that the science of Aristotle i...