Blog on the Learig

  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...

  11 July 2026 Although Scotland has had an early departure from the World Cup, their fans made a big impact on the game. So much so that the Mayor of Boston expressed her gratitude for the Tartan Army in a full page spread in the Boston Sunday Globe. This is what she wrote: ‘Dear Tartan Army, you came for the World Cup, but gave us something more. For a week, you turned train stations into sing-alongs, Fenway into a football ground, and an ordinary June into something we'll be talking about for years…. Thank you for the laughter, the bagpipes and the memories. The World Cup will move on. So will the songs, but we'll never forget the joy you brought to our city.’ The Tartan Army reciprocated with a full page spread in the Herald. ‘Dear Boston, thank you for welcoming us with open arms, open bars and open minds ….   Boston, you’ve embraced us like long-lost cousins who turned up unannounced, drank all your beer, decorated your statues and somehow remained welcome. You are...

  10 July 1996 – From My Diary 1996 At the end of June, the Rector at Wallace High invited me to chair the Junior Awards Ceremony. It was packed out with parents. One of our local rugby players and a former pupil addressed   the students.   He had just returned from a tour of New Zealand with the Scottish International Squad. Although they were defeated, ‘We gave it our best shot!’ he said. And that was the   point of   his address. In passing, he made reference to his height.    At 5’6”, some people didn’t believe he could ever play for Scotland. But, ‘I had a dream and I stuck with it!’ he concluded. The following day, I had to say a prayer at the University of Stirling Graduation. The Albert Hall was out of commission because of the Cullen Enquiry into the massacre at Dunblane. Instead, we were in the Tennis Centre at the University. The students were neither hooded nor capped in this ceremony. That night, we had a celebration of our own in ...

  9 July 2026 We are used to hearing about sexism and the difficulties which girls and women face in trying to achieve equality   with men in education, sport and workplace. What is sometimes overlooked are the difficulties which boys face in the arts and, in particular, dance. There was an article in the ‘Sunday Times’ about the Billy Elliot effect and whether it has had a lasting impact on boys who are keen to become ballet dancers.        Whilst there is still prejudice against boys becoming ballet dancers, the landscape has changed. When the auditions were being held for the original Billy Elliott film, only one out of hundreds of boys who showed up for the audition was a ballet dancer. For the stage revival this year, it was a completely different story because of the attention paid to boys following the film in 2000. When our younger son was at the music school at Douglas Academy, he got to know the ballet students at Knightswood. At...