Blog on the Learig

  16 April 2026 It’s seven years since Notre Dame de Paris went on fire. President Macron declared on the night of the fire that it would be rebuilt. It was very successfully rebuilt in five years. What was immediately striking was the affection in which the cathedral was held by the French nation whether believers or not. In response to this tragedy, Ken Follett wrote a short book about Notre Dame with the subtitle ‘A Short History of the Meaning of Cathedrals’. ‘I’m not a religious believer, yet despite that I go to church.’ he wrote. Why? 'l love the architecture, the music, the words of the Bible and the sense of sharing something profound with other people.’ There were two other reasons. ‘I have long found deep spiritual peace in the great cathedrals, as do millions of people, believers and non-believers alike.’ In addition, he wrote, ‘My love of the cathedrals inspired the novel that is certainly my most popular book and probably my best.’ In his book, he asks an unus...

  15 April 2026 I was never the beneficiary of continuous assessment. All my exam passes were based solely on written examinations under the supervision of an invigilator. In mathematics, we had to memorise formula and never had access to a calculator. Times changed with multiple choice questions, continuous assessment and less reliance on closed book invigilated examinations. This approach continued to develop right into the twenty-first century. And with it came a cultural change in University education. Students became customers and academic staff became service providers. There was an expectation that students would get value for money and that meant examination passes. There was less emphasis on the invigilated examination. During the Covid pandemic, there were no formal examinations. After fifty years of development, things are beginning to change again with the invention of AI which can not only write academic courses but produce essays and solutions at the press of ...

  14 April 2026 Cuba has been in the news recently because of an American blockade causing suffering amongst its people. It has also appeared in ‘Transform’, the magazine produced by the Scottish Bible Society. It was one of the countries featured in an article, ‘Reaching Around the World’. Apparently, the Cuban Bible Society was founded in September 2023. ‘The big frustration is that we don’t have enough Bibles especially not for children and for young people who have just come to faith.’ said the Cuban Bible Society President, Joel Ortega Dopico. They have initiated a very ambitious project entitled, ‘One million Bibles for Cuba’. They are hoping to reach 50,000 house churches and new churches which are being established across all the denominations. The growth seems phenomenal. ‘Our churches are full of children. And they are important to reach others like their parents.’ said the President. Some of these churches have over 400 children and thousands of members.   N...

  13 April 2026 It is very satisfying to think that the reality of Jesus is confirmed not only by the historical accounts in the Gospels but in sources outside   the Church. Studying Latin at school, I was intrigued to read one of the Younger Pliny’s letters in which he describes Christian worship ‘in honour of Christ as if to a god’. The first century historian, Flavius Josephus, pays tribute to Jesus in these terms, ‘Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works – a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure’. What I like about the writings of Josephus is that he surprises us in saying a little more about the nature of Jesus. He writes that he was ‘a doer of wonderful works’ and implies that he was much more than a human being! The most important reference to the existence of Jesus outside the Gospels is in the writings of the Roman historian, Tacitus. He says that the Emperor Ne...

  12 April 2026 -   Doubting Thomas A week after Easter, the risen Christ appears again to his disciples. He enters the locked doors of the Upper Room and says to them, ‘ Peace be with you.’ Then he offers Thomas the opportunity to become a scientist not only to see the evidence but to handle it! Strangely, Thomas doesn’t   take up the offer to touch the wounded hands and side. It was unnecessary. Thomas was the beneficiary of that mysterious gift which we call faith! ‘ My Lord and my God!’ he says. He saw the risen Lord but he couldn’t see the living God. This was beyond the visible, beyond the sense of touch. It came from God himself and the mystery of what his Son achieved through his dying and rising again. Unlike Thomas, we cannot see the risen Christ nor touch his wounded hands and side. The evidence we do have is the Gospel narrative which has been preserved down through the centuries. And, of course, the amazing witness of those who have ‘ not seen and y...

  11 April 2026 – From My Diary 1996 A grandfather sought my advice. His wife suffered from dementia. He had organised a three day holiday with his grandchildren but wondered about going. I encouraged him to create memories with his family whilst his wife was in respite. When I visited her in hospital, she was not happy. Pastoral decisions are fraught with difficulty. A woman was delivering flowers. I suggested she give some to her neighbour, a widow who came infrequently to the kirk. The neighbour was thrilled. She sent a card and ‘I enclose a small donation anonymously towards whatever your good-self thinks best.’   The £100 confirmed the value of the  ministry of flowers. In the S2 classes, I read George Layton’s brilliant tale, ‘The Mile’. It illuminates a surprising way to avenge   the bully. At the Primary School, I did an assembly on POGs – the slam dunk and the POG hog, an adult who confiscates POGs. Everyone in the Primary 6 turned to their   teac...