20 August 2026 ‘Awe seems to resist precise definition and measurement, the bedrock of science.’ writes Dacher Kelmer in ‘Awe – The Transformative Power of Everyday Wonder.’ He goes on to give his definition, ‘Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.’ He lists no less than eight wonders of life which lead to awesome experiences – moral beauty, collective effervescence, nature, music, visual design, spiritual and religious, life and death and epiphanies. For me, the natural world is a constant source of awesome emotions. He says several things about awe. Feelings of awe are intrinsically good. Our experiences do not depend on wealth. Awe promotes the reverential treatment of nature. The point of visual art is to evoke awe. The spiritual life grows out of awe. Experiencing awe in the world of nature is especially good for your physical and mental health. People experience greater happiness and goo...
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19 August 2026 In the seventeenth century ‘Directory for the Publick Worship of God’ which accompanied the ‘Westminster Confession of Faith’ there is an appendix entitled, ‘Touching Days and Places for Publick Worship’. The days are straightforward – the Sabbath is the only day ‘to be kept holy under the gospel’. As for places for public worship, the authors begin, ‘As no place is capable of any holiness, under pretence of whatsoever dedication or consecration …’ They are making it quite clear that buildings have no holiness in themselves even if they have been subject to a prayer of dedication. The seventeenth century reformers were making this claim as part of their argument for reusing buildings which had formerly been consecrated for Roman Catholic worship. They went on to argue that since buildings had no holiness in themselves any act of dedication could not confer holiness upon them. As a result, they were not ‘polluted’ and therefore they concluded that ‘we hold i...
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18 August 2026 In 1961, the Church of Scotland was gifted Carberry Tower. It was redesigned as a youth leadership training and conference centre. In 1965, a chapel was built in the parkland. It was designed by the architect David Hermand Reid of Ian Lindsay and Partners. It had several remarkable features. Two-thirds of the building was outside in the parkland for the chapel was fronted on the east wall entirely by glass. Whilst you were in the chapel, you could see the grass, the trees and the whole natural environment. It was drawn into the worship space. In addition, the design was a mixture of the old and new. The stone was similar to that used to build the estate cottages and outbuildings. Inside there was a wooden baluster screen which ran across the full width of the chapel underneath the gallery. It was a reference to the baluster screen at Falkland Palace. My first visit to the Carberry Chapel made a big impact. Colin Day was the Warden. H...
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17 August 2026 Bourton-on-the-Water is a beautiful village in the rural Cotswolds. But it has been having problems. Too many visitors are coming to admire its beauty and embrace its charm. Busloads of them. And the small town of some 4,000 people have got fed up. They have been protesting. It hasn’t been an aggressive protest like the Spanish with their water pistols firing at unsuspecting holiday-makers. No! They decided to have a picnic on the banks of the River Windrush, a shallow, clear water river running through the town. It is straddled by low-lying stone bridges. In this protest the townsfolk were simply trying to reclaim their green and river from the tourists. From 10am until 4pm, the town is far too busy for the townsfolk to enjoy their own amenity. So they made what the Sunday Times described as ‘Britain’s first (awfully polite) overtourism protest’. We visited Bourton-on-the-Water in 2024. Fortunately, no-one was protesting our arrival. We had spent the morni...
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16 August 2026 – A Prayer for Sunday Lord, in the light of the sun and the gift of the day – let us rise in Your love. In the company of friends gathered together as a church – let us rise in Your love. In sadness and sorrow and the things which affect us deeply – let us rise in Your love. In endings and beginnings and the promise of new life in both – let us rise in Your love. In the company of the risen Christ and all the saints who have gone before us – let us rise in Your love through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
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15 August 2026 Gen Z or Generation Z or Zoomers are the members of the population who were born between 1997 and 2012. They are known to be ‘digital natives’ because they were brought up with the smartphone and social media. Theos has been interviewing thirty of them. Madeleine Davies reported the findings in the Church Times. The group comprised thirty people who had begun attending an Anglican church for the first time in the five years since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Almost all the interviewees expressed the view that Generation Z was ‘spiritually curious'. Unlike their parents and grandparents, questions about God interested them. Four interesting things. Firstly, the breadth of the Church of England was seen as a strength. Some were drawn to high church liturgy. Some were drawn to evangelical preaching. What put some people off, others relished and found stimulating. Secondly, Christianity was appealing precisely because it offers an alternative to modern s...
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14 August 2026 On Wednesday, we saw a screening of one of the world’s most celebrated films, ‘Andrei Rublev’. It was directed by the Russian, Andrei Tarkovsky. He made seven films in his lifetime and they are all rated very highly. He was one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the film hence the showing at the DCA in Dundee. It was long – three hours. It is loosely based on the life of Russia’s most famous icon-writer, Andrei Rublev, an Orthodox Christian and a monk. At the time of its production, Russia was an intensely atheist state and had laws governing what was permissible in the cinema. Tarkovsky’s film was heavily censored because of its Christian content. When it was shown in Cannes it won an award and in America it was shortened for commercial reasons. There are two graphic moments. The first is the attack of the Tartars. Their brutality is vividly portrayed especially when they break down the door of t...