Blog on the Learig

  21 June 2026 – Fathers’ Day It is widely recognised that there is a crisis in fatherhood and, in particular, the absence of fathers in the lives of their children.   This absence is related to educational underachievement, mental health issues and imprisonment especially among boys. Consider these facts:  By the age of 14, nearly half of first-born children in the UK do not live with both natural parents. ·         The Centre for Social Justice highlights how 2.5 million children in the UK have no father figure at home. ·     Over 90% of teachers believe that fatherlessness negatively impacts boys’ behaviour and academic achievement.        Suicide remains the leading cause of death for men under 50 in the UK. In his Dimbleby Lecture, Gareth Southgate highlighted the importance of male role models in a boy’s life. ‘I’ve always believed, ‘You don’t need to be a dad to be a father figure.’’   Fewer men work in...

  20 June 2026 Gavin Peacock was a celebrated footballer playing for Newcastle United and Chelsea. At the end of his career, he became a football pundit on the television. Now he is a Baptist minister. He has written about it all in his autobiography, ‘A Greater Glory: From Pitch to Pulpit’. He became a Christian when he was a teenager. He attended a Methodist Church with his mother and was invited by the minister to come along to a youth Bible Study. This led to a greater commitment and eventually to church membership. In his autobiography, he writes, ‘When I became a Christian, I became a better player simply because football fell into its right place in my life and I was a more rounded person.’ In an age where young men are suffering from various mental health issues, Peacock celebrates his Christian faith. Firstly, he says, ‘When a man comes to faith in Jesus Christ, he gains   a perspective on life and football that wasn’t there before. Suddenly there is more to l...

  19 June 2026 One tends to think that there is more uniformity in the Roman Catholic Church than in the Scottish Presbyterian Church. But I wonder. Our hymn sandwich is pretty uniform and the centrality of the Word and, certainly, the preaching of the Word is universal. At the moment, there have been several issues with the liturgy in the Roman Catholic Church. In particular, the Tridentine Mass.   Pope Benedict had encouraged its use. Pope Francis tried to outlaw it. Young people seem to be attracted to it. Pope Leo is more conciliatory. As well as this issue, division appeared in the Eastern Catholic Church in Kerala. It was all about whether or not the priest should be facing East or facing the congregation. This was partially resolved by the Pope’s wisdom, giving space for more reflection and discussion. In addition to these things, there are two other concerns which Pope Leo has about the liturgy. And I think that they also relate to our worship in the Church of ...

  18 June 2026 There was an interesting article in the recent issue of ‘New Scientist’ entitled, ‘A Revolution in Maths’. The summary of the article ran like this, ‘The stunning progress AI is making in maths is leaving some questioning whether there will still be room for humans.’ discovers Alex Wilkins. It is only in the last few years that mathematicians have become aware that AI has the potential to revolutionise the field of mathematics. This is leaving some mathematicians worried about their jobs. If a mathematician chose to study a particular field, how will he know whether   AI will beat him to it? Some clearly welcome   the mechanisation of mathematics which has become increasingly collaborative since the middle of last century. Now there is collaboration not only with other mathematicians but with AI too. ‘The future will be some combination of human and machine.’ said one mathematician. Whereas some mathematicians find fulfilment in solving a problem, o...

  17 June 2026 – From My Diary 1996 There was a lot of school work this week. I attended the School Board. There were two controversies. The first was the criterion for determining who went into a composite class. Parents favoured ability but the staff favoured age. Children’s ability can vary over several subjects. The second was the use of an additional allocation of a 0.9 teacher. People were divided. Some wanted it allocated to an additional classroom teacher. Others wanted it used for music, art and craft. I favoured the latter. It stimulates creativity and nourishes the soul. As a parent, I volunteered to go on Colin’s school trip. It began with a climb up Dumyat. I observed, ‘The children loved to stop and eat.’ We didn’t reach the top despite having a very strict ranger in charge. ‘She was dismissed from the Gestapo for cruelty.’ whispered another father. The children had a picnic in the Cochrane Park in Alva and continued to the Forthbank Stadium where they had the...

  16 June 2026 Rosamund Pike was not the first actor to challenge a member of the audience who was misbehaving during her performance. He was on his mobile phone. The light created by this activity was distracting. Her ability to hold the attention of the audience was compromised by his inattention. I don’t know whether it is because I am now an old minister filling pulpits because charges don’t have their own ministers or whether the landscape has changed dramatically since I was a parish minister but I have witnessed some bad behaviour in the round. In one service, an elder was sitting near the front of the church drinking a coffee out of a Costa coffee cup   whilst looking at his mobile phone. I thought he might have been drinking water but Mary-Catherine saw his water bottle too. How distracting is that? On another occasion, an elder stood up just after the Benediction and started asking a controversial question which should have been asked privately. The ending of...