Blog on the Learig

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February 03, 2026

4 February 2026 Arthur I Miller wrote an article in ‘The Spectator’ entitled, ‘Fact and Fiction’. It was all about the relationship between science and drama. He highlighted several recent plays which explore a scientific or mathematical theme. He highlighted ‘Arcadia’ by the late Tom Stoppard. In the article, he talks about a letter which Michael Baum, Professor emeritus of surgery and visiting professor of medical humanities at UCL, wrote to the Times following the death of the playwright. He had seen the play and it had a profound impact upon him. I searched the internet for the letter – and here it is: ‘Sir, In 1993 my wife and I went to see the first production of Arcadia by Tom Stoppard and in the interval I experienced a Damascene conversion. As a clinical scientist I was trying to understand the enigma of the behaviour of breast cancer, the assumption being that it grew in a linear trajectory spitting off metastases on its way. In the first act of Arcadia, ...

February 02, 2026

3 February 2026 ‘ Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.’ says Jesus. With that invitation, why should we hesitate to take our requests to God in prayer? But is every request legitimate? I hesitated. One of our children applied for a job. The interview was in two parts and on two separate days. He got through the first and was one of only two taken onto the second stage. ‘ Please God ...’ I could have prayed. Afterall, it was a great opportunity for him. Why shouldn’t I enlist the help of God to secure his appointment? Doesn’t God want the best for him? I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t pray for a successful outcome even though he was my son. When I tried to pray, I couldn’t help thinking about the other applicant’s parents. Were they praying for their son’s success too or were they like me, hesitating? How could I burden God with such a dilemma? I couldn’t and didn’t. Instead, I prayed that the job would be ...

February 01, 2026

2 February 2026 - Candlemas ‘Guided by the Spirit,’ writes St. Luke, ‘Simeon came into the Temple.’ Does this mean that the Spirit guided Simeon on this particular day and at this particular time to go to the Temple. Or is it more true to say that the Spirit guided Simeon to come to the Temple regularly from one year’s end to another. The reason why this is more likely is seen in the outcome of Simeon’s visit. What did he see when he came to the Temple? Why he saw a baby in his mother’s arms – no more, no less! Well that’s the point. He did see more! Others didn’t. The coming into the Temple per se couldn’t make him see more but a long life lived in the Spirit opened him up to the things of God. He saw in the baby a sign which was going to bring light to the Gentiles and glory to the people of Israel. What authenticates this experience is that the sign didn’t simply bring consolation but also destruction! Couldn’t God arrange thi...

January 31, 2026

1 February 2026 One of my favourite films is ‘The Mission’, produced in 1986 and starring Jeremy Irons as Father Gabriel, a Jesuit priest who sets up a mission in Paraguay. The soundtrack was composed by Ennio Morricone, an Italian composer. He recreates the colonial and indigenous music of the eighteenth century. What fascinated me was the way in which Father Gabriel with his famous oboe was able to teach the indigenous people music which belonged to the Spanish Baroque. I wondered whether this was true or not but today I heard it for myself. The University Chapel Choir combined forces with El Parnaso Hyspano who specialise in music from the Spanish Golden Age when the Spanish Empire was at its height (1500-1700). They have recovered indigenous music of the time and yesterday it was played and sung for the first time in Scotland after four hundred years! There were three distinct influences in the music – the European colonisers who came to mine gold and silver, the indi...

January 30, 2026

31 January 2026 Our street is very long – a mile at least. Apparently, when someone is recruited to work as a postman in the local area, they are automatically told to deliver the mail in our very long street. It’s like a rite of passage. Everyone has to do it. It means that we get to know quite a number of the postmen and, at least, one postwoman. A lot of people like to know their ‘postie’ by name and we do too. One of our friends, told us about theirs. One day, he asked her if she knitted. She hesitated for she hadn’t been knitting for a while. ‘Yes.’ she said shakily. The next time postie visited, he had a big black bag full of wool. It came from a shop clearance. Our friend was astonished. What was she going to do with it? She began by knitting a knee warmer. Postie gave it to a relative who took it to a nursing home and gave it to a resident. On a subsequent visit, he brought a photograph of the resident with the knitted blanket over her knees and news that sh...

January 29, 2026

30 January 2026 Matthew Syed was reporting on a recent visit to Florida where there is huge support for President Trump. He met a fifty-year-old woman called Jeanette who has voted consistently for Donald Trump in his bids to become President. Syed found himself pushing back against her admiration for the President. ‘But what about his lying?’ he said. ‘What about his serial deceit?’ A smile crossed her face at what she took to be his naivety and then she let the cat out of the bag, ‘Who cares about truth anymore?’ Clearly, Trump doesn’t care about the truth. Talking about British troops in Afghanistan, he caused outrage by saying that ‘they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines’. No less than 457 British soldiers were killed on the front line and many more injured and disabled for life. It was moving to hear the testimony of mothers of injured and dead soldiers and to see the fortitude of soldiers walking with prosthetic limbs and making something positive o...