Blog on the Learig

  7 September 2026 Jesus was angry, angrier than   anywhere else in the Gospels. He was angry because   his friends were trying to stop   the children coming to see him. ‘Let the children come to me, do not stop them.’ They can teach us about God and his kingdom. Three things. Firstly, it is a gift and not something which we can achieve by our own efforts. That’s why children are right there in the midst of it. And that’s why parents promise not to give their child faith but opportunities to get to know God and be touched by his surprising love. Secondly, God’s kingdom it is an upside down world where the last shall be first. And here Jesus chooses to welcome   the little children who are suddenly made visible. They are no longer obscure, trivial or unimportant but for that moment, they illuminate the character of God’s kingdom. What a privilege! Thirdly, God’s Kingdom is characterised by joy. It is a kingdom of surprises. But perhaps the biggest surpris...

  6 September 2026 Helen Lawrenson sent me a postcard from her holiday cottage. On it, she had written a poem. It was called, ‘Washing Day’. It came on the back of a postcard of miners’ lamps taken from the ‘Lamp Cabin’ at the Beamish Museum. This is her poem: It was a good drying day and in my arms I held the basket (a blue shirt cuff hanging down over the field) when I met the deep eyes of the hind a few feet away. We stood making no sound a long moment or two – she in her coat of foxy brown, I in my red and grey. Then as if processing surprise she turned her head to bound over the fence, while I watching the long grasses sway hung the shirts up to dry. The poet captures the moment beautifully. It is an experience of awe. You don’t have to be in a holy building to experience awe. It’s a gift which is given to all those who look attentively at the natural world and savour the moment. It all happened on an ordinary day when washing was being hung...

  5 September 2026 In the tale of the little taxman, who is reaching out to whom? Clearly Zacchaeus is reaching out to Jesus in his loneliness and isolation. Why else would a chief tax-collector endure the indignity of climbing up a sycamore tree? But Jesus is also reaching out to Zacchaeus. Doesn’t he invite himself to stay at the little man’s house? And why not? ‘The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ he says to a would-be follower. And he defines his ministry of hospitality as seeking out and saving the lost. In this ministry, something remarkable happens. A change is effected in Zacchaeus. More than that, everyone around him discovers the little man’s hidden gift. He has a generous heart! He spontaneously decides to give half of his possessions to the poor and to pay back four times as much to those whom he has defrauded. This was going far beyond the letter of the law – and it was a generous continuation of Christ’s ministry of hospitality. Zacchaeus was making r...

  4 September 2026 When JM Barrie, the Scottish playwright, became rector at St. Andrews University, he was invited to address the students. His theme was courage and the rectorial address runs to forty-five pages. It was delivered on 3 May 1922, barely three years after the Armistice was signed. By this time, Barrie was sixty-two. It is a remarkable piece of writing characterised by the courage of which he speaks. Early on, there is a confession. ‘For fifty years or so we heeded not the rumblings of the distant drum.’ he says of those whom he describes as the students’ betters! ‘And when war did come we told youth, who had to get us out of it, tall tales of what it really is and of the clover beds to which it leads. We were not meaning to deceive, most of us were as honourable and as ignorant as the youth themselves; but that does not acquit us …’ He goes on to challenge the students to do two things. Firstly, to work in partnership with their betters to make the world mor...

  3 September 2026 Paul is writing to the church at Philippi. He is concerned. Two of the women are not getting on. We even know their names – Euodias and Syntyche. Imagine being remembered in Holy Scripture for being unable to get on with another member of the church! Paul appeals to the others in the congregation to help sort out this problem. Unity is a key feature of the gospel and it features in the ordination vows both for ministers and elders. ‘Do you promise to seek the unity and peace of this Church?’ He wants the two women to ‘be of the same mind’. He gives    three pieces of advice. Firstly, rejoice in the Lord. Whatever happens to us in life, we can find our joy in Christ. Our relationship with Christ transcends everything else even divisive behaviour. If we all find our joy in Christ, we will surely find joy in each other and be united. Secondly, let your requests be made known to God. In prayer, we are able to share our worries with God. In this action, we b...

  2 September 2026 Autumn is making its presence felt. The chestnut leaves are on the turn. Other trees too.   The students have begun to arrive in St. Andrews after their long summer break. Our apples, pears and plums are ripening for a rich harvest. The fruit has been exceptional this year. In the summer, we had a lot of strawberries. These plants were taken as runners from the ones we bought four years ago. We must have about two dozen plants but I had another 175 runners from that initial set. We are now harvesting the plums. We got none last year and felt pessimistic about this year’s crop. The tree is purposely small and the leaves were crinkling in the summer heat but we got over   hundred Victoria plums. There’s nothing more refreshing than picking a plum in the early morning sun and savouring it. One of the James Grieve apples fell to the ground. I turned the others but they were steadfastly attached to the tree. I baked the apple for breakfast filling it...