“The Lord may give you the bread of adversity and water of affliction, but he who teaches you will no longer keep himself out of sight, but with your own eyes you will see him.” (REB Isaiah 30:20) Just before I went off on my summer holidays, a dear friend who should have been looking […]

17 Like somebody who takes a passing dog by the ears is one who meddles in the quarrel of another. 20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarrelling ceases. 21 As charcoal is to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling […]

Recently, some of the local Ministers from Bishopbriggs Churches Together were meeting in our Church to plan our Easter Assembly for Bishopbriggs Academy as the school Chaplains. As we chatted over tea and coffee and shortbread, discussion centred on birthdays. One colleague told us that his birthday was 4th. July. “Get away, “said another colleague, […]

After Christmas all I seemed to notice once the January sales were over, were TV advertisements for summer holidays – often promising warmth and sunshine in foreign climes. Amid the January blues and chills, coughing and spluttering people, I could see why the advertisers were selling their wares, so to speak. Then amid the neaps […]

A colleague who was originally a Minister in South Africa before settling in Scotland was recounting a story of a parishioner who following bereavement had lapsed into a very deep depression. Nothing he said or did seemed to help the lady recover from the death of her mother. In desperation, he contacted an old colleague […]

As we approach the end of British Summer Time, and we prepare for the clocks to go back, I am conscious that as my granny used to say, “the nights are fair drawin’ in.” Of course, we will all soon enough experience the darkness of winter nights, but I am aware that there are many […]

You will be familiar with the expression, ‘when life throws you a curved ball’ to indicate an unexpected event or series of circumstances that you experience. At times our lives can be quite settled and smooth and then something occurs to jeopardise our equilibrium. That might be hospital tests, bereavement, a change of job, or […]

I have been watching an Australian-New Zealand comedy drama TV program, entitled ‘800 words.’ In it, George Turner is a popular columnist for a top selling Sydney newspaper, writing an article which he insists must be exactly 800 words. After his wife dies, over the internet and unseen, he buys a house in New Zealand […]

At the turn of the year I received an invitation from the Ministries Council (121) to attend the Renewing Ministry Conference at Kinnoull Monastery in Perth for four nights/ five days. This conference was aimed at ministers in their fifties with 15-20 (or more) years of ministry behind them and around 10 still to go. […]

A Happy New Year to all our “Record” readers. I hope you have had a good Christmas and the New Year has begun well for you. Between Christmas and New Year our hospitals have been ‘under pressure’ as you will have no doubt read and heard elsewhere. While doing my ‘hospital rounds’ I have been […]