Thought for the Day

It’s ‘up for grabs’ whether we are 'on the road to recovery' or not. The Chancellor thinks we’re on the right path but news of Scottish job losses makes us wonder whether this rising tide will lift all boats – or not.

Clearly there is some debate.

One of the questions asked by individuals who have suffered a loss - the loss of a job, or a relationship or even the loss through death of a friend or a spouse is 'when will I get better? ' And the only really truthful answer is 'quite possibly never' - if you mean ‘when can I turn the clock back to where it was before’........


.......read the whole thing HERE.

Good Audio Alert

Bishop Alan makes reference to a repeat broadcast of a Radio 4 programme on the word Hallelujah. It's available for the next six days HERE. I don't think BBC iPlayer is accessible outside of the UK and I can't immediately see a way of downloading it as a podcast (correct me if I'm wrong). Even for a fan, I found it spent a little too long talking with and about Leonard Cohen but it ends with a very pretty piece of music at the end composed by Jocelyn Pook who is the programme's presenter as well.

The second bit - tho' not exactly seasonal (it's an Advent reflection) appears on the Clifton Diocese website (RC). It represents only one of the audio presentations which have won numerous awards - in this case the Sony Radio Award.

I was a participant in the Churches Media Conference down in Derbyshire just prior to our General Synod in Scotland and had occasion to attend one of the Fringe Workshops led by the podcasts creator, Mary Colwell. The audio is available HERE.

The Scottish Bishops at the opening Eucharist of this year's General Synod

Thought for the Day

The only time I was called a baboon was when I was 14 years old and carrying on loudly with a group of friends in the street. Evidently we disturbed somebody who opened her window and yelled the insult from the safety of an upstairs room.

Baboons get bad press. They are loud. They have shocking blue backsides. But, according to a news report yesterday, baboons who live in such raucous societies live longer and have healthier offspring than those who pass their years in relative isolation. Their community life – though loud and fractious – does them no harm.......

.........Read the whole thing HERE.

Whipman Week in West Linton

The parade marking the beginning of Whipman Week in West Linton was about to start and this small fellow was obviously looking forward to it.


When they say that "the dog is the size of a horse" it helps if the dog is very big and the horse is very wee.


Last year's Whipman was looking forward to handing over to this year's Whipman-elect.

Thought for the Day

It may not be our turn this year. We don’t have to resign in disgrace. Or watch embarrassing little tidbits about ourselves tumbling out of the pages of the newspaper one after another in a steady torrent.

“We are not that soldier” as the saying goes! We are not that Minister or Member of Parliament. It’s not us.

Don’t we miss a tremendous opportunity, though, when we merely stand outside the whole situation with a disgusted look on our faces?............

........Read the whole thing HERE

The audio can be found HERE. Thought for the Day begins at 1:20.26 - just a little less than halfway along the audio bar.

Tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. we're gathering in the graveyard at St Mungo's (Church of Scotland) Penicuik for psalms and prayers. Thence to the high field up beyond St James Penicuik (Scottish Episcopal Church) for the first Easter hymn which is to be sung just as the sun is rising over the Firth of Forth at sunrise (6:12 a.m.).

There are lambs in the field so make sure the gate is closed behind you and leave your dog at home.

Bacon and eggs in St James Church Hall just before 7 a.m.