Rekindling the flame

As the sun rose on the day after the Referendum

I made my way to the beach.

Not all the results had been declared

But it was clear that dreams of an Independent Scotland

were not to be realised 

My heart was heavy

My spirit subdued.

But as I trudged along the sand

the stillness of an unseasonably warm autumn morning

bathed my soul

as surely as the ebbing tide

bathed the shore.

The sense of the Creator's presence all around-

In the sun creeping over the horizon

In the waves gently lapping the sand

In the quiet and the calm

reminded me

that grief too is a part of life

and broken dreams

are preceded by the spirit of hope.

Hope that cannot be snuffed out

but that continues to burn.

And when part of the dream dies

or is extinguished

the flicker that is left

must work harder

to illuminate the darkness. 

We are not defeated.

People of all hues

The yes and the no

have glimpsed the promised land

albeit from different perspectives.

It is now that, together,

they can step out in faith

to claim that promise

for themselves

and for generations to come.

Hope has not died

but has been rekindled

in ways we would never have imagined.

The fight is not over

but has only just begun.

All is not lost

and there is everything to gain.

And the tasks of grieving

for those who mourn involves 

acknowledging the dream

that we have lost,

gathering up the passion

that remains,

Moving on with renewed energy

and new friendships

to achieve that promised land

that we envisaged

where all are valued,

and where we share resources

with the poor and the vulnerable.

Together we can fan the flicker

of our wavering hope

into the flame

of love and justice

and peace in our land.

We have it in us

to realise the dream 

The work has only just begun.

(Liz Crumlish 19th September 2014)

No - and yes!

Scotland has voted No to Independence at this time. It was a fairly close run thing. I believe it would be more difficult to move to Independence without a much bigger majority. Healing in a country retaining the Status Quo is probably more achievable than healing in a country where there was only a small majority for independence. I believe that Change requires a bigger mandate although the freedom of democracy decrees otherwise. But what of the future? With the energy of the campaign and the unprecedented level of engagement in the democratic process, can we really hope for change? There are claims that Scottish politics has been changed forever. I would like to think that this is the case. But there are no guarantees and there is no clear pathway to harness the energy that the Referendum has garnered. Promises of change have been made. Declarations of enhanced devolution have been articulated. Time will tell whether those hopes of the Scottish people will be honoured by politicians and by the Westminster government. I do, however, have faith in the people of Scotland to dust themselves down. I have faith that those who hoped that the result would be otherwise will soon return to the level of good humoured banter that is so characteristic of our Nation. Those outcomes are not in doubt.

Throughout the campaign the National Church has called for folk to move forward together whatever the outcome. I know that this is entirely possible in this country that I love. More than that, I believe that people of faith have had a wake up call in this Referendum process. We have been made more aware than ever of the needs and aspirations of our neighbours. We have been incensed at the level of injustice and poverty that sits on our doorstep. And we have been reminded of our call to work alongside and to serve the poor and vulnerable and the marginalised in our own communities. I have faith that we can and will address that with or without a mandate for Independence. Referendum - a wake up call for the government. A wake up call for the church. A wake up call for the people of Scotland and the United Kingdom. In the words of our usual Sunday morning benediction: " We move on from here to love and serve God by loving and serving one another."

Referendum's Eve

.

People make their morning journeys as usual

Bleary eyed

Thinking of the day ahead

Or the night before

And those whose shift takes in

the wee sma' hours

are already tucked up in bed

storing up energy

for their next shift.

At this early hour

there is little sign 

that we are a country poised

at a major political crossroads

with the decision  on our future direction

firmly placed in the hands of the people.

Only a discarded saltire that has blown into the gutter

bearing testament to the effervescent campaign

that has amused and annoyed in equal measure.

At this juncture,

from this perspective,

the result seems far too close to call

and that brings its own momentum.

There is all to play for.

But even the good natured Scottish spirit of banter

is being stretched to the limit 

as each side makes their last ditch attempt

to win over the electorate.

The reality is that on Friday morning

as the results are declared

we will still be a Nation

Proud to be Scottish

Whatever the Referendum brings,

Will we be a nation that shows

what it is to be divided politically

and united in indomitable spirit?

That is what matters

for our Nation

and for the world

that waits and watches

on this eve of Referendum.

What if...?

Genesis 12:1-3

The Call of Abram

​ Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I'm reflecting today on the Call of Abram and the covenant God makes with him. Here is something that I won't be sharing in the pulpit tomorrow:

Abram was a man who didn't have any answers as to what the future held but you would never have known that from his actions. He caught the scent of a promise of a better future and stepped out boldly. His actions shaped history for a whole people.

If Scotland elects to leave the UK next Thursday in the Referendum, perhaps, in our quest for a better Nation, we are not abandoning our neighbours in the rest of the UK to the ravages of unjust policies and ineffective politicians or to further decline and a widening gap between the rich and the poor (as have been just some of the accusations made),perhaps we are not abandoning our neighbours.

Perhaps we are leading them, by our example, into the conviction that there is another way, that we can make a difference, that things can be other than they are at present and that our communities, our Nation and our world can be a better place, where all are valued for who they are, where all are afforded opportunity, where wealth and resources are shared, even if that costs some of us a bit more.

What if our calling is not to fear the unknown (and, at this stage, an independent Scotland is very much an unknown) but, believing in a better future for all God's people, to lead the way to make that future a reality? To model a future that others will want to follow and, by our example, will be inspired to pursue?

That old Scots saying "Better the devil you know" serves to keep us sticking with less than we might encounter simply because we fear the unknown. Conventional wisdom urges us not to become foreigners, not to give up all that to which  we can already lay claim.

Abram modelled a response to God's call that took him from certainty to uncertainty, from a familiar landscape to unknown territory,from tentative options to bold faith. What if this is our time to do the same?

Orderly Care

"The church - It's no' for the likes o' me" was the claim made to a colleague involved in caring for an itinerant parishioner over a number of years. Yet this man had no fewer than four members of the clergy whom he had touched in his own,unique way, present at his funeral service. While he saw the church as too ordered and respectable, he nonetheless knew where he would receive help. And, as my colleague pointed out so eloquently at the service, the giving was by no means one sided.This man, whose social skills were very different from those usually encountered in our pews, taught us about hopes and dreams of "being normal", about life lived on the edge, about building a different kind of community and about traits deemed necessary for survival.

Today, I'm left pondering: Is there a way to lessen the gap between the respectable church and the serving church? Is there a way to become less of a do-gooder and more of a servant? Will it always be necessary to separate the very different demands and calls that we encounter, being one thing and then another? Can ministry feel more integrated and less fragmented? Or is the compartmentalisation just something we have to live with in an imperfect church and world?

I've never believed that to be truly helpful to someone in crisis, we must also have experienced something akin to their experience. However, as I become more involved with those whose lifestyle is so very different to mine, I question my usefulness. And perhaps therein lies the difficulty. Do I need to be useful? Is it enough simply to be? Is the vulnerability I feel in such situations a tool for learning and growing, creating, as it does, a space for God? I fear that having a servant heart is not enough but am at a loss as to how to encourage those who can teach us most to share their journey with us.

I want to serve a church that is not respectable but is nonetheless respected as a companion along the way.