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Are You Hearing Me?

2024-03-01T12:44:58-07:00

THE WORDS

Even before we moved into our Scottish cottage, Judi and I were somewhat familiar with the language nuances between the U.S. and the U.K. Here are some of the common Scottish words and terms to which we’ve been reintroduced:

·      In Scotland, potatos are tatties, French fries are chips, and our chips are their crisps. And if you eat too many of any of those, it’s not your pants that you’ll have trouble snapping, it’s your trousers.

·      Over here, a jumper is a pullover garment, not someone about to bound off a ten-story ledge; and trainers are not the fit folks at the gym pushing you to do one more pull-up, rather, it’s what you wear on your feet when you’re there working out.

·      You might think you would go to the supermarket with your shopping list and push a cart. But actually, you go to the grocery with your messages and wheel a trolley — that is, if you have a pound in your pocket to buy its temporary freedom from the others it’s chained to. And if you have a wee bairn at home, you’ll probably want to toss some nappies in that trolley. And maybe you’ll want a tin of shortbread biscuits and some squash to mix up and wash them down.

·      You don’t keep a flashlight in the trunk so you can see what you’re doing at night when you pull onto the shoulder to change a tire. Rather, you keep a torch in your boot so that when you finally get to a passing place you can…try to read the microscopic instruction on the mini tyre compressor you’re glaring at since none of the cars in Scotland these days carry spares. (Good luck if you have a blowout after dark on an unlit single track in the mountains where there are no lay-bys. But I’ll save expounding on that for another blog.)

·      There are plenty more. A toastie is not how you feel sitting in front of the coal stove, it’s a grilled sandwich. Being invited for a cuppa means you’re going to drink tea. If you have legal problems, you don’t look for a lawyer but a solicitor — unless you need somebody to defend you, and then you need a barrister. A burn won’t catch on fire because it’s a small stream. A moor is a swamp where numerous burns and the endless Scottish rain pool together. (There are more moors than you imagine.) A lass is a young man. A lassie is a young woman, and when several lassies get together to celebrate one’s upcoming betrothal, it’s a hen party. Bonnie means pretty. You can also say braw or tidy, which is the opposite of hackit. A coo is a shaggy cow, and shag has nothing to do with carpet. I’m sure you ken what I mean.

Even though we’re usually connecting all the dots, we still get caught off guard. Like last week:

Places to fill up the car with fuel are few and far between in the Highlands. If we’re traveling north, the closest station to the cottage is 19 miles, up and around the head of the loch in the village of Lochcarron. After that, it’s 29 miles to the next one in Kinlochewe, and another 32 to the one after that.

Last week, I pulled into Lochcarron station and noticed what looked like plastic flags on the handles of the green pumps. (In Scotland, opposite of what American drivers are used to, green-handles signify unleaded while black indicate diesel. Don’t get them confused!)

Thinking the streamers were tags indicating they were out, I walked in and asked Charlotte, “Do you not have gas today?”

“I’m afraid not,” she replied, “We’ll get some bottles in next week.” Her response slipped right by me because I was straightaway trying to decide if I wanted to chance going 29 or more miles north, or double back south 27 miles, past our cottage, just to fill up.

“But if you’re talking about the pumps,” Charlotte interrupted with a knowing look, “we have plenty of diesel and petrol.” Oh yeah. Petrol! That’s the word. It turns out that what I thought were flags were mini rolls of plastic gloves that pumpers can wear to minimize getting petroleum residue on the hands.

Yes, we’re still learning the lingo.

THE SIGNAGE

We’ve mastered driving on the left with the steering wheel on the right, but it’s the signage we constantly encounter — even on trails and in establishments — that have us questioning and chuckling and sometimes going back for a second look. Here are a few of our favorites that we’ve managed to snap as we’ve been out and about. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

THE ACCENT

This brings me to the trickiest part of communication in Scotland, the brogue. Let me say up front that I absolutely love the Scottish pronunciations and I adore the way certain phrases roll smoothly off the tongue like the fog rolling over the heather on the braes at morning’s first light. I also realize that, over here, we are the people with the accents. But honestly, sometimes trying to understand is like trying to figure out a word riddle, particularly when we encounter someone from Glasgow or a remote isle. Following a conversation with such a person, Judi and I will quickly and quietly step to the side and ask each other, “How much of that did you get?” It’s not uncommon to discover that we each heard something entirely different.

Interestingly, those from over the southern border also have a hard time communicating with some of the Scots. There’s a story about a Scotsman walking through a field. He sees a man drinking water from a pool with his hand. The Scotsman shouts “Awa ye feel hoor that’s full O’ coos Sharn.” (Rough translation: Don't drink the water, it's full of cow…pies.) The man yells, “I’m an Englishman. Speak English. I don't understand you.” The Scotsman shouts back, “I said, use both hands; you'll get more in.”

The point to all of this is that good communication is a two-way venture. The speaker and the hearer must be on the same wavelength. Eye contact is critical because facial expressions give valuable insights to what’s really being said. And clear communication takes time. Judi and I have agreed that our extended time together — without her heading off to a tennis match or me rushing to the airport for another five-day business trip — has forced us to verbally process what each other is saying on a deeper level than we have experienced for many years.

You don’t have to come to Scotland to improve your communication, but if you do, you’re guaranteed a dialectal and cultural bounty to boot. As the Scots say, it will be pure dead brilliant.

Creation's Proclamation

2024-02-23T16:51:24-07:00

There’s an old joke about a burley backwoodsman who applied for a job as a lumberjack, claiming to be the fastest axman alive. When the boss asked the calloused codger where he might have gained the experience necessary to do such a job, he responded that he worked for years as the lead cutter in the Sahara Forest. The boss, taken aback, inquired, “Are you talking about the Sahara Desert?” The boastful logger replied, “Yeah. That’s what they call it now.”

That same lumberjack must have also worked on the Orkney Islands. This curious archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland is almost totally void of forestation. In fact, there is a landmark on Albert Street in the town of Kirkwall known as “The Big Tree.” It’s a sacred 200-year-old sycamore that’s kept erect by a metal rod through its hollow trunk — an attempt to preserve it for future generations.

But even without woodlands, somehow these 70 separate islands — only 20 inhabited — come together to offer a peculiar beauty that promises to send pensive viewers into a melancholy state. Chartreuse hills tumble into inky peat bogs then rise again and climb to the overcast horizon. Now and then, brilliant sunbeams break through the steely skies to shine on countless sheep, grazing wherever they please. Ancient stone fences cordon off long-abandoned cottages made of matching material. The population today lives in newer farm compounds — cottages, barns and outbuildings clustered together in a way that when viewed from a distance look like wee kingdoms on a Carcassonne game board.

In the Orkneys, a coastline of some kind is seldom out of sight: off to the east, a sheer 300-meter cliff with angry waves beating its base; out to the west, a white-sand beach with rows of imbedded black strata temporarily holding back the tide. These settings are replete with winged wildlife as the Orkneys are home to the United Kingdom’s largest colonies of seabirds, which, when they’re not nesting, continuously glide and squawk aloft. Yet the dominant sound is always the howling wind from the North Sea. And that’s why the locals say they are treeless: salt air and constant gales.

But behind this desolate façade lurks some of Europe’s greatest mysteries. Roughly a half century before the first blocks were set in place at the Pyramids of Giza, a thriving colony existed on the Orkneys. Perfectly preserved under sand until 1850, Skara Brea now provides a pristine example of what life was like on these low-lying islands 3,000 years before Christ. Who these people were, how they got to these isolated islands, and where they went still has archeologists guessing.

Then there’s the nearby Ring of Brodgar, the third largest stone circle in the British Isles. Thirty-six of the original 60 stone slabs still stand. How it ties into the Skara Brea's culture remains a subject of debate between Neolithic historians. Was it a rudimentary astrological observatory or perhaps a temple? (Some archeologists think the Ring of Brodgar may have been a shrine for sun worship while the neighboring Stones of Stenness was a place to pay homage to the moon.)

Dozens of stone circles, chambered tombs, and burial mounds are scattered throughout the islands. Other settlement sites also exist — some with rudimentary indoor toilets! More are undoubtedly waiting to be discovered.

Nick Card, professor at the University of the Highlands and the director of excavations on the Orkney Islands, has written, “London may be the cultural hub of Britain today, but 5,000 years ago, Orkney was the centre for innovation for the British Isles. Ideas spread from this place. The first grooved pottery, which is so distinctive of the era, was made here, for example, and the first henges – stone rings with ditches round them – were erected on Orkney. Then the ideas spread to the rest of the Neolithic Britain. This was the font for new thinking at the time.”

As Judi and I explored these places — essentially having them to ourselves — we talked about what life would have been like for these people whose primary focus was to hunt, fish, and farm in order to survive another day. Did they have any inkling that the world was round and that there was a myriad of more-hospitable places to live?

We also talked about what might have been their concept of the Creator and whether their rituals around the stone rings might have left room for the God of the Bible. To ponder this exposes the possibility of divine subjectivity and the complexity of holy grace. Did these people have a sufficiently appropriate faith-response to God’s revelation through creation and to that which He placed in their hearts? Instead of thinking as the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness as evil places of pagan ritual, perhaps they were constructed in an attempt to respond — the only way the Skara Brea people knew how — to that which was intrinsic and to reach out to a God whose name they never heard uttered.

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:20, NLT). And when those “who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman” (Romans 2:15-16, The Message).

It’s likely that Paul in Athens was talking about people like those from Skara Brea when he said, “… we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29-30, NIV).

If God’s grace and mercy is applied as I trust it might be, maybe in heaven we’ll not only be able to coax Noah to describe his feelings when the first raindrops fell or inquire of Peter what it was like to walk on water, but also ask someone from Skara Brea who first came up with the idea of indoor plumbing.

Just Another Foreigner

2024-02-12T13:34:59-07:00

In any of the many tourist shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow, or Inverness, those of Scottish descent can purchase countless tartan products denoting their clan. If you’re a Stewart, Campbell, Fraser, MacDonald, MacLeod, MacKenzie, or any of the other 30 or more “Macs,” there’s a kilt, scarf, fly or tie in your personal plaid, either on the rack or in the back.

Notwithstanding, in our past visits to Scotland, we’ve never been able to find anything bearing the colors of my mother’s father’s family. They were Scotch-Irish with the surname Gillogly. On those occasions when we inquired about our kin’s woven standard, the shop clerks would always get puzzled looks on their faces and say they were unfamiliar with the name — and then refer us to another shop that had more inventory or a self-avowed genealogy expert.

Actually, we didn’t need the latter. My mother’s sister was a genealogy aficionado. Long before the days of the Internet and ancestory.com, she taught college-level courses on lineage research. By spending countless hours in libraries, courthouses, and cemeteries, she traced her father’s ancestors back to Europe in the 17th century. Thanks to her diligence, we knew when, why, and how our people journeyed from Ireland to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to the mountains of western Pennsylvania to the hills of southeastern Ohio. In the “old country,” they were farmers who worked the land on several islands in Lower Lough Erne, near Enniskillen, in County Fermanagh, Ulster. My fifth great-grandparents, John and Mary Jane (Moore) Gillogly were both born in Enniskillen in 1847 but died in Muskingum County Ohio, she in 1816 and he in 1855 — yes, he lived to be 108.

But what about the Scottish origin, and what took them to Ireland? Starting in the early 1600s, Scottish protestants living largely in Dunfries and The Borders, the southernmost parts of the country, were coerced, even forced, to leave their homes and move west across the water to populate the Plantation of Ulster so England would have a foothold in Ireland. Those peasant pawns were the first to be known as Scotch-Irish. The English plan was to confiscate all the lands of Gaelic Irish nobility and set the Scots up as farmers on those same properties. But the farmers weren’t fighters. For this plan to work, they needed enforcers. So London looked north and decided the rascally, rugged Highlanders who had been giving them fits since the days of William Wallace were who they needed to hire.

But what’s interesting is that many Highland warriors were already in Ireland — recruited hundreds of years earlier to comprise private armies for Irish chieftains. The irony is that by the 1600s, you had Highlanders protecting the Irish from Highlanders serving as soldiers for the English. Whenever my relatives got to Ireland — probably in the 1200s or 1300s — and whatever side they were on — probably the Irish — they were apparently mercenaries. As a neighbor here in Plockton told me, “Highlanders don’t need much of a reason to fight.”

But why no personalized plaid? What I recently learned was that Gillogly was an Anglicized forms of the Irish surname Galloglaigh, which was an Irish variant of the Gaelic name MacGalloglach. In Gaelic, the mac, of course, means “son of.” The gall part means “foreigner” and oglach (or owglass) means young warrior. Pushing this historical door open a bit further, it seems my Scottish ancestors were heavily armed fighters referred to as Gaelic-Norse who originally rowed over from the Skrettingland area of southeast Norway. Essentially, they were Viking marauders and plunderers who liked what they saw in Scotland and decided not to row back. But instead of being known by their family, they were known by their macabre profession, and thus there was no family crest or tartan. However, the Scottish home base for the MacGalloglach clan was the Balmartin area of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland’s far northwestern islands. That means they would have been intermingled and probably intermarried with the Clan MacDonald who laid hold to that land early on. Now that I know, I guess the closest I’ll ever get to a Gillogly tartan, is a MacDonald hand-me-down.

In Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, an unnamed wounded soldier tells King Duncan and his sons, “…the merciless Macdonwald....from the Western Isles of kerns and gallowglasses is supplied.” In other words, the MacDonalds had military might at their disposal: the Kerns, lightly armed foot soldiers who generally carried a wooden shield and a sword; and the Gallowglass (a.k.a., Galloglachs… Galloglaighs…Gilloglys), heavily armored warriors hand-picked for their strength and massive size. They were known for carrying halberds, which were battle axes on long poles. Thankfully, they eventually beat their weapons into farming tools and took a more peaceful path forward — although I have a couple of cousins…never mind.

It's been fun to find from whence my family came. But after having a three-day dalliance with days-of-old, two things jump out at me. The first is that we are all foreigners — every one of us. A few centuries here, and few centuries there, but humanity is constantly on the move — and often bloodshed follows. Perhaps we’ve learned our lesson over time and welcoming the stranger in the days ahead will be an art that we finally and peacefully perfect. Actually, I think Christians have a mandate to do so. See Romans 15:1-6.

The second thing is that we are who we are where we are. It’s been fun to romanticize about having Highland roots. We love being part of the local culture here in Scotland, and Judi will probably start making potato-leek soup when we get back to Colorado. (Her mother’s family is also Scotch-Irish.) But the truth is, I could wrap on a kilt and chase the deer on Sgùrr Alasdair all day long, but I’m not a Highlander any more than I’m a Viking voyager or an Irish cottier.

We all need to appreciate, even celebrate, our heritage. But if we regularly tie our identity to the hitching post of heredity, rather than the rail of current reality, we could forget where we truly live and what’s expected of us. Overemphasizing that someone is an Italian American, Mexican American (Chicano), African American, Asian American, or however it's declared in these days of political correctness, results in more isolation and less assimilation.

I encourage you to explore your heritage, whatever it might be, but be who you are where you are. And if in your searching you find out that we might be distant relatives, let me know.

There's More Where That Came From

2024-02-03T11:10:26-07:00

We’re completely content with the simplicity that abounds in our humble hamlet of Plockton. Take, for example, the procurement of groceries. The biggest store in the Highlands is Morrisons in Inverness, two hours and ten minutes northeast by train. There are smaller food co-ops in Kyle of Lochalsh, Broadford, and Portree. But here in our village, the main market is Plockton Shores.

This unassuming shop blends in with the long row of look-alike homes on Harbour Street — all of which were built to house herring fishermen and their families in a former century. Karen (pronounced Kay´-ruen) is Plockton Shores’ primary operative. Her always-bright welcome is a suitable substitute for sunshine on back-to-back days of Scottish mist and opaque skies.

The north side of the establishment is a café that serves homecooked meals and local brews. It’s open for breakfast and lunch this time of year — and dinner when warmer weather and a longer-lingering sun on the craigs lures tourists to town for fabulous photo ops and a loch-side supper.

The south half of the store is where locals buy stamps for the post — the red box is just two doors down — The Daily Record, fresh baked goods, and takeaway tea and coffee. But more than that, the south side’s also the village grocery.

Five steps further inside there’s a fresh produce section where 15 different fruits and vegetables share space in ten wicker bins on the wall. Naturally, you’ll find a neep or two (think rutabaga). You can’t serve haggis without mashed neeps. But the potatoes and leeks are the first to sell out every week as they are the named players in potato-leek soup, a Scottish favorite. (Judi has tried out two recipes so far. One was good enough to give a portion to the pastor to take home when he stopped by for a visit two evenings back.)

On adjacent shelving there are tins (cans) of Cullen Skink, Cock-a Leekie (also made with leeks), and a couple of other soups. You’ll find a few tubes of biscuits (crackers) and some bags of crisps (chips). The bread table has about a dozen loaves when freshly stocked, plus there’s a few sacks of flour underneath for those who’d rather bake their own.

Behind the till is a glass-fronted fridge with a sampling of butter, yogurt, and cheese, plus a pack or two of pork sausage. Squash (diluted juice) and fizzy drinks are kept cold on the bottom shelves. You can always find Coke, craved the world over, and Irn-Bru, a unique soda with popularity that starts to go flat south of Glasgow.

Beer and various household necessities occupy the rest of the shelves in Plockton Shores. If it’s not in stock, you can borrow from a neighbor until the next trip to Kyle.

What’s amazing is that the entire market takes up about 90 square feet!

Before I go on, I would be remiss not to mention auxiliary sustenance sales in our little village. Many of the crofts vend fresh eggs and preserves. You just have to know what lane to walk down, which barn door to enter, and where to leave your pounds. But our favorite food buying experience rolls our way every Wednesday: Yogi’s seafood van. In probably 20 cubic feet of refrigerated space in the back end of his wee lorry he portions out fillets of salmon, haddock, smoked haddock, halibut, hake, and monkfish, plus langoustines and other crustations. He simply blows his horn, and the locals scurry out to the street to see what fish have been freshly caught. Yogi is a grown-up version of the Good Humor man. Instead of a King Cone you get king crab.

I must admit, it's novel to live for a time in this world of reduced options and limited supply. It’s a world away from the mega stores in major cities — even Inverness — where the contents of just the endcap displays in the first two aisles would be more than Plockton Shores’ shelves could hold.

Buying food in our current location certainly makes us appreciate both the incredible variety and sheer volume of commodities that are found where we usually shop. It also reinforces the fact that the having vs. lacking match is always won in the late innings by the latter. We find ourselves paying more attention to our pantry than we do at home, and asking each other what needs to be used up next before it goes bad.

There’s absolutely no question about it: We can very easily adjust and live well on the inventory of local stores here in the Highlands. People all around us have done it for decades. We’re actually quite content. And the generosity of friends is always an added blessing. Even so, the word that that I’m contemplating during this season is abundance. There is scarcity — which we are far from. Then there’s sufficiency — which is where we are. Abundance is what one finds in Inverness or Glasgow or Colorado Springs.

The question I’m pondering: When it comes to God’s spiritual inventory in his storehouse of blessing, am I content with sufficiency even though abundance is always available?

“[God] is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us… (Ephesians 3:20, KJV).

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, KJV).

How many times do we hurry to a corner store for spiritual staples when our Heavenly Father’s supermarket is open ‘round the clock? What’s more, His inventory is infinite. Even when we empty a shelf, there’s always more where that came from.

A Cup of Kindness

2024-01-26T05:15:35-07:00

Last night, in pubs across Scotland, glasses were hoisted and shouts of Sláinte Mhath! resounded. That’s because every year on January 25, on the evening of the day of his birth, Scots celebrate their cherished poet, Robert Burns. (They also celebrate him on July 21, the anniversary of his death. Sláinte Mhath! one more time.)

“Rabbie,” as he is affectionately called, penned more than 700 poems in his lifetime, including one traditionally recited every year on Robert Burns Night: “Address to a Haggis.” And then they pass out the forks and knives and serve it up. (If you’re not familiar with this National Dish of Scotland, it consists of a sheep’s lungs, liver, heart, and other parts, mixed with oatmeal, onions, and suet, and baked in the sheep’s stomach — which some say is why the Scots invented Scotch whisky). See what you missed last night.

Back to Robert Burns. You might not be abundantly familiar with this rhymester’s repertoire, but I guarantee you’ve heard — and probably even sung — one of his lyrics. Even in Old English, you’re sure to recognize this:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

A current-day translation of the Scottish words auld lang syne would be old long ago. The song is about fond memories of the past. Taking a cup of kindness refers to men and women sharing a drink to symbolize friendship that has lasted through the best and worst of times.

The poem has five verses. As outdoor enthusiasts, two of them engender countless fond memories of wilderness experiences Judi and I have had, with each other and with friends, at home and abroad. Here they are in standard English:

We two have run about the hills,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we've wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

And the last verse goes like this:

And there's a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o' thine!
And we'll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

I wish for the life of me that Christians could consistently have closure like that. Not necessarily the drinking part, but the simpatico part.

All my days I have been around ministry organizations, in the States and overseas, where staff and volunteers have come and gone. The coming part is always celebratory: New team members are often seen as saviors, surely able to fix what those before them broke. But in a relatively short time, expectations to excel exceed ability to perform. The rapid descent from the status of special to that of ordinary actually makes them appear less than ordinary. Parties are too busy, too proud, or too inept to seek a remedy for what has turned into a rocky relationship. By the time the termination or resignation is official, fellowship is broken, usually for good. There is no genial auld lang syne.

Did you know that more than half of the Christians who go overseas to serve as career missionaries never complete their first term on the field? They leave for reasons that could have been rectifiable — often conflict with other missionaries or their sending agency — and never go back into mission work. Again, no cordial auld lang syne.

The same thing happens in churches (and associations) where people possess a dangerous avidity that compels them to walk if they don’t win. When Judi and I were over here in 2016, we spent time in the Outer Hebrides — essentially the last stop going east until you run aground in Labrador. One Sunday, in a small village, we had a choice of attending the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland Continuing, or the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

I asked a local to orient us. He said, “These different churches all came about because of fights and splits over one thing or another down through the years.” Shaking his head he added, “And they still don’t get along. That’s why church attendance is pitiful around here.” He then stared off at the rain clouds rolling in from Iceland and made this sad observation: “I don’t know how these people can think their faith will make any difference in the world if they can’t come together and love one another on this little rock in the Atlantic.”

You’d think that with all the legendary beverages in Scotland they would at least want to share a cup of kindness.

The truth is, Christians do not do closure well. And many believers carry for decades the scars of departure, be it from a full-time ministry job, a mission field assignment, or a church they loved.

Succession is the dominant subject these days in many Christian camps and city missions (and certainly other ministries). Even though I’m no longer officially in leadership capacity at an association, I continue to hear from association members — specifically outgoing CEOs — who see me as a trusted friend in whom they can confide about the pangs of departure. There’s a lot of hurt out there.

If you are involved in ministry on any level, I urge you to take some time — call it a Robert Burns moment — to think about closures that have happened in your organization over the years, and see if there might be someone who you suspect (or know for a fact) is still hurting because the closure didn’t go well—be it their fault or yours, or one of your predecessors. Consider reengaging and working to bring about the kind of closure that demonstrates ultimate Christian love and can alleviate the anger and anguish that is probably afflicting this person (or persons) like an incurable chronic illness.

And if not work related, you might want (need) to do this totally on a family level, immediate or extended.

What you can give those suffering is central to the Gospel. It’s what's talked about in Isaiah 61 — the attributes that Jesus’s coming to earth can bring to its inhabitants:

…garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting

We all can be thickheaded and thin-skinned. And whether you, yourself, have been a victim of cold shoulders or heated words, the cause of Christ is worth the work—and make no mistake, it will be work. You might even need to engage professional help.

But don’t let that hold you back. Reach out and do it: Pour a cup of kindness — not just for auld lang syne, but because the world, more than ever before, needs to see that reconciliation is possible when Christ is part of the process.

Going Green

2024-01-20T11:48:53-07:00

Proximity to the Atlantic is the primary reason snow accumulation is a rarity up here on Loch Carron. Thus the 20 centimeters or so that blew in from the Arctic this past week were enough to close the schools. Bus drivers didn’t want to navigate the network of sinuous single-track roads in the area — and parents agreed that a worry-free week was worth having their wee ones at home.

But -5°C and a few inches of powder is October weather for Coloradans. Clipping on the Yaktrax we hit the hiking trails, checking off Duncraig, Ob an Duine, and Coral Beach from our list of must-do rambles. With every step we took in crisp air and stunning views.

But our conversations kept returning to one thing: the greenery. We were fascinated by the January verdure — in the mountains, no less! The number of plants blooming far outnumber the ones dormant or dead. No matter which way you look, mixed in with the assorted evergreens you will spy a variety of broadleafs that proudly clench their emerald jewelry, even when wearing a snowy mantle.

Friends who have seen our photos have asked if those were really palm trees…in the Scottish Highlands?! Indeed. And there is also brilliant rhododendron, gorse, daphne, holly, koromiko, bracken, and even bamboo. The list is long. Wester Ross is certainly a region of bliss for botanists.

The New Christy Minstrels had a hit song in the 60s titled Green, Green. Barry McGuire and his accompanists would sing out:

Green, green, it’s green they say;
On the far side of the hill.
Green, green, I’m going away;
To where the grass is greener still.

Barry, if you’re going to the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, you’ll reach your destination.

The locals are swift to point out that there are two primary reasons for the perpetual vegetation. The first is the warm water of the Gulf Stream that makes its way out of the Gulf of Mexico, around Florida, and then up and across the ocean, eventually turning into the North Atlantic Drift. Where we are is as far north as the Hudson Bay in Canada — where the sea freezes over in winter. But not here, thanks to that curious flow. Grab a globe and ponder that. The science of it should make us all want to be more involved with creation care. We must not forget our stewardship obligation, entrusted to us by God.

The second reason our new neighbors say it’s always green is year-round rain. There’s an age-old adage in Scotland: “You know it’s summer because the rain is warmer.” It’s raining now. It comes and goes. The Scots all but ignore it.

A few hours ago I was working with a joiner — a profession you don’t hear a lot about in the States — on a two-century-old cast iron rain gutter. As we were moving a ladder, a momentary torrent blew through. The craftsman paid no mind to the rainfall. No duck and cover. Normal as the seagull’s squawks.

When you think about it, what many would consider an inconvenience actually brings the vibrance. And if it ceases to be bothersome, you’re only left with the beauty. I pray we all can, as much as possible, tune out life’s tolerable frustrations and focus on the splendor.

Suffering in Silence

2024-01-16T07:53:53-07:00

The message from the minister at the Free Church of Scotland in Kyle of Lochalsh this past Sunday was from Luke, Chapter 8. It brought to mind a devotional I contributed for a Days of Lent book that M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust published in 2016. With the news from back home of friends of friends recently passing, I thought I would recirculate it.

The compacted crowd in Luke 8 would have made a claustrophobic hyperventilate. Despite the congestion, a woman with a chronic condition wormed her way through the throng and reached her intended target: the garment of a rabbi whose authority was to be her remedy. Instantly, he felt a discharge of power. Immediately, she felt years of hemorrhaging and hardship end.

The story of the afflicted woman is certainly one of faith and determination. But it goes deeper. Knowing what we do about her condition, and factoring in Jewish law, we likely have the saga of a woman who suffered in silence, living more than a decade in a culture that would have considered her unclean.

In this life there will be suffering, be it related to physical pain or mental anguish. It’s hard enough to endure when you have friends to fall back on, but to suffer solo amplifies the agony. We need to cast our cares on Christ, but we also need to be in community where we can seek solace and share the hurts of our heart. Ephesians describes this as “bearing with one another in love.”

I find it interesting that Jesus did not let the woman be cured incognito. He called her out from the crowd so she could tell her story. I’d like to think that she was quickly surrounded by peers with whom she could lose her cares and find her voice.

Christians should never suffer in silence—or allow others to do so.

PRAYER:
Loving Jesus, no one understands suffering like you do. Thank you for enduring the agony of the cross and the devastation of separation from your Father so I can embrace sacred assurances in the midst of my infirmities and grasp divine hope in the midst of my heartaches. Open my eyes to others around me who desperately need my presence and your promises in their times of suffering. Give me a deep desire to serve them selflessly. I ask this in your powerful, abiding, and comforting name, Amen.

Who Do You Know?

2024-01-13T13:00:31-07:00

The phrase living in community has become popular in recent years. I’ve heard it defined as “becoming family with the people around you.” Here in Scotland, we’ve decided to not just move into a cottage, but into a community. In the short time we’ve been here, we’ve gotten acquainted with probably 15 of the locals — which I think is about three percent of the population.

But word is circulating that outlanders from Colorado are holed up in Tigh-na-Dalach, down on Bank Street, and they plan to stay for a while. Who would be doo-lally enough to do that in January, the abyss of low season? Such notoriety will likely lead us to meet quite a few more folks.

The residents we’ve gotten to know so far are ordinary Scots…at first blush. But beneath those Rab jackets and plaid scarfs are friendly, hearty people with interesting tales to tell. Take Annag. She runs a croft at the top of the hill and raises Highland cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. She supplies the locals with eggs and chutney and serves takeaway farm meals to summer tourists. When she stopped by to check on us the other day, she said she had just been swimming. Judi wondered aloud where the indoor pool was. “In the sea, Dearie,” she proclaimed to our amazement. “I swim at Coral Beach all year long. I swam on Christmas and Boxing Day,” she continued. She usually stays in the ocean for 20 minutes, then gets out and walks home! We’ve been invited to go swimming.

Then there’s elderly Callum. We met him while trying to find the trail to Duncraig Castle. He was on his daily walk from his house, through town, and up the hill to the railroad station. He told us to go park our car and he would meet us on the road opposite the trailhead. We got back and there he was on the frosty sidewalk, pointing to the path with his white cane. Callum is blind. For years he ran the broadsheet (newspaper) shop in town. He greeted everyone who came through the door by name when they said hello because he knew all their voices.

Rhona and her husband live three doors down. They run the local brewery, which is in their backyard. He was a naval captain. When he retired, because there were no jobs to fit his needs or fulfill his desires, he found a new niche: supplying the area pubs with a local favorite. Rhona is showing us the best places to trek.

We’ve also met Angus, the butcher who taught us how to cook haggis; and Kirstine, who just moved to town to join the teaching staff at the primary school; and Rory, who instructed me as to which brand of coal burns hotter and cleaner. We’re getting to know them one by one. Maybe in church tomorrow we’ll get to know a few more. Who will you meet tomorrow that will join your community?

All names changed for privacy reasons.