PETER

 

First, Peter ‑ not only

First to speak, wisely
Or not, first to act
Most often rashly ‑ you
Were selected, the first
Apostle to see Christ
Risen; the first preacher
In the fresh era; the first

To invade the Gentile earth.

FISHERMAN

 

Why, when the plush sea played,

Beating random rhythms on the hull,

Beneath the bright sky’s charms

As the sheen of the sunlight rayed

Did he move in the water’s lull

To lie in the cold sea’s arms?

Since the sun seemed the better suitor

And the air was sweet to the lungs

Why did he stumble and fall?

The shore girls were cuter,

Sweeter songs lapped from their tongues,

Yet he answered the water’s call.

They wept on the harbour wall

For the lost and wasted life

And the lost and wasted seed,

As he rocked in the sea’s loll,

The lap of his chosen wife

Never to be inbred.

For God’s way was this -

A short time of breath,

Pulsing blood, flesh;

Then to lie thus,

Safely wrapped in death,

Finding His love lush.

(This is an elegy for a family friend of my mother's drowned some time before I was born, but whose photo was always up in the house as i was growing up.  He originated in Peterhead.)

More of Inchcolm Island

Seabirds and seals; Edinburgh in the background

THUS FAR

Thus far

And no

Farther

For here shall thy proud waves

Be stayed – not always

At the cliff wall

But often in the beaches

And the mothering arms of a bay

Yielding to the tide,

Taking the force, but finally,

Holding the line;

Sometimes meeting, turning, eddying

In the estuary's flow

Allowing the far valleys to fill and fill with water

Till the turn

Then rushing forward along with the river's flood.

Thus far

Thus are God's ways:

Letting.

The Firth of Forth from Inchcolm Island

THE BALLANT O MORDECAI

 

Oh hae ye nae heard o Haman the fause,
Or o Mordecai the true;
Though the king wad honour Haman the fause,
Mordecai wadna boo.

Than Haman proclaimit, Thon chiel’s a Jew:
If he winna boo tae me
Nae him alane but a his fowk
As shair’s I leeve shall dee.

Sae the Jews a wept, an the Jews a wailed;
Mordecai rendit his claes;
Till the queen heard o’it, an speirt at him
The caas o a his waes.

Fer the queen wis o Mordecai’s freens
Whilk Haman didna ken;
Fer the God a haivin hid aa in His haunds,
An He’s wyser far nor men.

Noo if ye went afore the king
An he wis pleasit wi ye
He’s haud oot his gowden staffie tae ye:
If he didna, ye waud dee.

Aiblins, quo the queen, the king’ll haud oot
His gowden staffie tae me;
Aiblins he’ll no, sae fast fer me,
An if I dee, I dee.

Trumlin she stood afore the king:
He held his staffie oot!
Fer God Himsel hid gaen afore
An skailit ony doubt.

Sae she axed the king an Haman tae dine,
An Haman wis unco prood;
No aince but twice he got the invite,
Though it did the sorra nae good.

But aar at time hid cam ae nicht
The king he couldna sleep
Sae they read till him frae the record beuk
That aa guid kingdom’s keep.

It tellt hoo Mordecai the Jew
Hid saivit the monarch’s heid;
But they fund at naethin guid wis deen
Tae thank fer his guid deed.
Sae the king, he askit Haman as syne
As Haman cam intil sicht:
Whit sall be deen until the chiel
In wham the king his delicht?

Noo Haman thocht wad the king delicht
In ony forbye mysel?
Gie him, quoth he, yer ane claes tae weir
An yer steid tae ride as well.

Noo dae it, Haman, tae Mordecai
An cry afore him richt:
Thus sall be deen until the chiel
In wham the king his delicht.

Sae Haman hid to lead the hoarse
An tell o the king’s guid fame;
An ochone, carked Haman, ochone is me
Whan he gat back till his dame.

Fer he’d askit o Mordecai his dame
Whit she thocht at he suld dee;
An she tellt him to bigg a hangrell
At wis fifty cubits hie.

Syne he cam with the king until Esther’s feast
An thon wis a graun soiree;
Sae the king speirt at her, sin he wis sae blithe,
Whit d’ye wish fer me tae dee?

My fowk, the Jows, and yer queen, masel,
Are sellit till a wickit fae man;
And the bangster wha’d kill us a if he could
Is nane but thon wickit Haman.

Thar a hangrell fifty cubit hie,
Ledged ane, near Haman’s hoose.
Hing him hie upo it, bade the king;
Mak siccar fause Haman’s noose.

He pit his signet ring on the haun
O Mordecai the true;
An he went oot frae him weirin a croon
An cled in whicht and blue.

The Jews wha newlins hid aa been sad
Noo shooted lood wi glee;
Fer God hid warked ahin it aa
As He wull ayeweys dee.                                                                                     

31/05/2025

A little excursion into using the Scots language, the form being like a border ballad.  

More of Inchcolm Island, including the view from the priory ruins towards Edinburgh.

PEACE IN FAILURE by Frank Houghton

 When, in the stillness of a summer eve,

Thrilled by sweet sadness of the setting sun,

I sit alone, and penitently grieve

O'er all that I have done, and left undone - 

All the sad waste of bygone years recalling,

Good half-achieved, and evil undestroyed,

To Him, who can preserve my feet from falling,

I turn, and He is with me.  Overjoyed,

My spirit yearns with longing to behold

His image, who, when tempted, never failed.

The past is pardoned, and His arms enfold

One who was faint, and left the heights unscaled.

Long shadows flit around me; no stars shine,

But all is light within me - He is mine!

May 25 1914 (i.e. when he was 20)

Frank Houghton (1894-1972); Houghton subsequently served as General Director of the China Inland Mission.

A Sail in the Firth of Forth towards Inchcolm Island

(Last September)

THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST

 

I need redemption - where can it be found?
“Through His own blood”: there is no other ground.

I need forgiveness - and I can be led
To know it since the Saviour’s blood was shed.

I need peace here, where sins and conscience toss;
God made peace through the blood of Jesus’ cross.

And reconciliation is required -
God reconciled me since His Son expired.

I wish that sin and flesh in me had died -
It is with Christ that I am crucified.

I need propitiation, and through grace
Christ’s death means God shows a propitious face.

Sinner before the God whom I defied,
By faith in Jesus’ blood I’m justified.

If I am to have part with Christ on high
While I am on this earth the Saviour had to die.

To stand for Him where He has been despised
It is unto His death that I’m baptised.

How great the cross of Christ which overthrew
The wall between the Gentile and the Jew.                                                     14/04/2023

Because the blood of Christ was shed through grace
Boldly I may approach the holiest place.

No one can draw all to him other than
The One once lifted up, the Son of man.

If the Great Shepherd’s brought from with the dead,
It's since blood of the covenant was shed.

Those under law may know they are set free
Because Christ bore the curse upon the tree.                                                 07/02/2024

How does new life before the Lord begin?
The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin.                                                          14/02/2024

Delivered from the world, since it’s the tree
By which the world is crucified to me!                                                26/02/2024

Since at Golgotha Jesus died for all
I judge all dead to God since Adam’s fall.

Thus we know none according to the flesh
But now in a creation that is fresh                                                                01/03/2024

If in my life His life is manifested
It will be when His dying is attested.

What answers to, “This do, remember me”?
The tokens of His giving on the tree.

It's none less than the Lamb that has been slain
That is enthroned, and wakes the saints’ refrain.

All was in love, and we may learn it thus:
The Saviour has laid down His life for us.

The Son God gave, through whom true life begins,
Is the propitiation for our sins.                                                            19/04/2024

The obedience and shed blood of One who died,
Of Jesus Christ, is why we’re sanctified.                                            26/04/2024

We do not need another offering
Because Christ’s work has answered everything.                             04/05/2024

He, by the Spirit, offered to His God
Himself to know and bear God’s judgment rod;

And Jesus spotless offering is why
His precious blood has power to purify.                                                           02/02/2025

Because the Lord has died as the Testator
He lives as the new covenant Mediator.                                                          04/02/2025

Through what appeared to be His weakest hour
Through death, the Lord has broken Satan’s power.                                     05/02/2025

He has been crowned, and He will reign as king
Because He tasted death for everything.                                                         08/05/2025

By virtue of the blood of One who died
The heavenly things themselves are purified.                                                 02/03/2025

Jesus, rejected in a world of hate
Has shed His blood for us, outwith the gate.                                                   04/03/2025

The privileges of the covenant,
Because His blood was shed, are now extant.                                                 11/03/2025

Without the blood there can be no remission,
Redemption, or our heavenly admission.

A living sinner has no entering;
Christ while on earth could bring no offering;

Nothing could meet the sinner’s situation
Outside of Christ making propitiation.

How blessed for the saints who came before
The death of Christ: God righteously forbore.                                                11/03/2025

And the shed blood of Jesus Christ is how
God’s righteousness is what is witnessed now.

According to God’s will we’re sanctified
Since as an offering Jesus Christ has died.                                                       21/03/2025

Near the Whangie, west central Scotland

THE GREAT TAPESTRY OF SCOTLAND

Something a bit different.  The Great Tapestry of Scotland was produced during 2012-2013 by about 1,000 people across Scotland.  It is now permanently on display in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders.  It picks out important event in Scottish history.  We visited last year and here are a few of the panels, or details from them. When you come to Scotland it is certainly worth seeing.  See https://www.greattapestryofscotland.com/ 

St Margaret was the wife of King Malcolm Canmore

'Dunces' was the nickname of the followers of the the Scottish philosopher and theologian Duns Scotus.

Chepman and Myllar set up the first printing press in Scotland. Meriel Tilling, author of The Observers Book of Sewing, one of our neighbours, worked on this panel.

Waulking songs, the songs of women working on fulling cloth, form a kind of Scottish folk song.

'To a Mouse' is the name of one of the best-loved poems by Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet.

My sister was working with the last company whose paper mill closed.  She got some ribbing about the companies existing for hundreds of years until she started.

Sir Hugh Munro listed the Scottish hills over 3,000 feet and climbed all but one of them. 
"Munro-bagging" is the term used for climbing the Munros.  I have climbed about 70 of them (a good few years ago!) 

Scotland has three languages: Gaelic, used in this panel; Scots, used by Robert Burns; and English.  I have something in Scots brewing just now. 

 

HYMN by Horatius Bonar

I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.

'Tis everlasting peace!
Sure as Jehovah’s name,
'Tis stable as His stedfast throne,
For evermore the same.

My love is oftimes low,
My joy still ebbs and flows,
But peace with Him remains the same,
No change Jehovah knows.

I change, He changes not,
The Christ can never die;
His love, not mine, the resting-place,
His truth, not mine, the tie.

The cross still stands unchanged,
Though heaven is now His home,
The mighty stone is rolled away,
But yonder is His tomb!

I know He liveth now,
At God’s right hand above,
I know the throne on which He sits,

I know His truth and love! 

Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) Born in Edinburgh, and minister of the Grange Church near where I was born and brought up.

Loch Lomond in the distance

The rocks form The Whangie