Dear friends,

“You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)

I like looking at trees, their shape, the bark (gnarled and lumpy or paper-thin), the leaves and the colours. In Brussels, with so many of its streets lined with trees, we are usually privy to a feast for the eyes during the autumn months. Where we live in Brussels commune (but on the edge of Watermael-Boitsfort) there are lots of trees. Watermael-Boitsfort is a very “green” commune in that respect, although over the past five years a number of the green spaces have been gobbled up with the construction of new homes. I have a most inspiring view from my study over the back gardens of the neighbouring houses and apartments. There is vast variety of trees. [Read more…]

Dear friends,

“Come gather ’round people, Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters, Around you have grown…”

I am sure that most of you recognise these words from the Bob Dylan classic “The Times They Are A-Changin’”. Bob Dylan is still going strong and producing good music today. It seems that successful rock stars can go on into their 70s.

It would be fair to say that “the times they are a-changing” in the Presbytery of Europe too. For those of you who don’t know about the Presbytery, there are 18 congregations that make up the Presbytery, stretching from Bermuda and Trinidad & Tobago in the west to Sri Lanka in the east. Brussels is somewhere in the middle! [Read more…]

Dear Friends,

I recently spent some time with a colleague whose approach to ministry differs markedly from my own. Both of us responded to God’s call to serve him in ministry in the Church of Scotland, both of us are committed to the work of building Christ’s kingdom. Yet we are very different people, called by God and motivated to serve him.

In our discussions, my colleague made me think carefully about the pastoral work that is done to support people in Christ’s name in our congregations. Are the people whom a minister pastors friends, or acquaintances, or simply people in the pews who might call on the minister in a time of need or for some other reason? [Read more…]

Dear Friends,

Last month I wrote to you about the Cross and this month I want to say something about Christ’s resurrection. We need to have the courage to gaze at the Cross in all it’s ugly cruelty, in order to understand it. God is doing something deep, unfathomable, mysterious and hugely significant at Calvary. It confronts our own sin that took him there. On Easter Day Jesus confronts his disciples with the resurrection. Jesus takes the resurrection to Upper Room. The woman who went to the tomb to embalm Jesus’ body delivered the news that Jesus had risen and then the resurrected Christ appears to them there. [Read more…]

Dear Friends,

Recently one of our daughters has been preparing a family tree as part of a school project. It is fascinating how memories of loved ones can fade with time. When I met Julie’s parents for the first time (nearly 23 years ago) there were some elderly family members present.  Julie’s maternal great- great aunt Eva was staying for a few weeks (she was in her mid 90′s then and lived to be 106) and her grandmother (aunt Eva’s niece in her late 70′s then). Julie and I were left to look after them while her parents took refuge in the Birkhill Inn, near Dundee.

[Read more…]