I also wish to record my thanks to the members of the Committee who made the decision today. If the truth be told, I feel a bit like Peter, I’m thinking about the challenge of getting out of the boat and stepping into the water and I’m praying, Lord help me keep my eyes on you, or I’ll drown.

I wrote a song many years ago along with my song writing partners Iain Jamieson and Campbell Dye, it was all about stepping out and trusting. I have much to learn and find out about the job and no doubt I’ll make my fair share of mistakes but I’m looking forward to the opportunities that will come our way to serve together.

Step into the water

Your heart is beating fast and furious like a drum
And your throat is parched with a very dry thirst
Your time has come you can’t delay you must go
The tide is in, your time has come, go with the flow

Don’t second glance, this is your chance
Step intro the water
Don’t hesitate, you’ll be too late
Step into the water.

Your steps are slow, your faith is low, your on the edge
the fear of failure grips your soul and you turn to go
Yet from the sea adventure calls and mystery wins
the oceans vast your hook is cast love’s got to last

Don’t second glance, this is your chance
Step intro the water
Don’t hesitate, you’ll be too late
Step into the water.

Walk with hope discover faith on the edge of doubt
Don’t be afraid to be afraid, don’t shut love out
I have a friend and you have a friend
Who can walk on water
faith is the key, lesson are free, to walk on the sea

Don’t second glance, this is your chance
Step intro the water
Don’t hesitate, you’ll be too late
Step into the water.

Click here if you want to hear a blast from the mid 90s

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However we know it doesn’t work like that . People only come when they know there is a place for them. The quote of course comes from the film ‘Field of Dreams’. Why am I thinking about all this ? Well yesterday I visited the ‘Field of Miracles’. This is the name of the site on which the Leaning Tower of Pisa is built.

There is great controversy about the tower. Architects and historians have been debating the issues surrounding the leaning tower for centuries. Some have argued that it is folly. A tower built without counting the cost. Others of-course take another view all together. They argue that the clue is to be found in the name “Field of Miracles” On this site all three buildings are leaning one way or another to a lesser or greater degree, so perhaps the architects were saying something about perpendicular buildings?

They argue this was all intentional. No medieval mason would have continued building a slanting tower unless he was making a point.

They continue to argue this is more than a site showing off the cleverness of human ingenuity. It is seeking to point the human mind to the God who can do things off the wall – the God of miracles.

Could the architect be saying here is a kind if miracle – a tower leaning some 17 degrees yet still standing. Like the God who says here is a ‘burning bush still burning’

The thing is believers and non believers all come. They come from all over to see something different. To see a folly but perhaps to return home believing a miracle!

I guess the builder would identify with the quote. ‘ You build it; they will come. Yes they still come after 700 or 800 years. So do they come to see a folly to look at an architects mistaken enthusiasm or do they come to wonder?

Could it be the same intrigue that continues to attract men and woman to Jesus Christ? Is he the folly or is he more?

Is it not that he refuses to conform to what we think God should be. He offers an alternative narrative to life. He says “try to keep it – you lose it. If your prepared to lose it you find it. Do the unthinkable therein lies the miracle.

It’s interesting why people come to look on the folly of the cross to wonder at the point of such amazingI can never forget the picture that I saw on a Mega Church wall on one of my visits to the United States. It simply read ” You Build It : They Will Come.” Underneath was a picture of Noah waiting for he animals to arrive. It has stayed in my mind because I fear that too often we all play safe we want the people to come to whatever, before we’ve built the Ark. However we know it doesn’t work like that . People only come when they know there is a place for them. The quote of course comes from the film ‘Field of Dreams’ Why am I thinking about all this well yesterday I visited the ‘Field of Miracles’. This is the site on which the Leaning Tower of Pisa is built. There is great controversy about the tower. Architects and historians have been debating the issues surrounding the leaning tower.

Some have argued that it is folly. A tower built without counting the cost. Others of-course take another view all together. They argue that the clue is to be found in the name if the field on which all three buildings are leaning p
one way or another to a lesser or greater extent.

They argue this was all intentional. No medieval mason would have continued building a slanting tower unless he was making a point.

Come here is a miracle a tower leaning some 17 degrees yet still standing. It’s a miracle and they come from all over to see something different . To see a folly but perhaps to return home believing a miracle. I guess the builder would identify with the quote. ‘ You build it; they will come. Yes they still come after 700 or 800 years.

It’s interesting why people come to look on the folly of the cross ? In the Kelvin Hall Glasgow the most viewed exhibit is Salvador Dali’s St John if the Cross. It has been reviled even slashed yet many return believing the miracle. God has redeemed a lost world and in Christ he has reached out to touch people like you and me.

There is a distinct history in belief being connected with follies. The Pisa Tower shed light on another meaning of miracle for me.

There is a distinct history in belief being connected with follies. The Pisa Tower shed s light on another meaning of miracle for me.

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The Fair Celebrations are always a good to time to have a have friends round.I like having people round especially for a BBQ. Its all the preparation that goes into the event that makes the event enjoyable. What is it they say, “its better to travel than to arrive” You spend hours getting the garden tidied up and another load of hours shopping and preparing. Why is it that having friends round spurs you on to do your best ? I think its the expectation of enjoyment of fellowship of friendships being renewed. Then the party begins, friends arrive, stories are told, and before you can blink its over.

The next morning is the big tidied up. I guess that’s what we’ve just completed. The place feels empty now, but the garden still looks good. Oh and the streets are deserted in the town of Bo’ness but the Oueen’s Arch still looks good.

So what can a person do? You can’t party forever? You have to have the catch up moments, the tidy ups.

Maybe in one sense you can, party forever, if you include the preparations and the tidy up as all part of the experience of party. Maybe that is what time and eternity is all about. Getting ready to celebrate. It also must of course include the challenges before and after.

Baking a cake is a very stressful experience especially if you are working against the clock. As Martha left for her work she pointed to the ingredients laid out on the breakfast bar and to the recipe. Its all there follow the instructions and you can’t go wrong. Well that sounds simple I know, but there are aspects of cake baking that go unsaid, for instance how high should the sponge rise, and for how long do you beat the butter and the eggs, or as they say, how long do you cream the butter and eggs?

I can tell you i went through a few stressful moments but I eventually got there and as you can see the above picture records for posterity my first attempt at cake baking. Well how did it taste? well I’ll leave that for others to comment, but one person who tasted it said it was the mother of all chocolate cakes!It made me feel good. I felt I had achieved something. Its amazing the conversations that can be entered into once you’ve baked a cake. You should try it.

taking about

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I have no doubt that all these issues have a certain complexity about them however one cannot but feel a sense of compassion and empathy for Douad and his family. It might be interesting to reflect a little bit more on some of the issues. We’ll find ourselves when we do straying into theology, politics and issues of peace and justice. One thing I’m certain of we all have a duty to ensure that extremist where every they are found are not allowed to radicalise and polarise communities. When this happens it is people like Douad and their families who suffer.

One particular man stopped and said he was Jewish, then with a smile he added “we’ve been doing this long before you ever started” Its good to be reminded that Jesus wasn’t a Christian but in fact was a Jew. Others however did stop and share the bread and the wine on the street. For some it may well have just bread and wine, while for others it was an act of worship and thanksgiving. For some it was a transcendent moment on a busy Edinburgh street, buses passing by, others rushing to make deadlines, but for them , for those who stopped it was important.
I doubt if they will ever forget the two nameless ministers who shared bread and wine with them on the street, but more than that, they will not forget because they were remembering, with grateful hearts what it means to be thankful to the one who gave up his life to redeemed humanity. Did they understand it, you might ask? Do I understand it? Do you understand it?

The answer we all must give is no but somehow I get it. It rings true for me. It speaks at another level, it engages my mind, my emotions and my actions. It draws me to the place where I think about God in terms of the crucified. Perhaps the phrase that Luther used about God is startling and controversial, when he spoke of “the Crucified God” For Luther this phrase was the code that would open our understanding of the nature of God. He reminds us that the Christian can only speak of the glory,wisdom, righteousness and strength of God as they are revealed to us in the crucified Christ.

Luther saw the cross as a kind of riddle, in the same way as Samson saw the riddle of bees in the carcass of the dead lion. ” Out of the strong came forth sweetness” Luther wrote in these terms,” If God is present in the cross,then he is a God whose presence is hidden from us” Luther begins to unpack this idea when he quotes Isaiah, 45.15 ” Truly You are a hidden God!” Yet as Luther continues to gaze on the cross the hiddenness of God is revealed in the dereliction, and it is this dereliction that opens the way into God’s presence. He reflect that no one would dream of seeking God in the ‘disgrace,poverty,death and everything else that is shown to us in the suffering Christ” Yet somehow God is there hidden, yet revealed, for those who care to seek him.

I wonder if we have lost something of the shear anti-establishment attitude of the first Christians. We need to look and listen to the gospel stories through the eyes of Jesus. What he taught was often hidden, that is why he spoke in parables. Jesus would say they just can’t see it.

Perhaps we as followers of Jesus need to display more revolutionary characteristics. Do we need to be more active in living out the core values of the cross? Isn’t it such a challenging thing to turn the other cheek, to listen, to engage with those who would dearly love to see us wiped out.

Too often we Christians are content to speak of church membership but we are less inclined to speak about the person of Jesus. The thing is the most powerful of all the stories in human history is the story of Jesus and his amazing act of redeeming a lost and broken world. In other words his message speaks directly into the lives and hearts of each one of us 2000 years later. I think it was something of that power and significance that I began to understand a little bit better as we engaged with the symbols of the Gospel in the middle of a busy Edinburgh Street. The real church without walls was engaging effectively today on the streets of Edinburgh.

These tribal people live in the North West part of Peru on the Ampiyacu River. Before Amazon Hope visited this part of Amazonia both tribes who live across the river from each other and speak completely different languages had very little contact. Now thanks to the medical ship coming into the area both tribes have become good friends. They meet and socialise when the ship arrives. Last week both tribes put on an amazing dance and we were welcomed as always by both of the chiefs. I had a bit of fun calling out “Ola Victor” to the chief of the Bora I remembered him from past visits. Unfortunately to him all we gringos look the same. So not only are we saving lives in the rain forest we are also doing our bit for international relations. I’m pictured here with well known art designer of furniture Alastair Munro from Inverness who was looking to develop a whole new Amazonia line in furniture for his winter collection of 2012. Mr Munro was also greatly interested in the ancient low tonal jungle drum of the Bora. This drum is used for communication between members of the tribe who might be isolated in the forest. The drum might be calling them to return to the main tribal camp for refreshments after a long hard day at work. Mr Munro who finds texting and mobiles somewhat challenging is exploring this drum as an environmental alternative to the intrusive mobile masts that are appearing all over the highlands of Scotland. Mr Munro commented that he believed he could reproduce the drum and it could be used as an alternative communication strategy for the Highlands during this time of austerity. Munro continued to suggest that this solution to communication should not be promoted as primitive but rather understood as appealing to the minimalist approach which so often is the source of good design and art.

Oh and of course we are helping the local economy as we purchase the ancient tribal art which ranges from painting to the poison arrow and blow pipe if required. I myself stuck to the art work while one of our party Hazel Taylor who works for a charitable foundation,bought a blow pipe. Now I’m not quite sure who she is planning to kill. All I can say is if you recognise her please what ever you do don’t turn your back on her. And above all watch your neck these arrows are deadly. The thing is looking at Hazel you wouldn’t believe that poison could melt in her mouth? But if you look closely you’ll notice that the tribal woman in the rear of the picture is eying her up rather suspiciously. The thing is the Bora woman are noted for their insight into human nature.

Finally it was the selection of Alice Stewart that caused the greatest of concern to Her husband Gordon. Alice caught the eye of Chief Victor and he insisted that Alice join his group of women dancers to explore the Bora mating system through the dance of the cobra. First of all Alice had to have her make up applied by one of the tribal artists. Immediately after the dance Mrs Stewart who is a giant of a man compared to Chief Victor made it plain that Alice would be returning to Scotland. However some people on the ship reported that they heard Alice sigh a little as the speed boat pulled out to head back to Iquitos some four hours down the river. Later in the day Chief Victor who is a fan of the 1970s band Dr Hook, was beating out the tune “Living Next Door To Alice” on the Jungle Drums. have a listen to the tune below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lillias recently completed her BA in Theology and Youth Work from ICC in Glasgow. Over the years has been developing some excellent partnerships in the community highlighting the fact that the church for many has become the catalyst that is helping to bring about change in our community. Lilias is part of a dynamic team that is working out of St Andrew’s Bo’ness connecting with children,teens and young adults and also connecting with older members of the community who are experiencing memory loss. Lilias will be appearing on the show this Monday between 5pm-6pm so make sure you tune in. Recently ” Sanctus Media ” the not for profit media company that works out of the church building had a great deal of publicity for their excellent documentary on the history of coal mining in Bo’ness. The Film was shown in the town’s refurbished historic Hippodrome Cinema last week. The Hippodrome has the distinction of being one of the oldest working Cinema’s in the UK. The above video clip is courtesy of Sanctus Media.

It was way back in 2001 that I first heard the name of Tom Dunn being mentioned by my colleague Willie MacPherson. Willie had first met Tom when he was the Chief Naval Architect for BAE Systems on the Clyde. Tom caught the vision of the Vine Trust and has helped to make the vision of taking a ship to the Amazon to change the lives of the poor a reality.

For the past ten years he has been our principal advisor in reconstructing the ships we have at present on the Amazon. I have always been amazed at Tom’s willingness to help with this work until I learned that all his life he had harboured a desire to serve God in some way in Amazonia. Here was a man who designed ships to be used in war zones now turning his skills to design and redesign Amazon Hope 1 and Amazon Hope 2 in order to take health care to over 100,000 people in the remote Amazon. I truly think Tom believed that God had given him this unique opportunity to use his naval skills in this way.

I remember having a conversation with Tom when we were sailing Amazon hope 2 around the UK in 2005/6. “Tom” I said, “What size of ships do you normally work on?” He stopped for a moment looked at me in the eye, then turning and pointing to a huge war ship berthed in Leith said quite unassumingly ” What about that one”

I want to go tomorrow to pay tribute to a man who connected with the work of the trust and through that connection has been able to change the lives of many people in Amazonia for the better, but more than that he has had a profound effect on many people who live in his home town of Greenock through the work of the Bernard Court Mission of which he was proud to be Superintendent, a job which his father and grandfather had before him.

Sadly as we’ll say farewell to a great friend of the Trust , we know he is starting out on another life changing voyage. As his ship sails over the celestial horizon, and we say “there she goes”, passing from time into eternity and our voices are silenced, others on the shoreline will be singing hymns of triumph and other voices will be heard saying ” See here she comes” death for the christian is not the end it is the gateway that leads to a new perspective on the meaning and purpose of living.