REFLECTIONS FROM SANDY’S MILL, NOVEMBER 2014

 REFLECTIONS FROM SANDY’S MILL, NOVEMBER 2014, PETER MILLAR 

                                       petermillarreflects.blogspot.co.uk

Return of the Monthly Reflection

Thank you for all your messages these last few months. Much appreciated. I have been doing these Monthly Reflections for several years, and seem to have had a sabbatical for the last few months! I hope things are going well with you wherever you are in the world.

Sandy’s Mill, near Edinburgh.   Together with a friend, Pat Bryden, who also lives in Edinburgh, we have bought an old restored cottage very close to Edinburgh in the beautiful countryside of East Lothian – an area of Scotland I have loved since childhood. It is a small cottage by the River Tyne and was formerly part of a mill there. “Sandy” may have been a miller there many generations ago. We hope that this cottage will be a place of welcome for many. You could perhaps call it a small retreat house. Already we have had many visitors. We shall be giving out more information about Sandy’s Mill soon. Thank you to all those who have already visited this place of hope and peace.  ( I continue to live in Edinburgh.)

Remembrance 

November in the UK and in many other countries is a time of remembering those who have died in war. Some years ago, the Worship Group in Carnwadric Parish Church in Glasgow, under the guidance of John Bell and others of the Iona Community, wrote a beautiful hymn relating to remembrance of wars and those who have perished on battle-fields. This hymn is number 712 in the Church of Scotland Hymnary. Here are some of the words from that hymn.

What shall we pray for those who died,

Those on whose death our lives relied?

Silenced by war but not denied,

God give them peace.

I love that line “silenced by war but not denied” for without remembrance all our lives are spiritually impoverished – whatever we may think of war itself. Without this ability to remember and to reflect on the past, however war-torn it may have been, I believe our souls remain only half-healed within the purposes of God. To be human means that our “past” – personally and corporately matters greatly in the wider scheme of things, so long as it does not imprison the present. And our shared history which is often marked by terrible conflicts, matters to God. The God who has wept over war, and still weeps. Most people are not “for war” in any shape or form, but surely that must not mean that we cease to remember the millions who have died throughout human history because of it.

And as we remember all those who as they say “fell in war” we think of all those who are falling today in places of unimaginable violence and pain. It sounds such a bland thing to write, but for them we also weep. And if this weeping makes us feel inwardly uncomfortable – or disturbs our embedded way of looking at the world – then we are grateful to God that the deepest places within us actually “feel” human sorrow. That is for me both the mystery and the hope of human connection. So “at the going down of the sun” let us not forget all those who have died in wars, lest we spiritually diminish ourselves and our communities. In a world of many incredibly bland options, remembrance, however much we may hate war, remains precious. For in our remembering we walk on holy ground.

Gerry Hughes

Father Gerry Hughes, a well-known Scottish born Jesuit priest who has died at the age of 90 was a good friend to many of us. He was a compassionate, wise prophet for these times and his best–selling book GOD OF SURPRISES has helped thousands of people who were on the brink of leaving the church to remain in it. But Gerry’s words of deep encouragement also spoke to huge numbers of people who would never be seen inside a church building, for his books always took seriously both the reality of God and the vulnerability of our human lives. Gerry never preached at us, but rather, as in all of his writing and retreat work, walked alongside us – wonderfully aware of our frailty, his frailty and God’s understanding of both. A truly good person on earth who quite often made his superiors uncomfortable - not least dogmatic bishops -  Gerry will also be remembered for his tireless work for global justice, his campaigning to abolish nuclear weapons and his tender companionship of  countless folk living on the margins. In his own prayerful and creative life he was one of God’s surprises – enabling many others to see the surprising spirit of God in daily living.

A Prayer from Amnesty International 

****       We pray for all whose basic needs for food, shelter, clothing and healing are not met. Stir up the consciences of peoples and governments, to re-arrange the world’s unjust systems; teach us all to live more simply that others may simply live.  ****

Remembering Many

**** Lord, you who knew suffering, we hold before you all who today in many parts of our world are being silenced, violated, abused, driven from home, exploited, held hostage, tortured, or betrayed for they are our sisters and brothers known and loved by you.****

END NOTE   Please feel free to share any of the material in this Reflection. Many of you have my e-mail address if you wish to be in touch concerning Sandy’s Mill cottage.  I would also like to say how much I have valued many recent visitors, not least a close friend  Noelene Martin from Sydney who sadly died shortly after staying with her husband John at my home in Edinburgh. Noelene was a prophetic voice for global justice and for Fair Trade in Australia.