Macduff, Banff, and the Moray Coast

5/16/12

The thread of connection is as spiritual as it is physical. From Macduff my Granny HMC went to study to be a teacher and then was called to serve in Nasirabad, Rajasthan, while her sister, my great aunt Mary became a teacher in Banff Academy. From Rajasthan my travels took me eventually to Mumbai and in Mumhai I met Bosco and Elvina whose good friends, Mike and Mary were the subject of our conversation and I agreed to make contact while in Scotland. This last weekend I went to visit them in Banff, or to be exact just outside Banff, in Inverboyndie, where their house and in particular their conservatory has a beautiful outlook over the beach and the shore in both directions. On Sunday my experience of worship in Mumbai dovetailed perfectly with the worship of the Riverside Network Churches together at the Harvest Center in Banff (formerly Aunt Mary's church hall). I was surrounded with charismatic worship and prophesy and prayer and was delighted to be in that place. On the day before, I drove with Mike through Gardenstown, Pennan, Rosehearty, Sandhaven and Pitsligo, all very familiar from my parents time of ministry in that area.  Here are a few pictures.

 The beach at Inverboyndie

 The harbor at Gardenstown

 Close up of a fishing vessel in Gardenstown

 Gardenstown Church of Scotland

The breakers at Pennan

 Looking down at Pennan harbor from the road

Approaching Rosehearty Manse and Church of Scotland

Rosehearty Manse

Sandhaven Church of Scotland

Pitsligo Parish Church

Ash and Merlot - Mike and Mary's delightful Jack Russell Terriers

 Looking back along the coast

Mike and Mary outside their home  on Sunday morning

13 Wood Street, Banff, where we enjoyed many a family holiday with Aunt Mary

A shop on the main street in Banff, familiar from my childhood
 

Fearn, Logie Easter, and Kilmuir Easter

5/14/12  It is now two days after my mother's birthday and one day after mother's day in the US. I am backtracking on my experiences over the past week or so. On Sunday, May 5 I set off north early in the morning to attend church in the linked congregation of Logie Easter and Kilmuir Easter. The services alternate month by month and in May they were being held at Logie. I received a warm welcome as a son of the manse and met my first Sunday School teacher, Pat, and Judith who remembered great birthday parties at the manse in our childhood. By prior arrangement the new minister came after service in my car and showed me round Kilmuir Church and then took my back to the manse for some lunch. It was very special to be in the church and home where I lived from age 2 to 12. I also drove over to look at Fearn Abbey and manse where family Friends Kenneth and Margaret were for so many years. Here are some of the pictures.

 Kilmuir Easter Church

Formerly Kilmuir Easter Primary School, opposite the church, where I and my brothers attended. The church also used the classrooms on Sundays for Sunday School. 

The brae between church and school where I once famously crashed my bike when cycling with my Dad and brother to an evening service in Milton. I had poor brakes and could not stop the bike so I rode right over the main road at the bottom and landed in a great big patch of nettles just to the left of the tree in this picture.
 

The path through the gravestones up to the church door (not visible but on the side just next to the yellow bush), so familiar and well trodden.

 Inside Kilmuir Easter Church

Still one of my favorite pulpits in all the churches I have seen.

  Stained Glass window in Kilmuir Easter church depicting Naomi and Ruth, much gazed at in my childhood.

Perth and Thornton

5/5/12

I may well have left many followers behind on account of the long delay in getting around to this post. My time has been full with a great variety of activity. I've had visits from friends, Jacinta and David last Saturday and Gordon and Karen today. I've had meals with friends, Ruth and Gordon, and Eileen. I traveled to Glasgow for a gathering of Meher Baba lovers and friends in the company of Dr. Gadekar from Poona in India who was traveling in the UK and had a final stop in Glasgow. Last Sunday I returned to Thornton Parish Church for 10:00 a.m. worship service and met several very familiar people from my days there, Margaret Colville, Jean Kane, and Harry Wyse to name a few. In phone conversation with Margaret yesterday I got the phone numbers for two of my contemporaries Steven and John whom I will be reaching out to greet in coming days. I've enjoyed a wonderful chamber music concert in the company of Eileen, of Mozart sonatas for piano and violin in Perth Concert Hall, performed by Susan Tomes and Erich Hobarth. I've been running most mornings down by the river Almond which has been exhilarating. My reading in the works of my great-grandfather has been enlightening. I've finished "Faith's Certainties," I'll be starting "Faith's Perplexities" very soon.  

 Jacinta and David in the back garden of my cottage.

... and with me in my kitchen.

  Above and below: Detail of the stained glass windows in Thornton Parish Church

The view from the pew where I sat as a teenager listening to my father conduct worship and preach.

Loch Leven and Thornton

4/25/12

It has been good to get settled in to the cottage in Perth. I have ventured out several times. Yesterday I had a full day starting with a visit to Thornton and a round of golf on the first course I ever played, pulling the very same golf bag I ever owned. This is the first round I have played in many years, and I was remembering my golfing buddy Rev. Scott Morton who passed away recently at the good old age of 103. I was remembering the many sayings we had for good and bad shots as we went around the courses at Van Cortlandt Park, Split Rock, and Pelham, all in or near NYC. The rain has been very frequent here over several days, but while I played golf the sun shone and only a few short showers prompted me to put up my umbrella. Loch Leven is the delight to the eyes that it has always been, resplendent in its natural beauty and full of the resonances of history. Viewing the village of my teenage years this many years later brought back many memories. The starter on the golf course, Catriona, remembered my Dad officiating her wedding - adding a personal touch to my reminiscing.

 Loch Leven from the M90

The Lomond hills above Loch Leven

Leslie Baptist Church where I attended on Sunday evenings in my teenage years

 Glenrothes High School - where I was a pupil for four years.

The rugby pitch (in the background) that brought back memories of games played and my concussion after I accidentally ran into the goal posts during a match!

 The running track at Glenrothes High School

Loch Leven at the last of sunset. The skies have been magnificent over the past few evenings.

 Thornton Parish Church manse at 12 Strathore Road, home of my youth.

Thornton Parish Church

 First Tee at Thornton Golf Course

The Thornton Golf Clubhouse

My trusty Dunlop golf-bag (from age 12) carrying my Mizuno clubs - a good bit newer !

The sun continued to shine on my round of golf, even while dark clouds gathered around.

New York - Edinburgh - Perth

4/21/12

After a short hiatus, I am back to my blog. The turn around in New York went well. I fought to overcome jetlag and was partially successful (so that when I arrived in Edinburgh the shift was easier). I visited some of my various doctors for appointments. I went to visit my bunny rabbits in Brooklyn at the home of Marcie and Frank. Arnie and Izzy are doing very well - thriving in fact - certainly keeping their hosts on their toes and there have been few dull moments for them with these two to keep up with. The latest story with Izzy was that after being combed (they are both shedding right now) she picked up the comb in her teeth carried it to the edge of the enclosure and proceeded to push it through the bars of the pen, as if to say, "that's enough of that thank you very much!"  I met up at the conservatory garden in Central Park with Matt and Viola and Viola's mother Ella - all Baba lovers - and it was wonderful to see them and to convey the blessings directly from Bhauji to each of them. I met a few other friends over the three days and then made my way once more to Newark to fly out of the country, this time to Edinburgh where my brother Brian was there to meet me and take me to my Dad's home for the balance of the week.

Now for the BIG news!  My Dad has become engaged to be married to Jean Steven. The wedding will be on May 19 with both their extended families invited. I have been honored by my Dad's invitation to officiate, and after some considerable e-mail correspondence between Dad, Lynne Rogers who is one of the registrars for marriages in Edinburgh, Rev. George Whyte, the presbytery clerk in the Presbytery of Edinburgh, and myself the matter was resolved in favor of me being authorized to officiate. Though I thought at first that I had never met Jean, it turns out that I have. In Kelty, my first parish in Scotland, I both conducted the funeral of her late brother George Chalmers and also officiated alongside my friend the Roman Catholic priest Fr. Mike Purcell in St Joseph's church, Kelty in the marriage of her nephew Stephen to Pamela, both of whom I will meet again at this wedding. Jean was present of course on both occasions. It has been delightful to spend time with Jean three times this week, and even more delightful to see how much this new relationship means to both Jean and my Dad. It is truly a small world. Some of you may think that Scotland is a small place, but believe me even here that saying applies.

Needless to say this first week in Edinburgh has been full with wedding plans and brotherly conversations. This afternoon I have escaped to Perth to begin what my friend Suzanne in NYC aptly calls my "residency" in the Stable Cottage just off the Crieff road out of Perth. I am delighted with the cottage. Gwen, who with her husband Alistair, is the proprietor, was born and raised in Ross-shire, and indeed went to Logie Easter primary school which is neighboring to Kilmuir Easter primary school where I and my brothers went. We are looking forward to an evening when we can talk about our childhood in the north. She goes up to Muir-of-Ord every Tuesday to take care of her mother and shop with her. Her mother is 92 years old and still going strong.  Apologies that I have no pictures of Matt, Viola, Ella, Suzanne, nor yet of Jean. I'll sign off there as I go out to have an evening meal. 

Arnie and Izzy contemplating a dash through the cardboard tunnel

 Izzy pausing at the water bowl.

 Arnie, always so photo friendly.

Dad at his laptop, at home in Winton Park, Edinburgh

Stopping off in Kelty (between Edinburgh and Perth) I visited my friend Veronica Forrest at her Deli and was treated to some refreshments. Veronica is making the wedding cake for May 19 and I for one know it will be an exceedingly good cake!


    

Last Two Days in Delhi

 Pictured here visiting the Amarjyoti leprosy colony established by the Brotherhood of the Ascended Christ some 35 years ago. Their church is in the background. I spent time greeting them, shaking hands, sitting with them, receiving their hospitality of a delicious cup of chai, talking with them about the challenges facing their community.

With Fr.Monodeep Daniel, who is reviving the Brotherhood's pastoral work with this community, bringing them worship leadership every Sunday and pastoral care.

Inside the magnificent Sikh temple, Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, in Delhi.

Before entering I took off shoes and socks, was provided with appropriate head covering, walked through a shallow ritual foot washing stream, ritually washed my hands, and then felt appropriately ready to enter the temple, where music and worship and continuous throughout the day.

The approach to the temple.
 

After a heavy thunderstorm during the day (my first rain in India) in which I got thoroughly drenched, I was on my way in the company of the brothers to a dinner invitation just outside the city. The sky was amazing after the storm and towards sunset. It felt like a special gift on the eve of my departure from Delhi.

 Another view of the skyline with a Japanese temple in the foreground.

Br.Dinesh at the dinner.  He was the one who assisted me most in my stay at the Brotherhood House  and in orientation to the city of Delhi.

 Kirsty Allan and her husband from Manchester, England who invited us.

 Fr. Ian and Fr. Monodeep 

Rob, (Kirsty's brother in law) and his fiancee, whose home we were visiting