It’s the summer: a time of the year when we are likely to be visited by or to visit our families and friends. Either way, this visiting can be an enjoyable experience as much as a chore, and quite often it’s a mixture of both. It’s no great secret that seeing the back of our visitors is as great a…

Back in the summer of 2006 I knew absolutely nothing about Scotland except for a few common (and mostly untrue) stereotypes. I was immersed in my pastoral work, and if I had any plans for the future, Scotland did not feature in them. A year later I landed in Aberdeen, leaving behind everything I’d known, and facing the unknown. Keeping…

A boastful American from Texas was being shown the sights of London by a taxi driver. ‘And that is the Tower of London, sir’ said the taxi driver. ‘We can put up buildings like that in two weeks’ said the tourist. A little later: ‘That is Buckingham Palace’ said the taxi driver, ‘where the Queen lives.’ ‘Is that so? You…

A while back, there was a young girl that I knew. At first glance everything seemed to be going all right in her life: she was a diligent student, she was teetotal, and she was a regular church-goer. But her seemingly ordered and good life was blighted by something deep down inside her, something that massively troubled her mind as…