In the bible (Ezekiel, chapter 36) are found the following words –
"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will be careful to observe my ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be my people, and I will be your God". Over the ages, many women and men have responded to this exhortation, not just among the people and the lands of the bible, but here in Scotland. Since the early medieval era much attention and energy has been expounded upon promoting the Gaelic saints of the emerging Scottish nation, yet many of the earliest holy women and men of the Pictish era have been confined to the legacy of legend. Oral history has much to answer as, almost without exception, the saints’ blessed biographies were fashioned many years after entry into eternal life, with ‘compare and contrast’ seriously suffering from unholy exaggeration! These saints existed, transforming the spirituality and sociology of the communities that they encountered or created through their Christian mission – the names, places, and stories have as much relevance now, as when first related – evangelisation is always new. There is enormous topical attention in so-called Celtic spirituality and its ‘church’, resulting in a revival and resurgence of an ‘ancient-future’ religion with some emphasis on creation, accessible divinity, and reclamation of both individual and communal prayer and pilgrimage. Curious enquirers seek to know more about Christianity, ancient and modern, and discover some history that has not been accessible until this century. The modern phenomenon of genealogy drives many to learn more about their roots and antecedents, places and people, aided and abetted by modern technology and improved access to historical records. Since the Reformation, many saintly legends may seem to have vanished in the mists of time, however there is a renewed curiosity in saintly role models whose example have taken on some relevance in confronting and opposing today’s society that accelerates the dissolution of families and communities. The saints are part of our Scottish Christian heritage and inheritance that not only makes sense by placing them in the context and culture of their time, but also by an acknowledgement that their world and ours continue to be similar in context. This is our world: Where war, terrorism, religious and moral indifference are rife; Where society has fractured communities and families as the norm; Where authoritarian regimes consider human life from conception to cremation as optional or dispensable; Where diseases still deal out death; Where despite a plentiful world, there is poverty, famine, hunger, and homelessness induced by greed and corruption; Where refugees and economic migrants are on the road to nowhere; Where education may often be un-affordable, and the privilege of a few; Where an ‘instant society’ insists on possession without counting the cost; Where God is pushed to the extremities, considered insignificant and unwanted, while people claim to be more ‘spiritually aware’ This short compilation is not an academic work, but a ‘primer’ that will encourage the reader to encounter the saints in the stories and traditional holy places of Northern Scotland. In recalling the accounts and legends of holy men and women, this book offers encouragement to delve deeper into the contemporary culture and context of our time. The realisation that together in Christ, and following in the footsteps of the Northern Saints, we may provide a Christian response to the challenges of secularism and indifference to the Spirit of God who continues to live in the land of our ancestors. Last century, Louis Armstrong wrote the classic song with the immortal words, ‘Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world’. Every person is called not only to be holy, but also to be a saint in time and place, and transform society to become a ‘wonderful world’.
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John Woodsideis a Roman Catholic permanent deacon who ministers in the Diocese of Aberdeen, Scotland. ArchivesCategories |