LETTERS

Green Shopping

In response to the Editor’s remarks on fruit and vegetable packing I note that some supermarkets sell reusable net bags.

However, knowing that I would probably forget to bring it with me, I have resorted to what we used to do. I just put my loose potatoes and vegetables in the shopping trolley and have it weighed at the checkout and put it into my shopping bag loose – that’s what we used to do in the old days. I know the checkout operators don’t really like it, but if they provided them with suitable weigh scales then it would help. Us “oldies” were eco friendly long before it became a buzz word! Andrena Crawford, Edinburgh

Coronavirus, Bible and Meat

At times like these many – not just church goers – will want to go back to the Bible (especially the King James Version).

I personally find Psalm 91 a great comfort. Some words in particular speak to our situation:

‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.’ The Rev Andrew McLuskey, Ashford, Middlesex

St Patrick’s Day celebrations have been cancelled in Belfast and Dublin due to Coronavirus Covid-19 concerns, but would that bother the real saint himself? Patrick as a God-fearing man would not approve of the level of veneration accorded him, or of having a saint’s day named after him, nor would he condone the revelry and secular partying that accompanies the occasion.

Realising that the first source of coronavirus was apparently from a seafood market that sold many kinds of wild meat, it reminded me of the Biblical food laws that provide a list of animals that are considered ‘unclean’ to eat. I always thought that these laws were exclusively for Jewish people, but then I read in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, where Noah boards the animals on the Ark, the unclean animals in twos, purely for breeding purposes, and then clean animals that could be eaten in sevens as they were to supply food. If Noah knew the distinction between clean and unclean animals long before the commandments written in Leviticus and he was not Jewish, then it was obviously to protect all of mankind.

The early Celtic Christians that followed on from Patrick did not eat pork or shellfish as they kept the Biblical food laws. Such animals were not bad, or they would not have made it onto the Ark. They were created as an ecological necessity to clean and replenish the planet, but were not to be eaten as their flesh would have high levels of toxins due to their scavenging all kinds of waste. St Patrick, like Jesus Himself, would not join you for your bacon buttie or your prawn cocktail. If the guidelines of the loving Creator were upheld there would be no contagion passed on to human beings by ignoring these rules, or at least the risks would be greatly reduced. Even in catering college I was told that pork and shellfish were ‘high risk.’

Patrick was a God-inspired visionary who brought about radical change across Ireland among people who neither cared about God or obeying His rules. In the end by sheer perseverance and determination these brave Celtic missionaries founded communities that welcomed those among them who once rejected such strange ideas. They kept the Sabbath and Passover of the early Jerusalem Church before the Roman system of Sunday and Easter overtook. If Patrick were here in 2020 I think he would be happy to see the parades cancelled, but he may have difficulty having an Ulster Fry with churchgoers of today who keep a whole lot of customs he would never have entertained.

He wouldn’t need to self-isolate, as he’d be branded as a heretic anyway for having such pure Biblical beliefs and observances, as opposed to the man-made customs that exist in the churches today. Many people venerate Patrick as a man, yet ignore his actual practices as a person. Colin Nevin, Chef, Hilton Tel-Aviv, Israel 1991-2002

Candlemas and Music

Music has always played a huge part in my life and on Candlemas Day 2020, remembering your editorial from the August 2019 issue of Life and Work made me smile.

You see Candlemas Day, February 2 each year, is a day of joy and this year in our village church it was celebrated by candles being lit and we sang my late mum’s favourite hymn, Jesus Bids Us Shine. Straight away I was transported back to my childhood and I came home and wrote about it for my granddaughter so that the youngest generation of our family could share in the joy that this hymn had given to at least three previous generations of our family.

I give thanks with a grateful heart for hymns. I also love hearing handbells played and I read recently that one of the country names for a particularly favourite flower of mine is Candlemas Bell, which is due to the association that snowdrops have with the religious festival. Snowdrops are viewed as symbols of purity and hope and their heads do dangle like handbells.

Music, candles and flowers, these wonderful things to share with others. June Armstrong, Crossgates, Fife

War Commemorations

As centenaries go, eventful Great War dates recede into history, there must be room for tales of extraordinary Scottish soldiers. From July 1915, Scottish soldiers, heading for leave, arrived at London’s Victoria Station, initially in the wee small hours. They were spotted by formidable St Columba’s ladies and gents and invited to rest in the nearby church hall. Up to 250 men each Sunday were duly refreshed with kindness and hospitality.

In the evening, farewells were said at Knightsbridge Station as they set off to catch night trains to Scotland. Stopovers were initially 19 hours, later reduced to six hours.

Chapter 1 of that noble publication, Scots in Great War London, published in 2018, paints the fuller picture. This local response to war was quite different to knitting socks and fundraising for comforts for the troops.

I estimate their journey of some 750 miles would have taken at least 24 hours. With the London stopover, two precious days would be used for leave (furlough) homeward journeys. Southbound schedules did not include much time in London.

By 1918, aided by 1000 miles of light railways, ex-London buses, mule-trains and mainline trains etc, up to 200,000 men and 200,000 tons of supplies were, each week, delivered to the Western Front.

As a life-long beneficiary of the post-WW2 peace dividend, I have made many long-distance journeys by ship and train to Paris, Geneva, Venice, Trieste, Vienna, Moscow, Dresden and Copenhagen. In Paris when Eurotunnel caught fire, my plan B back to London used three buses, two trains and a ferry. A frequent free sandwich service, while welcome, could not match the passionate, polished Presbyterian Pont Street service to 50,000 Great War Scots from 1915 to 1919. This service was the talk of the trenches, not only the trench named after Pont Street between Ypres and Loos. J Michael Buchanan, London

It was great to see the review of our recent publication SASRA in the Second World War on p51 of the April 2020 edition – however the image that accompanied it was another recent SASRA publication 40 Days to Peace.

So far, just short of 13,000 copies of 40 Days to Peace, a Daily Devotional for the period April 1 to May 10, have been given out. May 8 2020 is the 75th anniversary of VE Day, and has been declared a UK bank holiday.

More information can be found about 40 Days to Peace and the peace2020 project by visiting the website www.peace2020.org.uk or from this short video: https://vimeo.com/394384896 Phil Rush, Development Officer, Sasra

‘Seeing Is Believing’

In his excellent and thought provoking article, the Very Rev Dr Derek Browning (Life and Work April 2020) finished with “people won’t start looking for Jesus if they don’t see Jesus in us”. I heartily agree.

I would further say that when we befriend someone, Jesus is with us and transforms the relationship.

Thus the presence of Jesus enables love, kindness, generosity and compassion to penetrate and when our friend feels this he/she will begin to see and feel His presence. Thus seeing is important but feeling is vital. John Kusel, Cumbernauld

This article appears in the May 2020 Issue of Life and Work

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