The Big Question

The Rev Eddie Enslin, minister, Mortlach & Cabrach Parish Church, Dufftown, Cabrach and Glenrinnes

“If I had to pick the most inspiring sacred space I ever visited, it would probably be the bedroom where one of my previous congregation members had passed away in 2015.

“I found this place to be sacred, not because of its architecture, history or religious connections, but because it was a place where I was invited to bear witness to the love between a wife and her husband and children and their father. In the presence of that Love, I felt the presence of God and that transformed the very plain bedroom, smelling of death into a sacred place.

“The man, who had been very ill with cancer for a few years, was reaching the end of his journey on earth. His wife asked me to join the family around his bed for what would be his last moments. I prepared myself for a very emotional and draining evening and thought of the prayers or readings that might be appropriate.

“Instead, when I arrived the man had just passed away. I was made to sit with them around the bed where his body was still lying. There I was privileged to listen to their stories about their husband and father. They played videos and showed pictures on their phones of their times together.

“They cried, laughed and shared until the funeral directors arrived to take the body away. Without me having to read from the bible or even praying – God was present, and the space was sacred because Love was there.”

Barbara Macfarlane, Parish Nurse, Dundee: The Steeple

“There are many places that I’ve visited that have special memories for me. Some of them are places that I have only ever visited once in my life, and they’ve left indelible images in my brain.

“Holman Hunt’s painting of ‘The Light of the World’ in St Paul’s Cathedral is one of those unforgettable places I could visit quite often as a student nurse in the city of London.

“However, there is a wee place that is very sacred and important to me; it’s Balmerino Abbey, on the south bank of the River Tay, west of Wormit. The abbey is a ruin, but in the grounds there is a simple rugged cross. It’s a place of peace and quiet. I can reflect there, sometimes praying, singing (quietly), reading Scripture, and coming closer to the heart of God.

“My work in Dundee may leave me feeling a bit drained, often very sad, occasionally confused and sometimes incredibly uplifted and encouraged.

Don’t get me wrong when I say that one of its benefits is that I can’t even see Dundee from the Abbey!

“To ‘escape’ there and just be with God is inspiring. I leave feeling refreshed and calm, envisioned and often very excited about my calling to serve people in Dundee city.

“For hundreds of years men and women have gone there to worship, pray and be prepared and sent out to serve, and I am privileged to be another one of them.”

The Rev Jeremy Eve, minister, Busby Parish Church, and Interim Moderator, Glasgow: Carmunnock

“The most inspiring (and sacred) place I have ever been might be a cliché, but it was actually the Grand Canyon.

“I was in my early twenties, and taking a gap year (aka not having a clue what I wanted to do with my life), when I found myself travelling across the United States. I was heading for California with some American friends I’d made working in a bug-screen factory just around the corner from the Alamo in Texas, and we’d picked up a couple of hitch-hikers about the same age as ourselves in the middle of the desert.

“There was about one car passing every hour or so, and we did genuinely think they might otherwise have perished. One was Spanish and the other was Japanese, and that night we all pitched our tents as close to the canyon as we could.

“We had an hilarious evening, with not one common language between us, amusing ourselves nonetheless by making shadow puppets with our hands on a sheet we pinned up using light from a fire we’d built.

“And then, up well before sunrise, we sat on the canyon’s rim, and just waited. And as the sun rose – and for a little while we had the sight all to ourselves – the enormity of what we were witnessing wasn’t the only thing that dawned.

“I literally could have stayed all day, as the light from the sun began to fill the canyon, the scene not just dramatic, but dynamic as well.”

The Rev Mhairi Breingan, OLM, Interim Moderator and Locum with Paisley: St George’s.

“Over the years I have visited many sacred places from the tiny Italian Chapel on Orkney to the abbey on Iona, to the large and ornate cathedrals of Europe, each one special in its own right.

“I have worshipped in many buildings from the intimacy of a private home to the grandeur of St Giles to the enormity of the Armadillo.

“I have spent time in the Holy Land visiting many of the historic places associated with the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“How marvellous it was to sail on the Sea of Galilee, to stand in the Garden of Gethsemane, to walk the Via Dolorosa.

“Each of these places (and many others) were indeed special and to some extent inspiring.

“In Jerusalem we also visited the garden tomb, a space which made no pretence of being the historical tomb of Christ.

“This space allowed visitors to see a simple tomb hewn from rock which was representative of the type of place in which Jesus was laid following his crucifixion.

“On a simple wooden door were the words, ‘He is not here for He is risen.’ So my answer is the garden tomb, perhaps not a sacred place but a reminder that the ‘inspiring sacred’ is wherever we meet the Risen Lord, or perhaps that should be wherever He meets us.”

The Very Rev Dr David Lacy, retired.

“With many Scottish islands called Oronsay, I’m referring to the one south of Colonsay from where it is accessible by walking across the strand at low tide.

“However, on both occasions I have visited, I arrived on the yacht ‘Trebizond’ owned by my pal, Mike Edwards, a Church of Scotland minister now resident in Tasmania. If you sail northwards up the Sound of Islay, the tide shoots you out towards the island. It looks gorgeous – white sand beaches and turquoise sea around a small hill covered in bracken.

We anchored, on both occasions, in a bay on the east side, and rowed ashore. We made for the Priory.

“On the first visit, Mike and another crew member took the proper route via the strand; but his wife, Jean, and I wanted the view from the top of the wee hill, so marched up through the six foot high bracken! We stomped our feet hard and sang ‘Courage, brother/sister, do not stumble’ at the tops of our voices to warn away the adders!

“There’s an RSPB sanctuary there dedicated to the saving of Corncrakes. The ruined priory has a cloister. It is so peaceful.

“As we swam with dinghy back out to the boat, we realised we were sharing the bay with two seals and an otter.”