Message of Hope

I am a prisoner in HMP Edinburgh. I am repentant of my offence and I am deeply ashamed of my past.

In prison I study theology through Highland Theological College, which is part of the University of the Highland and Islands and I go to church every Sunday.

I write lots of poetry and I study it often, and this is what made me take the liberty of sending some of my work to Life and Work magazine.

I have been reading all of the articles in the magazine. I have learned lots of things from them and I have received hope.

Recently I’ve been inspired by music artists like Celtic Worship, the Shacken Trio and Sisken Green, with the latter leaving me in awe when I encountered their music in an episode of Songs of Praise.

If you like my poems and the messages they convey please feel free to use them in any way you may see appropriate and share them with whomever you see fit.

‘There is nothing apart from God Loyalty fades and there’s no vision All is feeble, degraded, at the mercy of the wolfstorm There is nothing away from God Despondent locations, forgotten people, Lives of cruelty in unseen unlight There is no life without God Only idols that don’t last Unreliable harbingers of lives unlived There is no hope in the absence of God No love like trinitarian otherness And the luminescence of Christ’ resurrection I forgot to mention that I became a Christian inside prison. Years ago I used to be against Christianity and now I am getting baptised next Sunday!

Prisoner HMP Edinburgh