Happy New Year!
Happy new year!
I hope you have had a relaxing and refreshing time over the Christmas and New Year holidays. Days in St Andrews were often murky and wet, but sometimes there was a crispness to the air, and lovely walks were possible. Here is a picture I took of the East Sands from the coastal path near the end of a twilight walk over the weekend.
Meanwhile we have been checking the news for the latest on the omicron variant and different government responses. For now it seems that the new University semester will begin much as the last one ended, with students in St Andrews, and a mixture of classes in person and larger lectures online. If you are making your way back to St Andrews, I wish you a safe journey.
To my surprise, a theology conference I sometimes attend in early January has gone ahead in person, and I am here in Peebles, writing this between lectures. The Scottish Church Theology Society conference is called Back to the Future – a Stratigraphy of the Sacred. Stratigraphy is about successions of rock layers, but the conference is not about geology, but archaeology, and the history of different religious experiences. We’ve learned about shamanistic cave-paintings, possible purposes of standing stones and beliefs in spiritual beings in Argyll. So far the talks from Steven Mithen and Ian Bradley have been thought-provoking and illuminating. In between there is also time for walks along the River Tweed. Here is a picture I took today of pale afternoon sunlight glimmering on the water.
I’ll be back by the weekend, just in time for the first chapel service of the Candlemas Semester. Have you noticed that the winter vacation is a week shorter this year? Classes begin for many students on Monday 17 January, and so chapel services begin this Sunday 16 January in St Salvator’s Chapel. We are able to worship according to the same government restrictions as before – there is no cap on total numbers attending, there is no need to register in advance, and face-coverings need to be worn. Ushers will ask people to allow for some space between groups at worship, as some social distancing is advised. We’ll also be livestreaming the service here: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/chaplaincy/worship/
To begin the Candlemas Semester, I will be the preacher. My sermon is called My Delight Is In Her, a name given to Jerusalem by God according to Isaiah. But in Hebrew that name is Hephzibah, which happens to be the name of one of our cats. So expect a feline feel to our reflections on Sunday. We may still be looking for a student reader – would you like to read one of the Bible readings in chapel this Sunday or another week? Just let the office know at [email protected]
Yours,
Donald.