4 December 2024
Good morning,
It’s the second and final day of the Winter Graduations. Yesterday was full of joy for graduates, medallists and new Professors, and their family and friends. Today’s celebrations start with a service of thanksgiving in St Salvator’s Chapel at 9.30 am. Chapel Choir will be singing, and the preacher is Very Revd John Chalmers, father of broadcaster and Strictly Come Dancing star JJ Chalmers who is receiving an honorary degree today. All are welcome. Behind today’s window the next episode in the tale.
Feathers
The story so far: Only Maryam among her friends encountered the strange figure declaring via Instagram she was pregnant – has she dreamt it?
Three weeks later Maryam could no longer call it a dream. Her period was late. For a day or two she only half-noticed as she’d been working hard on an essay due at the end of Week 10: “Explore the contribution of religion with reference to governmental economic policies in any Middle Eastern country.” But a sixth sense, even without counting days, told her something was up. She felt different, physically and emotionally, and then it didn’t come. She’d only been late once or twice before and that, her mother had told her, was entirely down to the faddish diets she’d briefly embraced as a teenager.
She handed in her essay on time, but four days late in her monthly cycle. It couldn’t have been true, could it, the message that day on the top floor of the library? She was no longer able to banish the image of the figure who spoke to her, or her barely whispered words in response, “I’ll do it.”
Maryam had seen enough romcoms to know the next step. Donning her most shapeless grey hoodie, she slipped out of Sallies that Saturday morning when few students were likely to be up. In Boots, she found two brands of pregnancy testing kits. Worried she’d put it off if she didn’t try straight away, she headed straight for the toilets back in hall. She read and re-read the instructions of the more expensive kit, and did what she had to do. The lines were unambiguous. She was expecting a baby. She returned to her room, convinced that anyone meeting her would immediately know she was pregnant. She drank some water and reminded herself of her mother’s oft-repeated wisdom that one swallow does not a summer make, and waited till she could go again. This time, the cheaper kit. Again, crystal clear. Maryam was with child.
Giusto d’Alemagna, Annunciation (1451), Church of Santa Maria di Castello, Genoa (reproduction).
Yours,
Donald.
Revd Dr Donald MacEwan
Chaplain