Long Days of Summer

 

Midsummer day is here, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall, in fact it was yesterday. The sun will be at its highest overhead, and the hours of daylight will be at their longest for another year.

For us in Fife there is very little real darkness overnight just now, and the farther north you go the less darkness there is. Within the Arctic Circle the sun does not dip below the northern horizon for a few weeks, and it seems that day never ends. Of course, in midwinter it’s a different story! Don’t think we’d like 24-hour darkness, and cold too! So make the most of these evenings when daylight stretches on until after 10 p.m., or these bright mornings if you get up with the lark. Each day is important, use it well.

Is this the middle of summer?”

Midsummer’s day has arrived – hopefully a token of warmer days to come, but not too hot we hope for comfort’s sake! Although midsummer brings us the longest daylight hours, it doesn’t seem to us that this is the middle of summer! Very little of our summer appears to have arrived yet, but we do hope it will last a while.

Just as midsummer’s day is not like the middle of our summer, midday doesn’t feel like the middle of the day either, even though the sun is at its highest overhead. For most of us in this part of the world much more of our day comes after midday, even stretching to midnight sometimes, and that’s not the middle of the night either!

We know that “mid” does not always mean “middle” or centre. But halfway or “the middle” is often a significant point to reach in projects we plan, in journeys we make, in holidays we enjoy, in books we read, and so on.

In a book I love to read the middle point is very interesting. The book is the Bible. It’s a big book with 1,189 chapters and 31,102 verses. The middle verses are the first two in Psalm 103. They say, “Bless the Lord O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits.”

It’s easy to forget about God and how good He is to us. This Psalm reminds us of how He cares for us daily, providing what our bodies and minds need. It also reminds us of His love in providing eternal salvation to our souls when we put our trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you done that? This midsummer why not take time to read this Psalm and reflect on all that God has done for you?

Written by a Guest Blogger

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

NC500 Part 4

We started the day recovering from a stormy night. A couple of tents around us were flat on the floor by morning light. We went to bed after a good cup of tea. I’m not sure how well we slept as I heard the wind and the rain on numerous occasions during the night. The £99 tent stood up to its claim of being waterproof (to 3000 mm) and stormproof. 

Coffee was at the cutest little hut which had an amazing view across Loch Eriboll. The owner, an elderly gentleman, hailed from Yorkshire and made excellent cakes and scones. It was well worth stopping. 

The scenery along the north coast is just as majestic but entirely different from the west coast. I’ll leave you to enjoy it for yourself. 

The next stretch brought us to Thurso. The scenery is changing but the variety is engaging. I love this touring life. Keep watching there’s still more to come. 

NC500 Part 2

The beauties of Wester Ross continue to amaze me. Here is a series of pictures we took as we traveled from Applecross through Shieldaig, Torridon, Loch Maree finally arriving in Gairloch. 

I worked in Gairloch 35 years ago and despite there being a new Bank building (apparently it was built 20 years ago) nothing much has changed. 

The camp site (Big Sands) was amazing. Fantastic shower block, great kitchen facilities and a brilliant cafe/restaurant. All in all a great experience of camping.  

Blair Drummond Adventure & Safari Park

A week spent with young people telling them about the gospel of Jesus Christ is wonderful experience. It is nearly a week since I left Liverpool to travel to Faskally, Pitlochry in Scotland. 

I have been coming to Faskally for many years now. It is an old country house which has been adapted for house parties, camps and youth groups to use. The facilities are excellent, the grounds are extensive and as I stand and take in the scenery I could be in the Swiss Alps, the Lake District or some equally beautiful spot. But I’m not, I’m in the Scottish Highlands which have a unique rugged beauty and splendour  all of its own. 

As a Christian I cannot help but reflect on the wonder of creation and the majesty of the creator and designer of all things, God and His Son, Jesus Christ. If you are an atheist you will disagree with me but I still cannot see the logic of spontaneous existence or unprogrammed life forms etc. 

I’ve just visited Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park with the young people I am with and I cannot help but notice the intentional design of the animal creation. Meerkats have inbuilt sunglasses, so do birds of Prey - wow. Birds of Prey, Yellow Kites, can collect, transfer from feet to mouth and digest food while still in mid-flight and that includes the males!! So male kites can multi-task which is impressive when you consider how difficult male homo-sapiens find it to multi-task. 

I don’t know what you believe but all I ask is don’t switch your logic off when you look at the created world, nature and the universe. If you’ve read my other blog posts you’ll know I believe that there is sufficient evidence to support the Christian conviction that the Bible is word of God and that Jesus was the Son of God. On top of that there is the evidence all around you of a clever, intelligent creator. 

In the beginning God...that’s how the Bible says it all started. 

The Bible also teaches that at the end of time we will all stand before God. In the Bible it says ‘I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books’, Revelation 20:12. 

My prayer is that you’ll meet God in life as Saviour rather in the next life as Judge. 

Have a good day. 

Stephen