7th February 2025

A hymn based on Psalm 46 (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA0zJnW1Rr8) somehow feels apt in the midst of all we hear in the news at the moment:

God is our strength and refuge,
Our present help in trouble,
And we therefore will not fear,
Though the earth should change…
(Richard Bewes)

I’m enjoying “The Winds from Further West” by Alexander McCall Smith at the moment. The central character has encountered trouble at work and in a key relationship. A friend offers him the refuge of time away from it all, in his cottage on the Isle of Mull. There, the kindness of the friend who has lent him the cottage is matched by kindnesses of the local people.

View from Tobermory with boats on the water

The setting (in the book) on Mull is near the town of Tobermory where we were fortunate to stay not so long ago – so that adds to the appeal of the novel! A sense of getting-away-from-it-all, together with the friendliness and helpfulness of those we ourselves encountered, made it feel a good-for-the-soul sort of place where one could recharge the batteries.

How wonderful to find ourselves aware of God’s love for us when immersed in the beauty of the natural world or when surprised by the love of friend or stranger – and how much more so when this is soothing balm in a time of trouble.

In our God-ward journeying, like the Psalmist, maybe we can experience God as our fortress (Psalm 59). A “Renew Wellbeing” (https://www.renewwellbeing.org.uk) email this week suggested we can maybe sense God lifting us up so we can get a better perspective … to know He is still in control.

Ruth Allen