Castles and Colleges
What Have I Been Up To?
In lieu of a regular article this week, I thought I’d share some highlights from my adventures in Scotland this past week. Truth be told, my medical issues have become more acute since we’ve returned and so I’d also love to ask you for your prayers, that God would give me some relief from that, but also—more importantly—that God would be glorified through this, and use it to bless me and those around me.
If you’d like to read an article of mine this week, I’d suggest this one from late last year about the most encouraging sermon I’ve ever read:
But for now, let me tell you about Scotland.
Three Weddings and A Funeral
In the space of a month, my wife and I have attended two weddings and one funeral, with one wedding still to come next weekend. Given how busy we knew we’d be, we thought it would be best to take some time to rest whilst we were in Scotland for Wedding #2. The wedding itself was a raucous, joyous event, and one where we got to meet family and friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen for over two decades. We stayed in a beautiful cottage overlooking the Scottish coastline, with a small island in the distance, and an array of small family-owned shops in the nearby village.
My wife bought a hairpin and it was wonderful to see how happy she was when she put it on.
After the wedding we travelled down the Edinburgh, where I was able to meet another friend, Alistair Chalmers—whose writing you can find here—whom I’d never actually met in person. We’ve known one another for years at this point, but never face to face. We spoke about God’s goodness in suffering, and in bringing us out, about past and future projects, and about our lives. It was a huge encouragement to me. As we had met at a local christian bookstore I even got to pick up some tomes for the road—Mrs R really shouldn’t have left me alone…
Afterwards we headed down to the Scottish parliament building, and then visited Edinburgh Castle, each of which was impressive in its own right. Here in England we have some beautiful architecture, but often it is offset against quite brutish buildings that deflect some of that historic beauty. Edinburgh couldn’t be more different. Though Parliament and the Castle were modern and medieval respectively, each fitted the landscape perfectly, and had been built to endure the years and centuries to come.
The next day—after enjoying dinner at the inimitable restaurant Dishoom and an oft-imitated Premier Inn—I received an invite to visit New College, the Divinity School at Edinburgh University. It came rather out of the blue, but was such an encouraging time. I chatted with the Professor there, Dr James Eglinton about the history of the school, as well as his experiences there, and got to thank him for the work he has been doing over the past decade, particularly in bringing the works of Herman Bavinck to the forefront of theological conversations in the 21st centuries. If you haven’t read any of Bavinck’s work before, this is a good place to start:
Afterwards, we visited the house of Scottish Reformer John Knox, where we got to learn more about the Scottish culture out of which his reformation was borne, which was distinct from other places in Europe in many ways. If you’d like to hear more about Knox, just leave a comment I’ll have a think about a future article.
Afterwards, at the request of Alistair Chalmers, we cheekily popped into Edinburgh Seminary to see a particular painting he thought I would enjoy. The inscription above reads, “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness” which is taken from Psalm 112:4 KJV, which is a rather fitting verse, as just a couple of centuries after Knox’s reformation, faith had been to dwindle again in the church in Scotland, and some had decided to leave. They did so at great personal cost, losing houses, church buildings, and salaries. What remained, however, was the word of the Lord and the light that it provides for the faithful.
Although the scene in this painting didn’t quite occur as depicted, this is nonetheless a faithful rendition of the Spirit of the departure, containing the portraits of hundreds of men and women who decided before God to be faithful to him above all else.
As I left Scotland, this was my resounding conviction. Will I follow the world, or the word? The answer, of course, is obvious.
“Light shines in the darkness for the upright. He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.”
CSB Psalm, 112:4
Thanks for reading, I hope this was an interesting and fruitful departure form the norm.
Grace and Peace,
Adsum Try Ravenhill
Last Week’s Article - Jude Series Pt.I - Chapter II:
You have a voice for travel writing! Love Scotland with all my heart. And praying for your health, friend.
perhaps you could write about British weddings in 2024 - since most people might assume they are all like Four weddings & a funeral or Royal weddings:)