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Monday

1 Peter 5.5b “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another…”

Now there’s a thought! If everyone in the community was humble it would make life easier, especially if they were as humble as you – or me! Humility has to be real – not false modesty, and not being self-dismissive or having no confidence in our own worth. Peter is right to tie humility to how we relate to each other. To clothe ourselves with humility is to put on attitudes of respect and willingness to be of service to others. The obvious example is Jesus clothing himself with a towel to wash the disciples’ feet.

Tuesday 

1 Peter 5.5b “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

But humility is not only socially useful, its opposite is socially damaging. Pride is a subtle form of sin, an overvaluing of ourselves compared to others. Being inconsiderate of others’ feelings, being too confident in our own importance, assuming our ideas are best and our viewpoint is valid and reasonable while others should really just listen to me – the word is arrogance. God gives grace to those who are clothed with humility, whose public demeanour and behaviour is not self-promoting, but other-affirming; the person who listens, encourages, makes space for others to grow and flourish.

Wednesday

Proverbs 11.2“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

It’s an interesting comparison, disgrace or wisdom. Disgrace is related to shame, social distancing, a reputation for arrogance, what in Scottish terms is “a guid conceit o’ themselves.” Wisdom is always a plus in the Bible and refers to humility before God, care for others, especially the poor, thoughtfulness about human affairs and how to live well in obedience to God and usefulness to others. Humility is that capacity to be positive and an influence for good wherever we are, because we are not looking to make the world, and every situation we experience, turn to our own advantage.

Thursday

Acts 20.18-19 “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you…I served the Lord with great humility and with tears.”

No Paul is not boasting. He is saying farewell to the elders at Ephesus, and explaining his ministry, and especially its cost, and his own faithfulness despite that cost. This is humility with realism, and the honesty to know ourselves without overstating either our virtues or our failures. This is a man who knows that God knows his heart. God understands our motives, and those inner springs of action that determine who we are.

Friday

Philippians 2.3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.”

Philippians 2.1-11 is an entire degree programme on humility. This verse is as good a definition as you’ll find of Christian humility. Better than ourselves at what? Paul isn’t saying exaggerate others gifts and contributions and understate your own. This is another exercise in realism and balance. We are what we are by the grace of God. And grace leaves us no room for boasting or self-congratulation. Instead grace clears the way for us to acknowledge, affirm and encourage the gifts and the presence of others.

Saturday

Philippians 2.4 “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

This is humility in practice. Not self-forgetfulness because it’s impossible to always ignore our own interests. That would be a charter for bullies who want their own way. “But also…” This is Paul’s version of love your neighbour as yourself. Love them to the same extent, with the same consistency, the same allowances made, the same generous interpretation of what they say and do. To look to the interests of others is to behave exactly as Jesus did, who came amongst us precisely to look to our interests!

Sunday

Colossians 3.12 “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

A word can be judged by the company it keeps. In Galatians Paul gave a list of the fruits of the Spirit. (5.22-23) Humility is not on the list. That’s because humility is presupposed in the cluster of fruit Paul describes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, patience and self-control. These are the interlocking characteristics of the person who in humility counts others better than themselves. By ‘better’ is meant those to be loved, encouraged, enabled, understood, and valued, just for who they are. Being clothed with humility is to wear the uniform of those who have grasped the meaning of Jesus who clothed himself with a towel, washed feet, and then told them to go and do the same! 

Monday

Matthew 5.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

None of us find it easy to live a contradiction. Jesus put this bluntly when he said you cannot serve God and money. To be pure in heart is to have a heart committed to loving God and serving God in grace-enabled obedience. When the earliest Christians confessed “Jesus is Lord” they were saying that for as long as they lived Jesus Christ had exclusive rights to their worship and service. Our heart’s purity becomes possible only by its renewal as a grace-gift in Christ, by a continuing work of the Holy Spirit, and the single-minded devotion of our lives to loving God as we have been loved.

Tuesday

Matthew 5.9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

There’s something obvious about these words – which doesn’t make them any easier for us to put into practice! Yes, peace is better than conflict, and building up is better than tearing down. But we all know that human life is complicated. We don’t all want the same things. Fear, anxiety, anger, greed, and self-interest all make healthy community hard to build. To follow Jesus is to walk in the steps of the One through whom God was reconciling the world to himself. God is the first peacemaker, and our calling as salt and light obliges us to ‘seek peace and pursue it’ for Christ’s sake!

Wednesday

Matthew 5.10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Following faithfully after Jesus means taking his words at face value by living into and up to them. The Beatitudes are hardly a blueprint for getting on in the world, building a career, and looking after our own interests. To be persecuted because of righteousness is exactly what is likely to happen when we insist on integrity, practice truth-telling in our words, refuse to retaliate, and forgive rather than payback, – all this bears witness to Jesus who has first call on our heart’s loyalty. To be mocked, or outmanoeuvred in the workplace, or ignored as weird is hardly persecution -compared to what many Christian believers experience in other parts of our world.

Thursday

Matthew 5.11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” 

The key phrase here is ‘because of me.’ Jesus knew that his followers would be given a hard time because of their connection to him. Later Peter would write in his first letter that being persecuted for Jesus is one thing; being held to account for real wrongdoing from murder to being an absolute pain is a very different thing. Then you get what you deserve. Check it out, 1 Peter 4.12-16. Jesus is saying we are blessed and privileged, to be involved with Jesus and God’s purposes of redemption and reconciliation for our world through him, and the mission of the church.

Friday

Matthew 5.12 “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Christians learn to rejoice at the strangest things! The cost and the consequences of following Jesus is being a target for everything from indifference, through ridicule to actual physical and psychological harm. Jesus is saying, if being faithful to his teaching is causing you trouble, you’re doing something right! And you are in good company. Rejoice that you are being faithful enough to be noticed! So don’t go looking for persecution to draw attention to yourself; but in quiet persistence live into the words of Jesus, following him as Lord and trusting him as Saviour.

Saturday

Matthew 5.13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

Salt stings on open wounds. Salt preserves from corruption. It seasons and enhances flavour. But Jesus’ point is simpler than that. Salt is distinctive. If salt stops being the thing that makes a difference then it’s useless. If Christians stop being different, and being the difference wherever they are, then, well, yes, we are useless! Like every good teacher Jesus is being provocative, forcing his disciples to think, motivating them to learn and become self-aware. Christian witness only works when there is something distinctive, when we stand out as different, and that difference explicable only because of our relationship to Jesus.

Sunday

Matthew 5.  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

The Beatitudes lead us to this point. Our light shines as we live the life, and become the people, the Beatitudes describe. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in us, to bring us to Christ-likeness, and empower us to shine as Jesus shone, and so be “Blessed”! Each Beatitude has a promise that we will be blessed here and now, and that come the Kingdom of God, we will know in all tis fullness the blessedness of those for whom Christlikeness is the pearl of greatest price. So, shine Jesus shine!

Paul and John in Harmony. A Theological and Historical Exploration. Michael Gorman. (Baker Aademic: Grand Rapids, 2026)

“John is not a Pauline Gospel; rather, Paul is a Johannine theologian.” That is the thesis of Michael Gorman’s latest book. The historical evidence for this assertion is laid out carefully in the final chapter, but it builds on all the previous chapters which represent a cumulative gathering of evidence based on certain acknowledged theological and textual overlaps in the spirituality of Paul and of John.

A general introduction sets out the options for understanding the theological similarities and differences between Paul and John, and why the question is important. Then chapter 2 provides a full and illuminating comparison of two master stories – the Christ hymn of Philippians 2.6-11, and the foot-washing episode in John 13. These two texts are explored and compared using five theses that emerge from careful textual and theological analysis.

The five theses are stated and established through an analysis of the two texts, exposing their foregrounded themes of Christology and soteriology, which together lead to the ‘participatory discipleship’ of Christian believers. Participatory discipleship is a key component in Gorman’s spiritual theology, and is tightly woven throughout Gorman’s more recent work on New Testament Theology. These two master stories are about God, incarnation and divine self-revelation; they both portray Christ’s divine vulnerability; they each display and mandate cruciform self-giving love; and both stories reveal the paradox of Christ’s freely chosen journey of obedience through the cross vindicated in resurrection.

Chapters 3 and 4 share the same title in a full examination of Pauline and Johannine spirituality: ‘Paul, John, and Participation in Christ: Spirituality and Its Roots in Christology’. First, chapter 3 offers an overview in which Gorman lays out the parameters of his argument. Union with Christ as koinonia and participation is a shared and focal emphasis in the spirituality of Paul and John. One of the most substantial sections of the book is then mapped out in Gorman’s detailed argument. What he calls ‘locative language’ and ‘residential rhetoric’ are his ways of describing phrases like ‘in Christ’ and into Christ’, as the place where believers ‘abide’ and ‘remain’. There are tables and lists of cumulative evidence from texts, demonstrating how such ‘locative language’ operates throughout the spiritual theology of Paul and John. The reader is made to feel the cumulative impact of the evidence gathered and shaped into a well-considered argument.

By the time we get to chapter 4 Gorman is ready to set out the evidence that such ‘locative language’ is a crucial element in the thought of Paul and John. Gorman articulates four major features of Paul and John’s understanding of participatory spirituality growing out of union with Christ, believing into Christ and being in Christ. The four common features are i) mutuality, “you in me and I in you”; ii) such mutual indwelling confers the Christian’s fundamental identity; iii) such mutuality and conferred identity is Trinitarian in character, by which is meant “the fundamental reality of perichoresis, or coinherence, is the mutual indwelling of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as an intimate unity-in-diversity of love; into this life humans are invited.”(p. 104); iv) this mutuality and identity within a Trinitarian existence is both active and transformational, that is, such mutual indwelling implies, requires and enables “moral and missional endeavour” which will bear fruit. All of this comes together in the phrase ‘missional theosis’, a term with which Gorman has become associated in recent years

In these chapters the author does the necessary spadework in order to build a persuasive body of evidence that will bear the weight of his argument. Lexical, contextual and grammatical evidence is drawn from Paul’s Letters and the Gospel and First Letter of John. Multiple verses are reproduced enabling the reader to weigh the cogency of the argument and note the similarities and variations in the theology and spirituality of both Paul and John. Indeed one of the bonus values of this book is the ready availability of such gathered texts printed in full, a catalogue of key texts.

Chapter 5 has the title ‘Prequels and Sequels’. This too is a rich chapter of textual and theological reflection. The author’s own summary describes the results: ”We have considered the soteriological prequel and sequel, according to both Paul and John, related to the incarnation and exaltation theme found in Philippians 2 and John 13…This prequel and sequel involve the double sending, first of the Son (prequel) then of the Spirit (sequel).” (p.153)

Chapters, 2-5, are both constructive and exploratory, and could stand alone as a thorough explication of the shared theological emphases of Pauline and Johannine spirituality. But they also serve as substantial evidence of telling similarity. And those similarities between Paul and John across a range of crucial texts and theological concepts, raise the inescapable question of who borrowed from whom, that is, which one was historically prior to the other?

The final chapter offers a tentative, but in Gorman’s view, plausible suggestion. To the question who influenced whom there are three possible answers. First, they are independent of each other and there is no direct relationship. Second either Paul influenced John or John influenced Paul. Third they influenced each other in “a give and take that involved the sharing of experiences, traditions and even texts.”

Gorman offers a new thesis that argues John influenced Paul: “John is not a Pauline Gospel; Paul is a Johannine theologian.” If Gorman is right, then the consensus on the dating of the New Testament documents would need radical revision. If correct, Gorman’s argument suggests an early date for John, that Paul at least knew John 13-17 possibly in written form, that John’s Christology could just as easily be prior to that of Paul, and that if John knew the synoptic gospels then they would also require a much earlier date than the current critical consensus. None of that is beyond plausibility, and the historical priority of John over Paul would help explain several aspects of Paul’s writing, and so on. This is a remarkable chapter, the argument presented as an irenic invitation to dialogue, with self-critical awareness of the problems but also the cogency in his overall thesis. It will be interesting to read the responses to what Gorman intends as a discussion starter and an invitation to consider the evidence so far.

The last sentence of this chapter is also the justification for the whole book:

“What matters most are the contributions that Paul and John make about life in Jesus Christ, the life of foot-washing and fruit-bearing that is ultimately transformative participation in the life of the Triune God – a life commitment that is worthy of pursuit no matter who wrote what when.” (p.180) 

Panel 1 of 9 on the Beatitudes tapestry currently being worked:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit….”

Monday

Matthew 5.1 “Now when he saw the crowds he went up on the mountainside and sat down.”

Geography and landscape matter in the spiritual life! The blessed person who delights in the law of the Lord is like a tree standing by a river, streams flowing in the desert are God’s signals of hope and new beginnings, and we know about the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and an unforgettable meeting with the risen Lord. Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down, the position of the teacher, in a place where every Jew heard echoes of Sinai. What Jesus says has the authority of God. I’m wondering how many understand that when claiming to follow him, yet ignoring much of his teaching – especially the Sermon on the Mount, the manifesto of the Kingdom of God, the set text and playbook of every faithful follower of Jesus.

Tuesday

Matthew 5.2 “His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them…”

If geography matters, so does movement and choosing our location. Drawn by the Spirit, and drawn by the magnetism of Jesus’ love, wisdom, and that unmistakable but hard to explain prophetic edge to his voice -they came, and we come, to be taught. Jesus said, “Come to me all who are toiling…take my yoke…learn of me…” That’s the relationship of disciple to Jesus. He is our teacher, we are in his presence to listen and learn, to be guided towards righteousness and loving service to Him. 

Wednesday

Matthew 5.3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The Kingdom of heaven is now and not yet. Those who know they aren’t self-sufficient also know that God is the source of life and light. Jesus is describing those who at the end of all earthly resources, reach upwards in trustful faith to the Father of mercies and find Him to be faithful. That is to live under the reign of God now. God’s will is not done on earth as it is in heave, not yet. But the promise at the centre of our faith in Jesus Christ is that in God’s good time, his Kingdom will come. Those first lines of the Lord’s Prayer are not pious optimism – they are urgent anticipation.

Thursday

Matthew 5.4 “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

Yes, it’s a hard one to take. Those who have lived with grief know it as a deep and lasting ache of loss. Mourning takes many forms, and has multiple effects on our emotional capacity, physical stamina, mental health and yes, spiritual stability. Jesus does not say, you’ll get over it. He says those who know deepest loss will be comforted, touched by grace, followed by goodness and mercy, strengthened in ways that don’t need to be understood to be real. Like all the Beatitudes, this is a promise, but it is not a get-out clause. There are sorrows too deep to ignore, but there is also grace sufficient, peace beyond our understanding, and the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The comfort of the Comforter.

Friday

Matthew 5. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”    

 Again, by the standards of our everyday world it seems unlikely. The good stuff seems to belong to the rich, the go-getters, the self-starter, the highly motivated achiever always alert for personal advantages. Meekness is not a word you would use in a job interview. But then again. The word Jesus uses is about strength held under control, underlying patience and courage, the ability to realise that our role is not to save the world, or gain the world for ourselves, but to be the salt of the earth.

Saturday

Matthew 5.6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

Righteousness is when things are made right, people act rightly, and things are right between us and all those who share our lives in family, work or wherever. Justice likewise is about the rightness of things, and noticing when things are wrong, and caring enough to want it to be right. Words like empathy, kindness, activism, protest, social compassion – they are symptoms of hunger and thirst for righteousness, and such hearts are already blessed – and will be fully satisfied come the Kingdom of God. Yes, that spiritual longing towards the rightness of our own hearts has its place – but the test of such longing is the push outwards in the practice of neighbour love.

Sunday

Matthew 5.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Mercy. Merciful. The words are now old fashioned, rarely used, and as a life-giving quality in human relationships its near absence as a norm of human behaviour is a symptom of a society with a heart problem. Mercy is part forgiveness, part compassion, and part wisdom. To forgive is to forgo our right to ‘give as good as we get’, and to offer friendship rather than resentment. Compassion is the habit of taking time to understand, sensing the emotional moment of another person’s hurt, and finding ways to make life less difficult for them. Wisdom is knowing that to show mercy is the offer of healing instead of further wounds, and to accept our own role as ‘ministers of reconciliation. Mercy has reproductive power in human life.

Window in Crown Terrace Baptist Church, Aberdeen

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

During the time I have been working on the tapestry of the Beatitudes, Panel 8 based on the words above, several times I have met with two Iranian Christians for baptismal preparation classes. Each told their story of having been targeted as Christians and being forced to flee the land they call home. Prison, beating, threats to family, ostracism, loss of their career and livelihood (one had his own business) – persecution is not mere inconvenience, or ridicule, or indifference, usually the worst we might expect in Scotland. These men are describing the real thing, the actual bottom line cost and consequence of following Jesus for each of these men and their families. There are tears in the telling of those stories – and in the hearing of them..

Using translation software they told their story, confessed their faith, spoke of what Jesus means to them, how they have found hope and love amongst Christians across Europe. I guess I never expected working a tapestry to take on such deep existential significance as in hearing first hand accounts of exactly what Jesus was speaking about.

And what’s more, in the ninth Beatitude panel, which isn’t started yet, Jesus is much more explicit about what it means to be a Christian in a hostile environment.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

That phrase, “Because of me”. The ring of truth and experience is unmistakable in their love and devotion to Jesus, and their confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

In the light of such experience of persecution, shared in prayer and fellowship, their recent baptismal confession brought moments of solemn joy, and of faith deepened and intensified by love to all of us who witnessed their baptism, and rejoiced with them as brothers in the Body of Christ.

“Let us with a gladsome mind,

praise the Lord for He is kind

For his mercies aye endure,

ever faithful ever sure.”

That first line is a lovely paraphrase of Psalm 136.1: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” We live in anxious times in a world less predictable every day. Those words give us an alternative to doom-scrolling through the relentless flow of information that simply feeds our fears and fuels our anger. Instead, let us with a gladsome mind, praise the Lord, for he is kind. Sure, the world seems much less safe, and we feel a lot less secure. But, as Psalm 136 says 28 times – “His love endures forever.” A gladsome mind is a determined refusal to despair by looking for reasons to praise the kindness of God, give thanks for his mercies, and trust the love that endures forever.

Tuesday

Psalm 31.7 “I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction, and knew the anguish of my soul.”

Gladness is not a denial of all that’s wrong in the world. When we are distressed by the scale of human suffering across the world, or when we ourselves are going through difficult times and ‘anguish of soul’, gladness doesn’t seem like a realistic option. But the Psalm poet is not wrong. In those very times of sorrow, anxiety, and perplexity that come to all of us, a gladsome mind turns to the one reliable source of light and life – the God whose love endures forever. To rejoice in the love of God is not to ignore a suffering world, or pretend our own difficulties don’t matter. It is to take hold again of the love of God in Christ and remember Christ is risen, and nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God! To rejoice in God’s love is faith singing and refusing to be silenced!   

Wednesday

Psalm 92.4 “You make me glad by your deeds, O Lord, I sing for joy at the work of your hands.”

This is still a wonderful world, the Creator’s masterpiece gifted to us. The birds we feed, the technology we use, the glory of sunset. Be glad about beauty and the fruitfulness of God’s creation and human labour. If I ask when I have been glad recently I think of geese honking their song of arrival at Loch Skene; or a recent meal with old friends when I said an additional Grace at the miracle of Cranachan Crème Brûlée! A gladsome mind is more than an injection of positivity; it is a mind alert to the goodness of God around us, and a heart accustomed to thankfulness.

Thursday

Psalm 97.1 “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad.”

At a time when even the best world leaders struggle with complex problems and life or death decisions, the Lord God reigns, and his purposes will be fulfilled. Don’t know about you, but when I watch the news I’m glad of those words, “the Lord reigns”, and that this is still a God-loved world. A gladsome mind doesn’t give in to cynicism as if hope for justice, peace and care of creation was hopeless refusal to face reality. The gladsome mind of the Christian is sustained by a faith that lives out the conviction: The Lord reigns! Christ is risen! Jesus is Lord!

Friday

Psalm 118.24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

So there it is. You wake up, you’re still here, the gift of another day. Time is God’s gift, not to be wasted in morose wishing it could be otherwise, but to be enjoyed and lived gratefully, creatively, and yes, gladly. Here is a prayer worth making a daily habit: “May we accept this day at your hand, O Lord, as a gift to be treasured, a life to be enjoyed, a trust to be kept, and a hope to be fulfilled; and all for your glory.

Saturday

Psalm 65.12 “The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.”

Take time to read verses 9-13 of Psalm 65. This is the Psalm poet having a good day, and looking out at a world touched by the life-giving creativity of God. Hills clothed with gladness! Really? Yes, and lush grass in the desert. A gladsome mind never forgets that the world belongs to God, despite all its brokenness and our sinful human propensity to waste, and spoil it. And yes, that means our obligation to care for creation, be actively concerned for our environment, and committed to justice for others affected by climate change. A gladsome mind is never careless of God’s gift of life, nor of the place where we live out that life.  “All things living He doth feed; His full hand supplies their need: for His mercies shall endure, ever faithful, ever sure.” Indeed

Sunday

Acts 2.46-47 “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people“

From the very beginning gladness has been one of the audible and visible features of Christian worship, fellowship and prayer. A gladsome mind is not self-generated. It is the heart’s response to the goodness of God. It is the inner reality of being in Christ and Christ in us, the hope of glory. Gladness is joy expressed in worship, love experienced in fellowship, and hope a firm expectation based on our resurrection faith. In other words, gladness arises from the settled conviction that Jesus is Lord!

Love bade Me Welcome. Drawing Nearer to God with the Poems of George Herbert. Suzanne McDonald. (Cascade: Eugene, Oregon, 2026)

Thirty years ago Suzanne McDonald came to faith through reading the poetry of George Herbert. Now an accomplished theologian with a particular focus on Reformed theology, she is also steeped in the history, literature and thought of the 17^th Century.

She has written this book on Herbert’s poetry with the primary intention of introducing others to the riches and rewards that come from spending time in the company of George Herbert. Love Bade Me Welcome is intended as a devotional book, offering informed reflection and guided study of 52 poems. It is more substantial in its structure and content than several other recent introductory books on Herbert’s poetry.

The book is carefully structured to facilitate reflective reading of the poems. Each poem is placed in the context of The Temple, with accompanying commentary and reflection bringing out the spiritual theology woven through the verse. There are footnotes but only where further explanation is necessary to follow the poet’s point or clarify obscure terminology. In each chapter there are recurring invitations to the reader to dwell on personal and theological questions suggested by the poem, then to bring each poem into conversation with a chosen Bible passage, and finishing with a prayer and a reminder ‘Going Forward’ to be attentive to and live into what has been learned.

The result is a book that is offered as a companion on a slow meditative journey through the year, nourished and guided by a poem each week. George Herbert’s poems deserve such thoughtful slowness and repeated reading, especially in the company of an author who is expert on the literature and the period, and who has been a long-time close reader and spiritual student of “the beloved poet.” The book is intended to be both informative and formative.

Those familiar with George Herbert’s Temple will have their favourites, and I am no exception. Choices for inclusion are always tricky, especially from a collection so carefully curated by the original author, and in which each poem is freighted with multiple interpretive possibilities, both inter-textually and intra-textually. For myself I would not have omitted any of those that are here included; and though a case can be made for further inclusions, the 52 week structure is a self-imposed discipline that is both practical and in my view, successful. And all of my personal Herbert favourites are included, so that’s all right then!

Perhaps one example might illustrate further the value of McDonald’s approach for those seeking to go deeper into Herbert’s poetry. And for newcomers, the book is an invitation to dive in and swim in the powerful currents of Seventeenth Century devotional poetry.

The challenge for any scholar seeking to probe and explore Herbert’s poems is how to deal with Love III, a poem many consider Herbert’s masterpiece, and which provides the title of the book. By this test, the book is confirmed as a reliable, perceptive and experientially accurate account of what Herbert himself called “the many spiritual conflicts that have passed betwixt God and my soul, before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus my Master, in whose service I have now found perfect freedom…”

Love III is the last poem in Herbert’s Temple, and the last to be considered in this book. The ‘Reflection’ section shows a sympathetic understanding of the psychology and spiritual experience of Herbert’s pendulum swings between desolation and assurance, shame and acceptance, guilt and forgiveness. This is where McDonald’s long personal journey with Herbert shows. She has been a deep listener and an attentive reader, not only to the poems, but to the heart of the poet. The ‘Scripture’ suggested as the conversation partner with the poem is itself a condensed argument about love as both imperative and initiative, bristling with the relational tensions and constant resolutions of love at its most powerful as motive and reward. (1 John 4.16-19) The concluding ‘Prayer’ uses familiar words by way of a personal invitation to the communion table, and therefore to communion with the One who ‘bids us welcome’.

As a book to be used weekly throughout the year in a way that is leisurely but intentional, and without being desultory, it is attractively produced, with clear readable sized font, and a well-planned layout. It is a generous larger format paperback (15cmx23cm), so the pages are not overcrowded with text. It will wear well with constant use – and there are lots of white spaces for personal annotations.

The book is deliberately accessible, but is supported within a strong theological framework of the spiritual life, and showing easy familiarity with current literature on Herbert. The whole project expresses the writer’s love for the subject, both poet and poems. I would be confident this well-conceived book will successfully fulfil the aim in the subtitle, of enabling the reader to “Draw Nearer to God with the Poems of George Herbert.”

View of Bennachie, Aberdeenshire

Monday

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation,

O my soul praise him for he is thy health and salvation

The first lines of a hymn usually set the tone for all that follows. This is one of the great hymns of praise that immediately lifts our eyes beyond our preoccupation with ‘me’ to the one we call Lord, whose might is uncontested, and who is the Creator of all that is – including the me who is singing this. Praise is the outward expression of gratitude and gladness. “He is thy health and salvation” is an all-inclusive phrase that speaks of our wellbeing, our reverent ease in God’s presence because in mercy and grace we are made welcome in Christ. Praise is an act of self-forgetfulness, the mind turning to God, and the heart inclined towards God and ready to sing.

St Nicholas Kirk in May, Aberdeen

Tuesday

O worship the King, all glorious above;

O gratefully sing His power and His love.

There it is again – worship and gratitude as response to God’s power and love. If we’re ever in need of persuasion to go to church, one of the best arguments is that we want to avoid becoming serially ungrateful! When Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit” he was describing the person who knows they are not self-sustaining, that life is gift and we depend on God every blessed minute of our lives. We gratefully sing of God’s power and love, because that power has saved us and upholds us; that love surrounds us and renews us in Christ, and so we are not about to take God for granted. Grace and gratitude merge into praise when we come to worship.

Wednesday

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,

Bow down before him, his glory proclaim

You could spend an entire day pondering that phrase ‘the beauty of holiness’. Holiness is one of the most essential words in the Christian’s vocabulary. Think of words like wonder, awe, splendour, purity; or phrases like unapproachable light, or dazzling darkness. This hymn is a needed reminder that God is not our pal, and that over-familiarity is not the same as reverent intimacy. In worship we don’t stand before God like fans at a rock concert lost in the experience. ‘Bow down before him’ is an altogether different approach. Indeed that’s what it is, an approach in reverent humility and grateful love to the One who is beautiful in holiness.

Findochty Church from path to Portknockie

Thursday

All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;

Him serve with mirth his praise forth tell, come ye before him and rejoice.

Three words that should characterise Christian worship – cheerful, mirth and rejoicing. The Psalm goes on to give all the reasons for such joy-filled praise. God made us, we belong to God, and every day of our lives we are under God’s care. I love the old Scots way of speaking: “For why? The Lord our God is good; His mercy is for ever sure…” More than one famous preacher has said a miserable Christian is a contradiction in terms. That’s unfair – we all go through times of real struggle when joy feels impossible. But that’s precisely why being with God’s people singing of the goodness of God is so vital – literally revitalising. Praise is faith in defiant mood!

Friday

Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here;

Come bow before Him now, with reverence and fear

“Be still and know that I am God.” That command is intended to silence the busyness of our mind; it’s a call to stop doom-scrolling and pay attention to the presence of God. Here. Now. Wherever we are, at whatever time, no matter the circumstance, the Holy One is here. Jesus promised to be with his disciples always, to the end of the age and to the ends of the earth. When we come to worship, in church or wherever, we don’t come into the presence of God. We stop what we are doing and acknowledge the presence of the Holy One. For myself, it’s too easy to forget the ever-present God, there wherever I am, in grace, in love, in mercy and in the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.

St Cuthbert’s Cross. (completed 2025)

Saturday

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;

Someone once defined evangelical spirituality as “early rising, prayer and Bible study”! Allowing for all our different lifestyles and circumstances not everyone can manage the early rising bit. But the hymn is encouraging our first thoughts, ‘early in the morning’, before the day gets going, to make time to give God his place and his time in our lives. If not now and early, then later before the day closes. Worship is a discipline, and many of our most valuable skills and relationships depend on our faithfulness in practicing and investing time and effort in the things that matter most to us. That’s as true of the piano, a golf swing, driving the car, and maintaining our friendships. And it is true of worship – we do it for God. Intentional faithfulness, investment of ourselves in what matters, and what matters most – love for God.

Cross, Iona Abbey, May 2025

Sunday

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art

The vision of Isaiah, the Lord high and lifted up, his glory filling the temple; the vision of the exalted Christ, risen and seated at the right hand of God. Vision is not only about seeing; it is also about adoration, wonder and yes, worship. The vision of God in Christ revealed to believing hearts by the Holy Spirit, is the centre and focus of worship. Not me. Not my feelings. Not me enjoying the experience of worship. But that outward reach of praise, gratitude, wonder and love. Wesley’s phrase describes well this deliberately selfless worship as “lost in wonder, love and praise.” So, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” (Ps. 95.6)    

Monday

1 John 5.13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Eternal life for John is both the promise of the future and the present reality. New birth, new creation, walking in the light, the inner witness of the Holy Spirit that we are indeed children of God, perfect love casting out fear. These are some of the ways John brings strong assurance of sin forgiven and a heart cleansed and turned to God in Christ. The name of the Son of God is Saviour, Advocate, One who is the very presence of God in and amongst the community of believers.

Tuesday

1 John 5.14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

It sounds as if “according to his will” is a get-out clause, explaining prayers that god unanswered in the way we had hoped and asked. But in the Lord’s Prayer hallowing God’s name is followed by “Thy will be done”. We can have confidence that God hears our prayer, but we also have confidence in the wise love of God and therefore yield to his will. In Gethsemane, faced with the cross and praying such suffering might be avoided, Jesus prayed, “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.” There are times when we cannot know what we ask – but God does, and God is love!

Wednesday

1 John 5.16 “If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death.”

John said at the very start, “If anyone does sin we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence – Jesus Christ the Righteous One.” There are no sinless Christians. But no Christian sins as if it didn’t matter, because the Christian life is lived under the Cross. Sin that does not lead to death is sin of which we repent, knowing the cost and consequences of sin, and having experienced the love of God in Christ “as the atoning sacrifice for our sins”. So when we know of someone’s sin we pray for them that they will know again the cleansing and forgiveness of God.

Thursday

1 John 5.16-17 “There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.”

The problem here is it seems John is saying there are two grades of sin. But John is clear – all wrongdoing is sin. When he speaks of the sin that leads to death he is revisiting much that he wrote earlier. There are sins that are incompatible with being a child of God. These include denial that Jesus is the Son of God, refusal to obey God’s commands, hatred of brothers and sisters, and love of the world. These are sins that contradict any claim to love God, because they are deliberate attitudes and actions that deny the truth of God as revealed in his Son, our Saviour. Such a set of the heart is incompatible with the love, trust and confidence of the child of God.

Friday

1 John 5.18 “We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”

To continue in sin is exactly what John means by sin leading to death. Those truly born of God are kept safe by God from such blatant couldn’t-care-less disobedience. The Spirit within, the love of God dwelling and remaining in the heart, the grace that keeps the child of God walking in the light, the prayers and love of Christian for Christian – these and that central truth of John: “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them, and they live in God.” (1 John 4.15)

Saturday

1 John 5.19-20a “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.”

This is another way of saying “He that is in us is greater than he that is I the world.” The victory over sin, death and the devil is already won on the cross and through the resurrection. Apostle John, shrewd pastor that he is, looks the small community of faithful believers in the eye and says the one thing they need to hear: “We know that we are children of God.” His whole letter has been leading up to that established truth of the heart. We know! With that secure, everything else can be understood and lived through, even in a world set in opposition to God.  To know him who is true, and to know that we are children of God – that is the Christian’s assurance.

Sunday

1 John 5.20b-21 “And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”

Christian assurance is not only what we know. It is also about who we are and where we are. We are in Him who is true, and He is in us. We are held within the eternal life and love of God through his Son Jesus Christ by the Spirit who lives in us. Our identity is embedded in the eternal purposes of God who is the true God, of Light and Love.

If ever a word more needed to be heard by a fractured world, then this is it.

If ever a word is being so cynically ignored by those with the power to make peace, but choose war as the way to assert power, this is it.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5.9)

Working on Panel 6 of the Beatitudes tapestry. But actually, this verse sits at the precise centre of how I see Christian witness being practiced.

This inludes but is not limited to:

an inner hospitality of the mind to others’ ways of seeing the world,

a conscience alert to injustice,

conciliation as the modus operandi of the words we speak,

careful stewardship of our money to enable and encourage the common good,

not acts of random kindness but acts of intentional, strategic habits of kindness,

an enacted hopefulness by caring about what happens to people and looking for ways to turn such care into a different reality for them.

And so on.

And on.