Sunday service and sights

We started our day by attending the 10:30am service at St John's Episcopal Church across the street from our hotel.  The church was packed and it was good that we planned to arrive at least 15 minutes ahead of the start.  It turns out that four cooperating churches here in the West End have been working together on projects over the years and were celebrating 40 years of that collaboration recognizing its beginnings in 1971.  It all started with St John's opening a "Safe" coffee house gathering on their complex called the Corner Stone.  It was a successful attempt to give space and place to their teenagers on the weekends, and hence safe from troubles?

Two things about the service stood out for me.  Both beautiful words of hymns I had not heard before.  The first held the refrain: "all are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place".  Since we are strangers (even though official members of St Johns since 2002) it was a warm welcome in verse.  The second hymn had a very apt refrain that uncannily describes our foundation work: "And God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, compassion and peace;  yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice, and joy."  My favorite verses were the following:

For woman and man, a place at the table,
revising the roles, deciding to share,
with wisdom and grace, dividing the power,
for woman and man, a system that's fair.

For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song,
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, the right to belong.

A woman with a lovely voice was sitting next to me.  At one point, she leaned over and asked if I belonged to St Johns.  I replied that I did, but didn't attend services because I lived in the US.  We chatted, I complimented her on her lovely singing voice, and Elsie (her name) remarked that she was really too long in the tooth to sing in the choir any more.  She said she was 94 years and counting!  She had it all together and I admired her spirit!

Elsie at 94!

After the service and one last hug with the Rector, we grabbed a quick lunch and met David Campbell, our guide for an afternoon of driving and visits within and on the outskirts of Edinburgh.  David, full of history and knowledge of all things Scottish, gave us the back roads tour of Edinburgh, New Town followed by a drive into the countryside and down to the Firth of Forth seaside.  It turns out a Firth is a "finger" of the North Sea that juts into lands all across Scotland.  That means a lot of water front for a small country providing vibrant fishing and industry around marine ecosystems.  Since it was a Sunday, lots of sail boats were about even though it was raw and cold (50s).  The Scots are a hardy bunch indeed.

We toured an outstanding Manor House that is part of the Scottish Historic Trust and a beautiful castle ruins in which Mary Queen of Scots was born.  Both full of history dating back to the 16th Century, at least, and preserved with obvious love and pride.  I kept remarking how "young" our country was and with "so little history" to compare to what I was viewing.  I very much appreciate the reverence for history and hope that our country will treasure our history (the good and the bad) the same.  I lament that our students of today don't get the same emphasis of history that students here do.

Our guide: David Campbell
the look of a true Scotsman, don't you think?

With the weather turning nasty cold and raw, we decided to stay in the hotel and have a quiet dinner.  The dining staff have gotten to know us (and like us, I think) always greeting us with big smiles.  I wonder how many Americans are here this weekend?  David has said that his guide business has suffered enormously through the recession.  He used to have many Americans and close to none now.  He's hoping they will begin to return with a waning recession.  Long talk about that.