This weeks blog by Associate Chaplain Urzula Glieneke:   Allow me to share one of my favourite tales from my childhood by Imants Ziedonis – the Gray Tale. It is profoundly spiritual to me.   “I am the grey one…” But let me write the first sentences in Latvian – it’s so beautiful to me: Es esmu Pelēkais. Es esmu pelēks kā pelēns. Es esmu pelēks kā putns, kā puteklis, kā pelni. Es esmu Pelēkais. I […]

Associate Chaplain Geoffrey Baines plays with form to explore how drawing by hand ‘proffers a joining of our inside and outside worlds, when the rush and noise of 21st century life refuses us rest and reflection.’  AN ILLUSTRATED LIFE   Each of the projects described in this book has at its centre something drawn by hand.* Quentin Blake   […]

As I am walking in the nature of Scotland this winter with its crisp days and cold winds I cannot help wondering where the forests have gone. So few trees, so much open land and the brown tufts of bracken everywhere. They must have been there – in places one can still see the roots […]

Mindfulness Chaplain Dr Kitty Wheater reflects on how we might retain a sense of transcendence as we move into the busyness of the semester.  As I roll up the blind in the mornings, I have learned to guess the colour of the dawn sky from the tones of light that creep in upon the window-seat. […]

THE TWELVE DAYS OF DOODLING Before writing and drawing were separated they were conjoined.* Scott McCloud Pictures and words together make a third thing.** John Baldessari It was suggested that I write something about doodling for this Christmas-time blog – It’s a great time to doodle – So here we are: Twelve good reasons for […]

Pilgrimage on the Margins: Sharing Stories ‘As we are approaching Interfaith Week Scotland which focuses on storytelling, allow me to share some stories,’ writes Associate Chaplain Urzula Glienecke.   The man in the silk suit Alex had been a leading manager of a large company, a high flyer and successful. Then the financial crisis came […]

When I go cycling down to St Abbs, I pass a farm with a board outside saying ‘Growing great vegetables’ and I feel admiration and envy! I want a strapline like that for the Chaplaincy: no nonsense, say it like it is, state what you do. But I can’t think of one! We do have […]

The Chaplaincy Common Room is a warm space with tables, chairs and sofas, open 9.30am-4pm daily Monday to Friday for all students and staff. You can come and study, meet friends, or eat your lunch, and help yourself to tea and coffee. Associate Chaplain Geoffrey Baines was so inspired by it, he wrote a prose […]

It’s Welcome Week!   And so much is new: the semester, the academic year, maybe even a new degree. There is a new monarch on the throne, and a new Prime Minister in Downing Street. The blackberries are fading now, but colour is on its way to the trees, and the lawns have greened once […]

This blog began in 2020, to help us navigate COVID lockdowns and meltdowns, and raise our spirits. We wrote about working wisely with fear and worry, finding vision and purpose amidst uncertain futures, what cycling teaches us about life, the perils of Zoom fatigue, and the practice of gratitude – even in the midst of […]