Trinity 2024

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”

Proverbs 16:9 NIV

I wonder just how many hearts have, over the years, helped plan the course for St Mary’s?  From the above verse from Proverbs 16:9 I would like to draw your attention to “the Lord establishes their steps”.  Those words are the focus of this article.  Gratitude for the Lord’s guiding steps and pathways.

There have been many footprints left in the ‘sands of time’ during St Mary’s history.  My own ‘steps’ began with family members before I was born and my own steps into St Mary’s began with my Confirmation (whilst being a member at St Clements). At a young age I saw St Mary’s as a Church that gathered children from other Churches and brought union at a very significant time not only in their lives but the beginning of new footstep pathways in their own Church.  Gratitude to all those who have and are continuing to encourage children’s growth and footsteps.

We were recently on a trip to Haddo and came across these large foot imprints on the ground.  My granddaughter’s feet certainly didn’t fill the imprint, nor did ours.  This got me thinking, how do we know when we are walking in Jesus’ steps?  It would be easy to say ‘yes’, I am but how truly are you and how truly were the generations before you walking in Jesus’ steps?  I believe they were, otherwise, we wouldn’t be celebrating the 160th Anniversary of St Mary’s.  Surely, there was and is in the Church a union of the many parts of the body of Christ: for unity, union, putting Christ at the head and of course the Church as the bride stepping forward in faith following Jesus’ steps to bring us to this milestone. Gratitude to those past and present.

The rebuilding of and continued maintenance of St Mary’s would be just one example of following Jesus as He too rebuilt the Church when it was torn down.  Jesus through His suffering established the resurrection steps that would reassure everyone that there is a New Heaven when they depart this earthly heaven.  But firstly, before this journey they would be led in the footsteps of Jesus to establish their lives both in and outside of the Church building.  ’Love thy Neighbour’ springs to mind – we can’t and shouldn’t restrict our Love within Church walls but allow it to flow everywhere we go.  After all, we found the footsteps in the picture in a garden amongst long grass, so I guess the question for myself and for you is where would your footprints be found inside and outside of the Church?  Gratitude for all walking Jesus’ steps in the world yesterday and today.

God’s Blessings upon this day and the memories it will evoke.  Jesus blesses little children … plan your course with loving childlike hearts and Jesus’ steps will be your pathway.  Gratitude to Georgia for showing us how she shares her happiness and Love with others in the world and Gratitude to Georgia’s parents for allowing me to share her pictures.

God Bless

Margaret McKinnon 

P.S. I recommend a visit to the sensory garden at Haddo – it is a wonderful experience for all your senses and for all ages (you will have to look elsewhere for the foot imprint).

The Olympics will be over by the time you read this. We will have watched humans reaching their highest physical achievements ever and marvelled at their speed, fortitude and courage. Spare a thought for two members of our group who show similar attributes as they brave the North Sea for minutes at a time in the pursuit of the most enjoyable way to justify a hot drink.

Where is the speed, fortitude and courage you may ask? Well, the courage is obvious, just dip your toe in the sea anywhere along our lovely coast and you will know it takes a certain sort of strength and determination to let that water above your thighs. Peeling off all our outer garments except our woolly hats, gloves, shoes and swimming costumes requires fortitude and some would say stupidity, but the same could be said of a lot of sports. The sea is there, so why not swim in it? This seems as reasonable as choosing to loop the loop with a bike or hit a ball back and forwards over a net.

There is drama too: it is quite a spectacle watching ladies of a certain age arrive in their quilted coats, laughing and chatting determinedly as they leave their belongings on the shore and wade into the North Sea clutching their flotation devices.

Yet it is all worth it, as we swim in the cold but supporting waters of Stonehaven Harbour. The sun glints over the cliff and birds come surprisingly close. We feel at peace with the world and exhilaration as our bodies respond to the cold.

Our new rule is to only stay in the water for approximately the same number of minutes as the sea temperature, so swimming is pretty determined as we are only in for an optimistic 20 minutes! Then, it is the super speedy exit into the fresh coastal air to our lovely coats and the delight of hot chocolate from our Thermos flasks.

Sea swimming helps us appreciate our beautiful coast and leads us into swimming in rivers and lochs whenever we can. It makes us notice the need for litter collection and protection of bodies of water and to love the detail of the sea animals and plants on the beach.

Courage, speed and fortitude are definitely required for this activity, so l propose this as a new Olympic sport from start to finish, including the hot drink.

We would also encourage you to put Aberdeen Beach Clean dates in your diary, then you can watch the dolphins and seals close to our city without even getting wet, but with similar appreciation of woolly hats and hot drinks.

Julia House

MCS Aberdeen Beach Clean:

21 Sept            North End City Beach            10.00

8 Dec               Donmouth north                     13.00