DISQUS

Dear Mark, I found today's entry so refreshing and heartwarming.Many years ago, when I ran a small bed and breakfast business in the south of Scotland, I welcomed an American School Principle and his wife to my home.They were complaining about a tax that had increased the price of butter in the USA. When I gently drew their attention to the plight of the poor of the world who had never even tasted butter, their reply, "Well, they ain't gonna miss it then!", absolutely floored and astonished me!
I had just returned from 10 years teaching service in Africa, where much of the deprivation could be laid at the door of the exploitative West and could give an explanation for the alienation that they felt towards us.....and still do! Miles of tobacco, sugar, coffee, tea and other cash crops, with no nutritional value, had robbed rural farmers of their land and had displaced whole communities from their traditional homes depriving them of their identity and dignity. Starving labourers were employed to harvest, bag and load laden sacks of soya and corn for export to Europe to feed our demand for beef and bacon.( It is with great shame that I greet the knowledge that Scotland is only 2nd to the USA in Obesity ratings). With his dollar-a-day renumeration, our labourer would then attempt to provide for his family and bring them to church on Sunday to hear about the "moral superiority" of the Christian West! Is it any wonder that they are now seeking meaning, purpose and social justice elsewhere!
I too have a village home to which I retreat from my inner-city place of work as a social-worker in Glasgow. Sometimes I can only make the 70 mile journey in my head as I can't justify the use of a non-renewable source of energy that we are consuming with little thought for future generations. With seven grandsons and two grand-daughters, I have a vested interest in preserving their world.I often have young VSO volunteers, of different cultures and religions from around the world, staying with me in Glasgow and I then use the opportunity of a full car to show off my beautiful wee country.
The sacred concept of Celtic Hospitality is dear to my heart as it was to my daughter Gwen who died in Chicago (Google-Gwen Sale) in 2002.It was a great comfort to me to know that by welcoming the "stranger" to her table of homemade bread,soup and music, she made so many friends aware of the need to "Live Simply that others may simply Live". Thus,her death was not in vain.
Your article, Mark, has restored my faith in a country that from the outside appears to be largely inward-looking and self-serving.The current world-wide economic climate is indeed a God-given opportunity to reflect on how we, as a human species, arrived at this self-destructive impasse' with little thought for the Planet itself or the sacred human, animal or plant life with whom we share it. Every plane that is grounded or car journey suspended, is music to my ears. I fear it may already be too late to reverse the damage we have done with our ignorance and greed but I at least want to look into the eyes of my grandchildren and admit to my part with sorrow and responsibility.
The enemies of indifference and denial are indeed amongst us now and we must constantly challenge the powers-that-be who would prefer that we focus on the "enemies" without -most of whom we have created in fact or fiction. And we now send our innocent young to destroy them in order to safeguard our access to what we already have in excess. If ever I have the opportunity to welcome a visiting Martian to my Celtic table, I am sure he will listen to the human story with incredulity and make a very hasty retreat from our corporate madness hell-bent on mutual self-destruction.
Your name Mark, suggests Northern European origins. Scots too, has a long tradition of travelling and settling far beyond their boundaries. Our influence abroad has been a cause for as much shame as joy in past centuries but I make no apology for the universal influence of our Scottish Bard "Robert Burns". I am sure that your English-teacher-wife knows of his poetry and his concept of "a man's a man for a' that" and his earnest wish that "come the day, the world o'er, would brothers be, for a' that". I am certain that that is how we are seen in the eyes of God. That vision has been shared with us by the great Teachers and Poets of the world through the ages. The work and commitment to bring it into being can only be in our hands. A first step, as expressed in your piece, is to waken up to our part, individually and corporately in creating it.
I trust that your fellow countrymen will heed your experience of JOY and LIBERATION that results! We are not alone in this quest and every time we make that shift away from destructive consumerism to trusting creativity, we are instantly rewarded with an infusion of Spiritual energy. At the age of 65, I feel 20 years younger than I did 20 years ago when I actively embarked on this realisation. Once the commitment is made, the means are provided ......"pressed down and brimming over".
As I write this to you in my city flat, I am looking down at a group of young people who are out of their minds on a cocktail of alcohol and street drugs. Their language and behaviour to those who pass them is abusive and threatening.Just this afternoon I agreed to house security cameras to monitor their behaviour towards the ethnic groups who live in this area and are ofter targeted by these aggressive and ignorant youths. The awful truth is that many of these refugees from the Middle East are devout and displaced Christians from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, the Lebanon and even North Korea. As I visit their homes, I hear them talk of places where Christ grew and played and worked and taught. And we weep together at the irony of their children being showered, in this "place of safety", with glass and debris as a brick comes through the window against a drunken chorus of "Fucking Terrorist".
No, our small inconveniences and minor deprivations, are as nothing compared to those, the world over who are paying the price of our 'wants' over their 'needs' and, daily, bear the brunt of all the prejudices and misunderstandings that have ensued.
This is the world we have created Mark and it is the world that your son and my grandchildren are about to inherit. Of course you will ensure that he finishes his College education. But he is entering this awful reality better equipped than those who see education as a mere means of getting more of what we already have too much of...often to our own detriment. He has the Blessing of parents who are prepared to see our present economic circumstances as a God-given opportunity to change and act accordingly. By your living example, you provide him with the choice of continued awareness and growth without which we invite immanent and self-induced destruction as a species. He will do well!
Let me end with an invitation to you and yours Mark, who are ever visiting Scotland, to partake of that Celtic Hospitality, which is my humble contribution to healing the world.You will experience the reality of inner city deprivation and all that goes with it and/or you will experience the silence and simple humanity of a small Scottish village. The balance keeps me sane! You will also be treated to a showing of my beautiful daughter Gwen hosting a "Burns Supper" in Martyrs Bar in Chicago a few weeks before she was tragically killed. Her two sons continue the "work" and Oliver, who is just 17, is about to leave for Australia for a year to spread the universal language of music, dance and poetry.
Love and Peace.
Yours in Christ....Maggi Sale ...Glasgow .Scotland

Dear Mark, I found today's entry so refreshing and heartwarming.Many years ago, when I ran a small bed and breakfast business in the south of Scotland, I welcomed an American School Principle and his wife to my home.They were complaining about a tax that had increased the price of butter in the USA. When I gently drew their attention to the plight of the poor of the world who had never even tasted butter, their reply, "Well, they ain't gonna miss it then!", absolutely floored and astonished me!
I had just returned from 10 years teaching service in Africa, where much of the deprivation could be laid at the door of the exploitative West and could give an explanation for the alienation that they felt towards us.....and still do! Miles of tobacco, sugar, coffee, tea and other cash crops, with no nutritional value, had robbed rural farmers of their land and had displaced whole communities from their traditional homes depriving them of their identity and dignity. Starving labourers were employed to harvest, bag and load laden sacks of soya and corn for export to Europe to feed our demand for beef and bacon.( It is with great shame that I greet the knowledge that Scotland is only 2nd to the USA in Obesity ratings). With his dollar-a-day renumeration, our labourer would then attempt to provide for his family and bring them to church on Sunday to hear about the "moral superiority" of the Christian West! Is it any wonder that they are now seeking meaning, purpose and social justice elsewhere!

I too have a village home to which I retreat from my inner-city place of work as a social-worker in Glasgow. Sometimes I can only make the 70 mile journey in my head as I can't justify the use of a non-renewable source of energy that we are consuming with little thought for future generations. With seven grandsons and two grand-daughters, I have a vested interest in preserving their world.I often have young VSO volunteers, of different cultures and religions from around the world, staying with me in Glasgow and I then use the opportunity of a full car to show off my beautiful wee country.

The sacred concept of Celtic Hospitality is dear to my heart as it was to my daughter Gwen who died in Chicago (Google-Gwen Sale) in 2002.It was a great comfort to me to know that by welcoming the "stranger" to her table of homemade bread,soup and music, she made so many friends aware of the need to "Live Simply that others may simply Live". Thus,her death was not in vain.

Your article, Mark, has restored my faith in a country that from the outside appears to be largely inward-looking and self-serving.The current world-wide economic climate is indeed a God-given opportunity to reflect on how we, as a human species, arrived at this self-destructive impasse' with little thought for the Planet itself or the sacred human, animal or plant life with whom we share it. Every plane that is grounded or car journey suspended, is music to my ears. I fear it may already be too late to reverse the damage we have done with our ignorance and greed but I at least want to look into the eyes of my grandchildren and admit to my part with sorrow and responsibility.

The enemies of indifference and denial are indeed amongst us now and we must constantly challenge the powers-that-be who would prefer that we focus on the "enemies" without -most of whom we have created in fact or fiction. And we now send our innocent young to destroy them in order to safeguard our access to what we already have in excess. If ever I have the opportunity to welcome a visiting Martian to my Celtic table, I am sure he will listen to the human story with incredulity and make a very hasty retreat from our corporate madness hell-bent on mutual self-destruction.

Your name Mark, suggests Northern European origins. Scots too, has a long tradition of travelling and settling far beyond their boundaries. Our influence abroad has been a cause for as much shame as joy in past centuries but I make no apology for the universal influence of our Scottish Bard "Robert Burns". I am sure that your English-teacher-wife knows of his poetry and his concept of "a man's a man for a' that" and his earnest wish that "come the day, the world o'er, would brothers be, for a' that". I am certain that that is how we are seen in the eyes of God. That vision has been shared with us by the great Teachers and Poets of the world through the ages. The work and commitment to bring it into being can only be in our hands. A first step, as expressed in your piece, is to waken up to our part, individually and corporately in creating it.

I trust that your fellow countrymen will heed your experience of JOY and LIBERATION that results! We are not alone in this quest and every time we make that shift away from destructive consumerism to trusting creativity, we are instantly rewarded with an infusion of Spiritual energy. At the age of 65, I feel 20 years younger than I did 20 years ago when I actively embarked on this realisation. Once the commitment is made, the means are provided ......"pressed down and brimming over".

As I write this to you in my city flat, I am looking down at a group of young people who are out of their minds on a cocktail of alcohol and street drugs. Their language and behaviour to those who pass them is abusive and threatening.Just this afternoon I agreed to house security cameras to monitor their behaviour towards the ethnic groups who live in this area and are ofter targeted by these aggressive and ignorant youths. The awful truth is that many of these refugees from the Middle East are devout and displaced Christians from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine, the Lebanon and even North Korea. As I visit their homes, I hear them talk of places where Christ grew and played and worked and taught. And we weep together at the irony of their children being showered, in this "place of safety", with glass and debris as a brick comes through the window against a drunken chorus of "Fucking Terrorist".

No, our small inconveniences and minor deprivations, are as nothing compared to those, the world over who are paying the price of our 'wants' over their 'needs' and, daily, bear the brunt of all the prejudices and misunderstandings that have ensued.

This is the world we have created Mark and it is the world that your son and my grandchildren are about to inherit. Of course you will ensure that he finishes his College education. But he is entering this awful reality better equipped than those who see education as a mere means of getting more of what we already have too much of...often to our own detriment. He has the Blessing of parents who are prepared to see our present economic circumstances as a God-given opportunity to change and act accordingly. By your living example, you provide him with the choice of continued awareness and growth without which we invite immanent and self-induced destruction as a species. He will do well!

Let me end with an invitation to you and yours Mark, who are ever visiting Scotland, to partake of that Celtic Hospitality, which is my humble contribution to healing the world.You will experience the reality of inner city deprivation and all that goes with it and/or you will experience the silence and simple humanity of a small Scottish village. The balance keeps me sane! You will also be treated to a showing of my beautiful daughter Gwen hosting a "Burns Supper" in Martyrs Bar in Chicago a few weeks before she was tragically killed. Her two sons continue the "work" and Oliver, who is just 17, is about to leave for Australia for a year to spread the universal language of music, dance and poetry.

Love and Peace.

Yours in Christ....Maggi Sale ...Glasgow .Scotland

Dear Casey, please take me at my word and feel welcome to make my home your base WHEN you both visit Scotland/Ireland. I spent 10 years teaching in Africa and learned the true meaning of hospitality in the poorest of homes where I met the richest of people. It has been my life's mission ever since to pass on that gift and witness the miracles that flow from opening my door to Life.
I have two young men arriving from Syria next month as part of the VSO project and they will stay with me for three months living and working in Glasgow with disadvantaged groups. Last year a young, very devout Moslem from Mumbai returned from his 3 month stay in 2006 and accompanied me on a Pilgrimage to Iona. I am delighted to see that he still indentifies himself on his Blog with the picture of him sitting under one of the ancient Crosses outside Iona Abbey!
I take all of my young visitors down to my village home where they connect with ordinary people and family members round the table and at the kitchen sink. We share food, music and common humanity ....and thus sew the seeds of future Peace and deeper understanding.
I live and work in Glasgow during the week and go to my village home at weekends.......when I have any energy left! I have been trying to retire from inner-city Social Work now for several years but I will probably die in harness! And what better way to go!
My darling daughter Gwen always used to say "better to die living, than live dying.." And so she did! She fiddled her way across America with "Lord of the Dance" and sadly met her 'Anum Cara' on a Chicago Boulevard a few weeks before her due return to Scotland. A bit of me still feels she is 'over there' somewhere and certainly, I still feel her energy and exuberance flowing through me every time I attempt to give in to old age!
So please, please Casey know that you will be 'giving' more than you will be
'taking' by allowing me to return the hospitality that was extended to Gwen for the three years that she lived and played amongst you. I think you can still 'Google' her Image (Gwen Sale) and see her fiddling on stage. I never did see her perform and the only moving images I have of her was when she hosted a Burn's Supper in Martyrs Bar in Chicago a few weeks before her death. I treasure it dearly!
Anyway, that's life! She left two young sons whom I seldom see since their father's re-marriage .....which perhaps gives a clue to why I play host to the world's youth! Ironically, both her boys were playing in a Highland Pipe Band last year in Damascus! So you never know. This may just lead to some sort of reconciliation now that they are old enough to make some decisions for themselves.
I really don't know why I am rattling on so much, considering that I have never met you Casey! I suppose all things 'American' trigger thoughts of my wee lassie. She married Dennis Cahill, the guitarist, and put her own stamp of Celtic Hospitality while she lived in Chicago. They are still making soup and bread ...and Haggis...to Gwen's recipes to this day!
Please feel free to get in touch directly at mesale@msn.com or give me a call on 01414276258. .....and thanks for letting me blether!
Love and Peace in Christ....Maggi.

Dear Casey, please take me at my word and feel welcome to make my home your base WHEN you both visit Scotland/Ireland. I spent 10 years teaching in Africa and learned the true meaning of hospitality in the poorest of homes where I met the richest of people. It has been my life's mission ever since to pass on that gift and witness the miracles that flow from opening my door to Life.
I have two young men arriving from Syria next month as part of the VSO project and they will stay with me for three months living and working in Glasgow with disadvantaged groups. Last year a young, very devout Moslem from Mumbai returned from his 3 month stay in 2006 and accompanied me on a Pilgrimage to Iona. I am delighted to see that he still indentifies himself on his Blog with the picture of him sitting under one of the ancient Crosses outside Iona Abbey!
I take all of my young visitors down to my village home where they connect with ordinary people and family members round the table and at the kitchen sink. We share food, music and common humanity ....and thus sew the seeds of future Peace and deeper understanding.
I live and work in Glasgow during the week and go to my village home at weekends.......when I have any energy left! I have been trying to retire from inner-city Social Work now for several years but I will probably die in harness! And what better way to go!
My darling daughter Gwen always used to say "better to die living, than live dying.." And so she did! She fiddled her way across America with "Lord of the Dance" and sadly met her 'Anum Cara' on a Chicago Boulevard a few weeks before her due return to Scotland. A bit of me still feels she is 'over there' somewhere and certainly, I still feel her energy and exuberance flowing through me every time I attempt to give in to old age!
So please, please Casey know that you will be 'giving' more than you will be
'taking' by allowing me to return the hospitality that was extended to Gwen for the three years that she lived and played amongst you. I think you can still 'Google' her Image (Gwen Sale) and see her fiddling on stage. I never did see her perform and the only moving images I have of her was when she hosted a Burn's Supper in Martyrs Bar in Chicago a few weeks before her death. I treasure it dearly!
Anyway, that's life! She left two young sons whom I seldom see since their father's re-marriage .....which perhaps gives a clue to why I play host to the world's youth! Ironically, both her boys were playing in a Highland Pipe Band last year in Damascus! So you never know. This may just lead to some sort of reconciliation now that they are old enough to make some decisions for themselves.
I really don't know why I am rattling on so much, considering that I have never met you Casey! I suppose all things 'American' trigger thoughts of my wee lassie. She married Dennis Cahill, the guitarist, and put her own stamp of Celtic Hospitality while she lived in Chicago. They are still making soup and bread ...and Haggis...to Gwen's recipes to this day!
Please feel free to get in touch directly at mesale@msn.com or give me a call on 01414276258. .....and thanks for letting me blether!
Love and Peace in Christ....Maggi.

Dear Casey, please take me at my word and feel welcome to make my home your base WHEN you both visit Scotland/Ireland. I spent 10 years teaching in Africa and learned the true meaning of hospitality in the poorest of homes where I met the richest of people. It has been my life's mission ever since to pass on that gift and witness the miracles that flow from opening my door to Life.
I have two young men arriving from Syria next month as part of the VSO project and they will stay with me for three months living and working in Glasgow with disadvantaged groups. Last year a young, very devout Moslem from Mumbai returned from his 3 month stay in 2006 and accompanied me on a Pilgrimage to Iona. I am delighted to see that he still indentifies himself on his Blog with the picture of him sitting under one of the ancient Crosses outside Iona Abbey!

I take all of my young visitors down to my village home where they connect with ordinary people and family members round the table and at the kitchen sink. We share food, music and common humanity ....and thus sew the seeds of future Peace and deeper understanding.

I live and work in Glasgow during the week and go to my village home at weekends.......when I have any energy left! I have been trying to retire from inner-city Social Work now for several years but I will probably die in harness! And what better way to go!

My darling daughter Gwen always used to say "better to die living, than live dying.." And so she did! She fiddled her way across America with "Lord of the Dance" and sadly met her 'Anum Cara' on a Chicago Boulevard a few weeks before her due return to Scotland. A bit of me still feels she is 'over there' somewhere and certainly, I still feel her energy and exuberance flowing through me every time I attempt to give in to old age!

So please, please Casey know that you will be 'giving' more than you will be

'taking' by allowing me to return the hospitality that was extended to Gwen for the three years that she lived and played amongst you. I think you can still 'Google' her Image (Gwen Sale) and see her fiddling on stage. I never did see her perform and the only moving images I have of her was when she hosted a Burn's Supper in Martyrs Bar in Chicago a few weeks before her death. I treasure it dearly!

Anyway, that's life! She left two young sons whom I seldom see since their father's re-marriage .....which perhaps gives a clue to why I play host to the world's youth! Ironically, both her boys were playing in a Highland Pipe Band last year in Damascus! So you never know. This may just lead to some sort of reconciliation now that they are old enough to make some decisions for themselves.

I really don't know why I am rattling on so much, considering that I have never met you Casey! I suppose all things 'American' trigger thoughts of my wee lassie. She married Dennis Cahill, the guitarist, and put her own stamp of Celtic Hospitality while she lived in Chicago. They are still making soup and bread ...and Haggis...to Gwen's recipes to this day!

Please feel free to get in touch directly at mesale@msn.com or give me a call on 01414276258. .....and thanks for letting me blether!

Love and Peace in Christ....Maggi.

I have just fallen off my chair laughing!
I was getting so worked up as I read the article on "New Monasticism" and didn't see the irony even as I read the reference to the 'failed state of France'. It was not until I read that Casey Ochs is a member of Missio Dei that the penny dropped!
It must be the aging process at play on my part! But my eternally young heart rejoices that such energy, humour and spiritual insight is alive and kicking in a country that I normally associate with blinkered arrogance. Well done!
I am sure that you have heard of the work of the 'Iona Community' in Scotland. If not, do explore as I am sure that you will find much support and confirmation for your work and chosen expression of Christ's essential and universal message.
As a grandmother of 9, I have a vested interest in the future and know that it will only be possible and sustainable if more of us lived, especially in the rich West, according to your 'Manifesto'. I work as a Social Worker with inner-city deprivation but never cease to be amazed and humbled by the miracles that I witness on a daily basis in the lives of those who live according to........
....................... "Live Simply, that Others May simply Live".
My sense of Celtic Hospitality is sacred to me as the 'stranger' will remain a stranger until s/he sits at my table. Please extend this welcome to anyone who is visiting Glasgow for the purpose of exploring what it means to be truly 'human'.
My door is ever open; my beds are soft and warm; my soup is forever bubbling and my kettle perpetually sings!
With a grin that is still splitting my face, I wish you Love and Godspeed
Maggi Sale

I have just fallen off my chair laughing!
I was getting so worked up as I read the article on "New Monasticism" and didn't see the irony even as I read the reference to the 'failed state of France'. It was not until I read that Casey Ochs is a member of Missio Dei that the penny dropped!
It must be the aging process at play on my part! But my eternally young heart rejoices that such energy, humour and spiritual insight is alive and kicking in a country that I normally associate with blinkered arrogance. Well done!
I am sure that you have heard of the work of the 'Iona Community' in Scotland. If not, do explore as I am sure that you will find much support and confirmation for your work and chosen expression of Christ's essential and universal message.
As a grandmother of 9, I have a vested interest in the future and know that it will only be possible and sustainable if more of us lived, especially in the rich West, according to your 'Manifesto'. I work as a Social Worker with inner-city deprivation but never cease to be amazed and humbled by the miracles that I witness on a daily basis in the lives of those who live according to........
....................... "Live Simply, that Others May simply Live".
My sense of Celtic Hospitality is sacred to me as the 'stranger' will remain a stranger until s/he sits at my table. Please extend this welcome to anyone who is visiting Glasgow for the purpose of exploring what it means to be truly 'human'.
My door is ever open; my beds are soft and warm; my soup is forever bubbling and my kettle perpetually sings!
With a grin that is still splitting my face, I wish you Love and Godspeed
Maggi Sale

I have just fallen off my chair laughing!
I was getting so worked up as I read the article on "New Monasticism" and didn't see the irony even as I read the reference to the 'failed state of France'. It was not until I read that Casey Ochs is a member of Missio Dei that the penny dropped!

It must be the aging process at play on my part! But my eternally young heart rejoices that such energy, humour and spiritual insight is alive and kicking in a country that I normally associate with blinkered arrogance. Well done!

I am sure that you have heard of the work of the 'Iona Community' in Scotland. If not, do explore as I am sure that you will find much support and confirmation for your work and chosen expression of Christ's essential and universal message.

As a grandmother of 9, I have a vested interest in the future and know that it will only be possible and sustainable if more of us lived, especially in the rich West, according to your 'Manifesto'. I work as a Social Worker with inner-city deprivation but never cease to be amazed and humbled by the miracles that I witness on a daily basis in the lives of those who live according to........

....................... "Live Simply, that Others May simply Live".

My sense of Celtic Hospitality is sacred to me as the 'stranger' will remain a stranger until s/he sits at my table. Please extend this welcome to anyone who is visiting Glasgow for the purpose of exploring what it means to be truly 'human'.

My door is ever open; my beds are soft and warm; my soup is forever bubbling and my kettle perpetually sings!

With a grin that is still splitting my face, I wish you Love and Godspeed

Maggi Sale