It’s Sunday 18th October and for the first time this Autumn I was scraping the ice off my car windscreen this morning, and I had noticed earlier, the garden lawns were snowhite! Yes, Autumn has arrived in Glasgow! Certainly later than during my childhood years, when my mother would say, ‘you need some frost to ripen the brambles’, which we always picked towards the end of September. The growing season in the unheated greenhouse has extended too, so early this month I emptied the greenhouse to make way for planting Spring bulbs and flowers
It’s always a bit sad when the Summer season in garden and greenhouse comes to an end, but its been a great year again, which is always true if you are an amateur gardener! :). Here are some photos from recent days. First the garden:-
The Greenhouse gives us lots of pleasure, and the tomatoes and cucumbers excelled again this year. I stuck with my old favourite ‘Shirley F1’ tomato, which gave the usual great crop (see first photo) but also tried ‘Hamlet F1’, which started slowly but came good at the end. Cucumbers were ‘Socrates F1’ and this year I grew them in growbags rather than in pots, which proved a winner too! Potatoes in bags are easy to grow, this year three bags, each with five potatoes of the ‘Pentland’ variety, and they produced a crop of approximately one hundred potatoes, and we are still enjoying them! So we thank the Lord for that, and for the wonders of His creation. Here are a few photos.
Now this month the Spring bulbs have been planted, some old ones and some new, so all being well, we will look forward to seeing the outcome in due course!
On the first Saturday of October we decided to visit Glasgow Cathedral. We had made a couple of visits in the past, one to hear a rendering of ‘The Messiah’ and another very brief visit, the details of which I can’t remember. It was a most interesting trip, and we managed to park very closebye. Unfortunately much of the building roof was covered with scaffolding, but with a little help from Ai they kindly removed the scaffolding for me, and let us see the steeple again. (1st photo below) Entrance was free of charge, and we got a warm smile and welcome as we entered. Here are some pics
The full Glasgow motto and associated poem reads:
“Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of your word and the praising of your name” Poem – ‘Here is the bird that never flew, here is the tree that never grew, here is the bell that never rang, here is the fish that never swam’.
It’s been very informative reading the history of this ancient building dating back to the 1200’s, from the official Souvenir Guide. (A history easily researched on line if you would like to know more). I find it more astounding to think that in 2026 it is still being used as a place of worship by a Christian congregation after all these years to still preach God’s word and for praising His name. Over 400,000 visitors from around the world visit each year, and this was noticible by the many tourists around the day we visited.
I wonder if you tried to read the ancient Bible in the photograph, like many of the visitors were doing during our visit? I confess I had difficulty, until I photographed it and then enlarged it on my computer. I then could see it was opened at the book of Psalms, and was displaying Psalm nos, 22-25. Not a common choice, when finding an open Bible in church, but a fascinating choice!
The Bible’s 150 Psalms (divided into five books) each book ending with a doxology, were written over a period of 1000 years with the oldest (Ps.90) accredited to Moses, born around 1526 BC. Psalm 22 was written by David around 1000 BC, yet it remarkably describes the crucifixion of Jesus in AD30 (or perhaps AD33). These three Psalms are often seen as a trilogy of Jesus as The Shepherd.
- Psalm 22 – Here we have The Good Shepherd who died for us – giving his life for the Sheep – the opening and closing words of this psalm used by Jesus on the Cross – ‘My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me’ and the last words ‘He has done it’ or as John says, ‘It is finished’ the work of Salvation completed.
- Psalm 23 –The Great Shepherd who lives for us – the one who is with us always even to the very end of the age – Psalm 23 is said to be Scotland’s Psalm, and many of us will have been moved to hear it read at funerals, or sung in Church, especially to the tune ‘Crimond’! In the book of Hebrews 13:20-2 we read, ‘May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen‘. (NIV).
- Psalm 24 – The Chief Shepherd who is coming for us – The Psalm written by David no doubt for the occasion when the Ark of the Lord was brought up into Jerusalem, (2 Samuel 6) but surely a picture of Christ’s second coming when he will come again in power. 1 Pet 5:4 says, ‘And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away‘. (NIV).
If all the above is unfamiliar to you, may I suggest as a start you read Psalm 22 and then John chapter 19 written more than 1000 years apart from each other!
- Psalm 25 – Seems to me, to contain many responses that can be used in our prayers to God, certainly in response to the message of the three preceding psalms 22-24. Here is one I find special:
- Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Ps.25:4,5. Perhaps you would like to use these verses as a prayer just now?
Thanks if you have read thus far! Until next time DV, may you know God’s help and blessing wherever you are. Always nice to hear from you! Now sit back and enjoy the Psalm 23 to the tune Crimond!
Matthew
