Sunday 18th May 1975

Great sermon today. One of my favourites from Ecclesiastes:

'To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die.' 

I’ve always loved the seasons and been able to sense the increments, and it pleases me to think it was designed to be this way. The minister’s a funny wee man, very nasal, from somewhere south like Glasgow, but he has the solidity of someone who has come to terms with their own insignificance. I like that and I feel it is strong in him. Some would call it defeatism, but no, it’s the opposite. It’s real power.

I can see a shadow creeping over the summit of Glamaig in the shape of a raven’s wing. That means snow tomorrow. I’ve lived here long enough and I’m alert to the signs, the way the cows turn their backs to the wind, the subtle changes in colour and texture of the kelp on the shore, the wondrous shapes of the clouds in the sky.

I tell people when wind and rain are coming in. The older ones just listen and thank me. The younger ones talk about me behind my back. 

If they are brave enough, they ask, 'Mrs Fraser, do you have the second sight?' I say no, with some regret. They haven’t yet learned that peace and happiness lie in quiet acceptance. 

'A time to keep silence, and a time to speak,'

This verse has been in my head all day. I’m blessed that I can notice the tiny changes around me in the animals, the plants, the sea, the mountains and the weather. I have always noticed these things, and for a while I have felt that something was wrong. 

I couldn't really say what it was, and I didn’t even have the words, but it was there nonetheless. The living world is hurting and change is coming. I can’t explain it any other way. 

So yesterday I heard a professor on the wireless talking about satellites and measurements and the temperature of the world rising. It wasn’t a big story, and the haughty interviewer was being as rude as he could. I shouted, 'Let the man speak!' because finally, someone had put my feelings into words. This man has found his time to speak, but nobody is listening yet. Have faith, they will listen. This is not a time to keep silence.

I don’t know what will happen, but I’m not anxious or fearful because I know that:

'There is a time for every purpose under the heaven.'

Allan MacWilliam