reformation

It's doubtless providential that I've been asked by the P5 teachers to teach the children 'The Reformation'. It means that I've had to be giving some thought to that again myself.

Teaching 'The Reformation' is no easy task at the best of times. It's really quite a complicated theme. There were any number of different factors at work. Economic, political, social, philosophical. Before you ever get on to the more doctrinal and spiritual issues that were involved.

And these are P5 children, after all. And I only get 20 minutes to cover the lot.

The challenge fairly concentrates the mind!

But it's helpful to have to be doing so. To get the thing in summary (that's the 20 minute constraint). And to put the thing quite simply (that's the P5 factor).

The skill of good teaching is to be able to explain very simply what is in itself quite complex. And I guess the proof of this particular pudding will be in the eating tomorrow.

Today has been all about doing the hard work 'in the kitchen': preparing the pudding they'll get.

There's been a lot of wide reading for that.

A good deal of Scottish history, such as Michael Lynch's 'Scotland - a new history' and Fiona Watson's 'Scotland: from prehistory to the present' - with a dip into one or two other volumes as well. I need to be able to set the whole thing in its context.

And then a fair bit of reading, more specific in scope, running through this whole rather turbulent time in the life of Christ's church in our land. Reading up once again on the likes of Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart, John Knox, Andrew Melville and others.

People. The ordinary individuals whose vision, zeal and passion for the Lord effected change which really changed the whole long story of our land.

It's inspiring stuff! And not exactly irrelevant to our present situation.

It's rather providential, as I say, that I'm having to look at all this again.

A reminder from God of what may lie in store for us as well.