Seeker

How did a 1st century Jewish man from Bethsaida in Galilee, whose parents gave him a Greek name, get to be the Patron Saint of Scotland? And why, in Scotland, is today 30 November a public holiday, supposedly in honour of St Andrew the Apostle? There are many stories and legends that answer those questions. One good place to start to look for an answer is Michael Turnbull's article 'A History of St Andrew'. This is probably a good day to eat fish, as Andrew was a fisherman, as was his more famous brother Simon Peter. St Andrew is a key figure in the gospel accounts. Andrew is not presented as obviously important among J esus' disciples - not as one of the inner 3 like Peter, James and John. I say St Andrew is a key figure because he had a gift for bringing people together and for bringing people to Jesus. The gospels record that Andrew told his brother Peter about Jesus  (John 1: 35 - 42) brought a boy with a few loaves and fishes to Jesus   (John 6: 1 ...

Image Credit I planned to write something clever and wise for St Andrew's Day. I haven't. I'm still making a priority of resting after a recent operation. So instead of what I intended, here is a rambling miscellany of thoughts and links to other posts. Firstly, why the image of aeroplane vapour trails? What has that got to do with St Andrew's Day, apart from the idea that Andrew was martryed on a diagonal cross? A diagonal white cross allegedly appeared in a blue sky on the morning of the battle in  832 A.D. between Angus (Oengus), King of the Picts (helped by the Scots) and Athelstane, the Saxon King of Northumbria. According to a story written by Walter Bower (1385 - 1449) King Angus prayed to St Andrew on the eve of the battle. The next day King Athelstane fled from the field and Athelstane was killed near what is now the village of Athelstaneford. Because of this story, the village now prides itself as being the birthplace of the Saltire , Scotland's nati...

Scotland's national flag, the Saltire, is a symbol of St Andrew, the nation's patron saint. The diagonal cross alludes to Andrew's death by crucifixion. Andrew of course was not Scottish and never visited Scotland. He was a Jewish fisherman from Galilee who responded to Jesus' call to follow him and brought his rather more famous brother Simon Peter with him. It's St Andrew's Day today. It's the only saint's day I remember being celebrated in the Presbyterian church in which I grew up, whose membership was dominated by ex-patriot Scots like my grandparents. Consequently as a child I thought St Andrew was the most important of the first 12 apostles. In the eastern orthodox church he's known as the 1st-called. But in Scotland his importance is more entangled with national identity and often with the struggle for independence - see Flavia di Consiglio's article today for the BBC 'Who owns St Andrew's Day?'  . 1200 years ago in Scot...

Commons Wikimedia: Unidentified Argiope This handsome creature is Argiope, a spider who spins silver webs starting with a diagonal cruciform shape, against which it aligns its legs. It is sometimes known as the St Andrew's Cross spider. Tomorrow is St Andrew's Day - more of that tomorrow. There are some odd superstitions associated with the eve of St Andrew's Day, mostly connected with finding a mate. I don't believe any of them, but it's fun to speculate how these traditions started. ARE YOU A SINGLE WOMAN? Do you want to marry?   Then today is the time to listen out for barking dogs and note where they are. Why? Because your future husband will come from that direction - so they say . NOT HEARING ANY BARKING DOGS?  Never mind. Ask St Andrew's help. Sleep naked tonight and your future husband will visit your dreams - so they say . TOO COLD TO SLEEP NAKED IN NOVEMBER? Then wrap up warm and sit up to midnight. At midnight look for a sign tha...