So, we reach the last edition of the coronavirus ‘Bridge Specials’! My goodness what a time it has been. I sincerely hope we won’t need to move back into ‘Specials’ and that as a community we can find ways to safely be together and welcome our visitors. For a summary of all that our amazing band of volunteers has done since the start of lockdown. May I also give a big shout out to all the informal volunteering and kindnesses that have gone unseen during the peak of the pandemic. Thank you.

I think we all realise now that coming out of lockdown is proving a lot harder than going in! That is just as true for churches as any other organisation.
Worship on a Sunday morning is not going to be the same when there are so many limitations on what we can do. One of the joys of Dunkeld Cathedral is that, as well as our local congregation, we get to welcome visitors from all over the world. That’s another thing that’s gone by the board this year!
Planning for re-starting Sunday services focusses the mind on what is important in services. We ministers might fondly imagine that people flock to church for the finely crafted, erudite sermons! The truth is there are other things equally or more attractive to people.
Singing and music are such a big part of worship and the prospect of not being able to sing is a disheartening thought. As is the prospect of everyone having to sit at safe distances from other households.
Looking out on faces covered with masks is not thrilling either! We won’t be able to meet for coffee afterwards and catch up with one another. Worship is a communal activity and meeting together, to pray and learn together is such a key part of it. Psalm 42 speaks about the same kind of experience:

1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
among the festive throng.

But the Psalm also includes a great note of confidence: ‘Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.’ We might not like things the way they are at the moment but the Psalm urges us to trust in God and one day, we will return as we used to.

Fraser Penny

Well whoever’s heard of smoking a haggis before? How interesting to read all about Asheville’s Burns night celebrations with an American twist . It’s always great to have news from our friends across the pond – particularly when they are involved in activities that bring our communities closer together. I wonder what the equivalent for us would be … hosting a July 4th party perhaps?
I’m looking forward to the Niel Gow Festival on 20-22nd March. There is a packed programme celebrating the life of our village’s most renowned musician. We’re eagerly awaiting news of the bronze statue due to be unveiled in the village later this year. It is very encouraging to hear that £1,000 has been contributed to the statue from the profits of Asheville’s Burns Night and we wish Pete and the team all the very best with the final stage of fundraising. Also, can I draw your attention to the Niel Gow exhibition that has been mounted by the archives. Pop into the archives on Monday, Wednesday or Friday mornings to find out more about life in Inver back in the eighteenth century when Niel was fiddling away.
March will hopefully see the safe return our Osprey’s to Loch of the Lowes. Last year the male returned on the 15th and the female on the 23rd. I have to say I like this idea of sending the husband on ahead to straighten out the twigs and get the heating on. Let’s hope all these ghastly gales will have stopped by then and that there is more spring like weather for their nesting.
I’m delighted to hear that our village - that has almost everything - is now even closer to having everything with the arrival of legal services. From 4th March, Mitchells Solicitors of Pitlochry are commencing two open sessions a week based at the Community Coworking Space at Lagmhor (The Old Doctors Surgery) on Wednesdays and Thursday between 9 and 12:30pm. Why not pop along to their open evening on 20th March to find out what services they can offer you.
Finally, to slugs – and a very interesting and enjoyable article with The Field’s findings about these gastropods in response to a national initiative requesting a survey of … slugs. I guarantee that you will never see slugs in the same light again. Enjoy!
 
Sally Robertson