Ninian's Chapel

St Ninian’s Chapel on the Dumfries coast was once a popular place of Christian pilgrimage. Pious travellers from Ireland, Man and England would arrive by boat, sailing for the little cove, below, grateful for having survived so dangerous a crossing. The chapel is small and, by our standards, sparse and unwelcoming, even allowing for its ruinous state. I do not suppose that medieval Scottish chapels were much warmer and ambient than their modern day, exposed skeletons, but they would certainly have been drier and more pleasant places to sit than some rocking, leaky sea vessel.

The Lord sometimes grants us relief from the squalls and storms of life in places which seem little better. Many of us lurch from one crisis to another, from one set of problems to a second and third. God’s relief sometimes appears small, insignificant and not quite as helpful as we would have wanted. Yet this life is awash with small mercies, gentle helps, almost imperceptible aids. So look not for the warm palace and perfect comfort till He calls you home; in the meantime, be content with the old chapels by the sea, the windows of which look out on the very waves from which you have fled.