By Canon Alec Boyd, The Cathedral of The Isles

How time seems to fly! 70 days of lockdown behind us now. In history there have been others who have also seen trying times. Two such people are the well-known John Calvin and John Knox. Calvin was to be one of the most important people in the story of the Reformation but never lived to see his work come to its fruition in the acceptance of “The Westminster Confession”. John Knox also played a large part in the reformation not just here in Scotland but on the Continent and in England. Not widely known, he was an editor of the second Church of England Prayer Book. He also suffered persecution during his life and was for two years chained up as a slave oarsman on French galley warships, but on his release – miraculous in itself that he survived – he was to become a driving force for the Reformation in England, Geneva and then home in Scotland.

The French Protestant Chaplains always invited a delegation from the British Army to their annual convention in the south of France. On meadows full of the scent of herbs we joined over 6000 people from all over the French speaking world. One of the activities was to visit the local village of Mailet which had been a hide away for the Huguenots when they were persecuted by the authorities. Trapdoors, tunnels, false walls, underground dwellings, all for hiding – much more restrictive than our experience of lock-down!

Thank goodness today that we can all work together free from all prejudice.

Stay safe and keep well.