This picture is one of my early ones. It has been useful a couple of times recently.
This morning I was thinking about peace as I stood in to help out at a commemoration of remembering the day that Bruce killed Comyn in Greyfriars, Dumfries. The opportunity to help arose as a result of connections I made during the “Hidden Histories” project. It is one strand of a complex mesh of connections in developing local community work. Essential work but difficult to classify!
My role was portreying a member of the Grayfriars monastery community. As part of a team from the Bruce Trust to help the general public and a primary school class imagine the significance of the events and access their heritage.
We were hosted in a Church that is still known locally as Grayfriars although there is only a vague connection through the communion of saints living and departed. This helped link the history, with the spirituality, and the whole human experience of time though.
Characters included, King Robert, his sister Lady Christina, Lady Mary (who was imprisoned in a cage for years) and Tom the pilgrim to show that history is not just about kings and warfare.
Hopefully by retelling the stories surrounding the violence of 1306 in their home town, the pupils will be better able to understand peace and practice #SensingMeaningfulness