My Bible

Sean Fletcher welcomes in the new year, meeting people in Glasgow for whom a particular copy of the Bible has been life-changing.

Sean meets Margaret Borland, who relays the remarkable story of her father, John, who was interred as a prisoner of war for the duration of World War II. When he was caught, a tiny pamphlet containing Bible verses drifted by him in the breeze. Catching it and keeping it changed his life. On his return to Scotland, he dedicated his life to helping young people, including a certain Alex Ferguson, who later described John as his hero.

We also meet a prison chaplain in Easterhouse, Glasgow, whose wayward teenage life was turned around when he was given a Bible in a young offenders institution. We hear how, nowadays, he seeks to help people and discover that he still cherishes the very copy of the Bible that he believes saved his life.

And Sean meets a man in Ayr who has a veritable library of Bibles, many of which are in different languages. As well as teaching himself to speak other languages by reading his collection, his wife’s belief helped transform the intellectual exercise into a deep personal faith.

With hymns to give thanks and sing in the new year:

1. O Worship the King – Glasgow Cathedral
2. Will Your Anchor Hold – St Pol de Leon, Penzance
3. The Goodness of God – Sound of Wales in Liberty Church, Swansea
4. Gaelic Blessing – Glasgow Cathedral Choir
5. Jesus, the Name High over All – St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
6. Brightest and Best – Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh