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Good morning. It’s Burns Night tonight, held in honour of Scotland's most famous poet Robert Burns. There will be Burns Night suppers all around Scotland to celebrate, with whisky, haggis and poetry readings. And, if it’s the full thing, participants will be piped in with the bagpipes and then say The Selkirk Grace, attributed to Burns:
Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat
Sae let the Lord be thankit.
Then there’s the food, followed by speeches, and then people perform works by Burns, before it all ends with everyone singing Auld lang syne, which may not have been written by Burns at all!

It’s a great evening and a great celebration. It’s a celebration of Scottishness. It has a strong community feel. It celebrates traditions- including traditional food. And it makes people feel good about themselves, mostly Scots, though others are often invited to join in. But its strongest attraction of all is that it binds people into a sense of community, not exclusive but warm and welcoming, and allows people to do more than just have a meal together- important and bonding though that is. There’s much to be said for celebratory dinners, and even more if they draw in people who are often forgotten. So let’s use its example to celebrate more often, invite more people for dinners, and give people a chance to eat, drink and be merry- and be part of something that makes them proud of who they are, Scots, Irish, English, Welsh, Jewish, Christian, Muslim or whoever……. May we use the Burns Night example to reach out, proud of our identity, to others who are proud of theirs, and share some traditions with each other in our busy lives. Amen