0:00:10 > 0:00:12This week, we're back in Fife,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15as the ancient kingdom looks to the future.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22We'll hear about the faith of the scientist who studies the sun,
0:00:22 > 0:00:26and the love of the family whose son survived a freak accident,
0:00:26 > 0:00:31and we have hymns from Dunfermline Abbey and St Andrews University.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43If any threatening aircraft try to come near UK airspace
0:00:43 > 0:00:47from the north, this is what they'll be met with.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53It's the very latest RAF aircraft, the Typhoon. But last month,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57after much lobbying and discussion, the Ministry of Defence decided
0:00:57 > 0:01:02to transfer the Typhoons to another base and hand Leuchars over to the army.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06The Kingdom of Fife is used to that kind of uncertainty.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09The coalmines, once a huge part of the economy here,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11have now almost gone.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12When they closed in the 1980s,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16thousands of people were left without a future.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19But today's programme is not about looking backwards,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22but with confidence, looking forwards,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27beginning with our first hymn, from Dunfermline Abbey.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08One thing I've found in St Andrews
0:04:08 > 0:04:12is that there's a growing number of students asking
0:04:12 > 0:04:15about what belief in God actually means.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18My name is Katie. I am studying theology here.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20I'm from the west coast of Scotland.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24I'm Alexandra Thornton-Reid and I'm from south Lincolnshire.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26I study theological studies.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30I love being in St Andrews. It's a great place to study theology.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34Obviously, it's very near to where John Knox preached his first sermon.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37I'm actually studying just across the road from there.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41As a professor of theology, it's Alan Torrance's job to teach them
0:04:41 > 0:04:44how to ask these questions.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Well, the hardest question for a Christian to ask,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49concerns the problem of suffering.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54Two years ago, my children and I watched my wife die
0:04:54 > 0:04:57slowly and painfully of cancer.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00And, of course, there was the inclination to ask, "Why?"
0:05:00 > 0:05:03But the question that was most significant at that time
0:05:03 > 0:05:08was not the "Why?" question, but the "Where is God?" question.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12Because if God is there with us,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16sharing in our grief, and sustaining us through it,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19then the "Why?" question is something that can be left with God.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22We don't need an answer to the "Why?" question.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25And you found where God was at that time?
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Yes, we had a profound sense of God's presence with us.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31That's not simply because one believes in the existence
0:05:31 > 0:05:32of an abstract God,
0:05:32 > 0:05:38it's because of our conviction in the God of the Christian faith.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41The God who comes amongst us in the person of Christ,
0:05:41 > 0:05:48who suffered poverty, grief, loneliness, erm, despair.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51It is that God, who by his spirit,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54comes to be present with us when we're going through the mill.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59And you went through the mill profoundly, after your wife's death?
0:05:59 > 0:06:05Well, I...I suffered a period of clinical depression.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10I coped for a... Coped quite well for a while, but then all of a sudden,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14the stresses and pressures got to me for a while,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18and I became very seriously depressed.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21We're a bit reluctant in society to acknowledge this.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Yes. One of the biggest problems in the Christian tradition
0:06:24 > 0:06:29has been to see depression as a spiritual problem.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32Depression has to be understood to be
0:06:32 > 0:06:36a physiological, chemical problem in the first instance.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38It's triggered by environmental factors,
0:06:38 > 0:06:43so, people leading chaotic lives, that may well lead to depression,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47but when the depression takes place, that's a clinical condition.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50And in this process of intellectual enquiry on the one hand
0:06:50 > 0:06:52and personal pain on the other,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56how has your faith come through this?
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Well, like every Christian,
0:06:59 > 0:07:04one has moments of enormous confidence and assurance,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08and at other times, wondering as to whether one might
0:07:08 > 0:07:12be holding beliefs that aren't sufficiently warranted. OK?
0:07:12 > 0:07:18But generally, I'm blessed with feeling enormously enthusiastic
0:07:18 > 0:07:22and confident about the Christian faith.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51The lovely old words of that last hymn
0:09:51 > 0:09:55were set to a traditional Scottish folk tune, Rowan Tree.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Mixing the traditional and the contemporary, students in St Andrews
0:09:58 > 0:10:02study subjects ranging from physics and astronomy,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05to psychology and international relations.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Eric Priest is an applied mathematician,
0:10:09 > 0:10:11and a world expert on the sun.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13He's been studying it for years,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and has come up with all sorts of complex equations
0:10:16 > 0:10:18to explain how it works.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20And these figures, then,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22this is what you spend your time worshipping?
0:10:22 > 0:10:24These equations are wonderful.
0:10:24 > 0:10:25I look at them,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27I play with them every day.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31You can never solve them exactly, but you can make approximations to them.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33In such a way that your approximation
0:10:33 > 0:10:36is relevant for what you're looking at on the sun.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40You're a distinguished scientist, you're also a Christian.
0:10:40 > 0:10:46There are many people that would say that was...incompatible.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47Not to me.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53I find science and Christianity complement one another
0:10:53 > 0:10:55and they're consistent with one another.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59I don't know what you think the life of a scientist is like.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Do you think it's being coldly logical,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05in a white coat in a laboratory, with a blank face?
0:11:05 > 0:11:10- That's what we're often told, yeah. - That is completely wrong.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13For me, science is all about creativity.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16Imagination. Questioning.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18But it's also about proof, isn't it?
0:11:18 > 0:11:23No. Pure mathematics is about proving theorems, that's true,
0:11:23 > 0:11:26but that is only a very small part of science.
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Most of science is about building models, mathematical models
0:11:30 > 0:11:34that are consistent with the observations,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36the experiments that you're looking at.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39How does God fit into your model?
0:11:39 > 0:11:41Well, there's a deep analogy here,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45because, as I said, science is about questioning,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49and when you do that, you realise how little you know,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52which give you a sense of humility,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and it also gives you a sense of wonder.
0:11:55 > 0:12:01Erm... And that, to me, is exactly the same as the life of faith.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05To me, the life of faith is a pilgrimage.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07I can never prove the existence of God,
0:12:07 > 0:12:11in the same way that I can never prove that these equations
0:12:11 > 0:12:14are describing completely accurately what is going on on the sun.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17So, for me, the question is,
0:12:17 > 0:12:21"Is the existence of God consistent with my experience, or not?"
0:12:21 > 0:12:26For me personally, the existence of God is much more consistent.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28So, I can't prove that God exists,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31but I'm prepared to live my life under the assumption that he does,
0:12:31 > 0:12:33and that's what I mean by faith.
0:12:33 > 0:12:39Faith is not absolute certainty, it's living with these questions.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42It's living a life of pilgrimage.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Our next song finds new words to express a very old biblical theme.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Forgiveness, acceptance, a new start.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04It's performed by singer-songwriter, Ian White.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14# When you pass through the waters
0:15:14 > 0:15:18# I will be with you I'll watch over you
0:15:19 > 0:15:24# When you walk through the valley
0:15:24 > 0:15:26# I will comfort you
0:15:26 > 0:15:30# For I am the Lord your God
0:15:30 > 0:15:33# Who lights the way
0:15:33 > 0:15:38# There's no need to be afraid
0:15:38 > 0:15:43# Don't let the past keep holding you back
0:15:43 > 0:15:47# Don't lose the dream in which you believe
0:15:47 > 0:15:50# For I want to do
0:15:50 > 0:15:52# Deep within you
0:15:52 > 0:15:54# Something new
0:15:58 > 0:16:03# When you're dry as a desert
0:16:03 > 0:16:08# You can drink from me Waters rich and free
0:16:08 > 0:16:13# When you need some forgiveness
0:16:13 > 0:16:16# I will show you mercy
0:16:16 > 0:16:22# And light a fire that will burn a brand new road
0:16:22 > 0:16:26# It will show you where to go
0:16:27 > 0:16:32# Don't let the past keep holding you back
0:16:32 > 0:16:37# Don't lose the dream in which you believe
0:16:37 > 0:16:40# For I want to do
0:16:40 > 0:16:42# Deep within you
0:16:42 > 0:16:44# Something new
0:16:48 > 0:16:53# You can make a difference for a better way
0:16:53 > 0:16:59# For living for tomorrow means making the best of today
0:17:02 > 0:17:06# So turn the page and you will see
0:17:07 > 0:17:12# Just how rich your life can be
0:17:12 > 0:17:17# Don't let the past keep holding you back
0:17:17 > 0:17:22# Don't lose the dream in which you believe
0:17:22 > 0:17:25# For I want to do
0:17:25 > 0:17:27# Deep within you
0:17:27 > 0:17:30# Something new
0:17:32 > 0:17:35# I want to do
0:17:35 > 0:17:37# Deep within you
0:17:37 > 0:17:41# Something new. #
0:17:54 > 0:17:57The Navy may have pulled out of Rosyth
0:17:57 > 0:18:03but Britain's two new aircraft carriers are still being assembled in the dockyard.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07And with Fife becoming a centre of excellence for renewable energy,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10the demand is high for engineering skills.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Right in the middle of Rosyth dockyard,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Carnegie College is determined to create new skills,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21to replace the mining that was once Fife's biggest employer.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25It was devastating to see the community just decline
0:18:25 > 0:18:27and then lose all confidence
0:18:27 > 0:18:29in itself as a result.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34Now, what we're seeing is young men and women from these communities
0:18:34 > 0:18:38having optimism and hope and seeing careers for themselves.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41It's a fantastic thing to see.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44I feel that in my role in the college,
0:18:44 > 0:18:49I can create opportunities for people through securing the funding,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53through designing the curriculum, to create those opportunities,
0:18:53 > 0:18:54get people back into jobs.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58The youngsters around here, I can see they're talented and motivated,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01but that is the generation that could be lost.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Yes. These young men and women are very talented, as you say.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Good Higher grades and have made a choice to step into industry
0:19:09 > 0:19:13and develop those skills in a different way, through a different route.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16And it's great to see them flourish in that way.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18And you believe this is a God-given gift,
0:19:18 > 0:19:23- that this is where you should be? - Yeah, well, that gift, yes, is God-given.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25I've got a strong Christian faith,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28I've always been in or around my church.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30I'm very active in and around my own church.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32And my faith is important to me,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35because it's not always an easy job to do.
0:19:35 > 0:19:40I do remember, we were training for mining engineers,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44only a decade ago, and the jobs were pulled away from them.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47My faith then comes into play, because what we did
0:19:47 > 0:19:50was we found alternative jobs for all of those people.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53But my faith is bigger than that.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56My faith is much more about the whole job that I do,
0:19:56 > 0:20:01and the fact that working in the education sector is fantastic.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15# The Lord bless you and keep you
0:20:16 > 0:20:24# The Lord make his face to shine upon you
0:20:24 > 0:20:31# To shine upon you and be gracious
0:20:31 > 0:20:35# And be gracious
0:20:35 > 0:20:40# Unto you
0:20:40 > 0:20:43# The Lord
0:20:43 > 0:20:48# Bless you and keep you
0:20:48 > 0:20:56# The Lord make his face to shine upon you
0:20:56 > 0:21:03# To shine upon you and be gracious
0:21:03 > 0:21:07# And be gracious
0:21:07 > 0:21:11# Unto you
0:21:11 > 0:21:19# The Lord lift up the light
0:21:19 > 0:21:27# Of his countenance upon you
0:21:27 > 0:21:34# The Lord lift up the light
0:21:34 > 0:21:42# Of his countenance upon you
0:21:44 > 0:21:51# And give you peace
0:21:51 > 0:21:58# And give you peace
0:21:58 > 0:22:02# And give you
0:22:02 > 0:22:07# Peace
0:22:07 > 0:22:11# And give you
0:22:11 > 0:22:16# Peace
0:22:16 > 0:22:24# Amen
0:22:25 > 0:22:30# Amen
0:22:30 > 0:22:33# Amen
0:22:33 > 0:22:40# Amen
0:22:40 > 0:22:43# Amen
0:22:43 > 0:22:48# Amen
0:22:48 > 0:22:52# Amen
0:22:52 > 0:23:00# Amen. #
0:23:12 > 0:23:15Kinghorn lifeboat is one of the busiest in Scotland,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20covering the commercial and pleasure craft using the Firth of Forth.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24It sees action around once a week, and its volunteer crew
0:23:24 > 0:23:28have a target time from call to launch of just seven minutes.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32But there can be risks. Crew member, Alistair McLean,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35suffered severe brain injuries, when four years ago,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38he fell overboard and was hit by a propeller.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48The surgeon came up to see us
0:23:48 > 0:23:52and told us that he would be paralysed down his right side.
0:23:53 > 0:24:00He would lose the sight in the right side of his eyes, possibly the left.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04He would have no speech and no comprehension.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I did ask her... I said he would learn to speak again,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and she said no, he wouldn't.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13That was a...a big shock
0:24:14 > 0:24:16What was going through your head at the time?
0:24:16 > 0:24:19We got in to see him, after the operation.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24We were told exactly how everything was touch and go.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28It was very much, they were looking hour by hour
0:24:28 > 0:24:35so, when we came out, we had a quiet area, and I thought,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38"I'll sit down now and take the time to pray."
0:24:39 > 0:24:45I thought, "I'll say the Lord's Prayer," and I couldn't remember it.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46Couldn't remember it.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49And the only thing that I could remember
0:24:49 > 0:24:52was from earlier in the week,
0:24:52 > 0:24:58we were discussing favourite hymns, and my favourite hymn was
0:24:58 > 0:25:02Father, I Place Into Your Hands The Things That I Can't Do.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05And that was the only thing that I could remember.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09So, I just said it over and over and over to myself.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14Cos it was all I could do, was place him in God's hands.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18And then something completely unexpected happened.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Alistair began to make steady progress
0:25:20 > 0:25:22towards returning to normal life.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29Although he can't crew the lifeboat, Alistair is once again,
0:25:29 > 0:25:30very much part of the team,
0:25:30 > 0:25:34as he edits the pictures shot by the lifeboat camera.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36- Have you not got any?- No.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38When he had been at the hospital,
0:25:38 > 0:25:42they had no televisions in their bedrooms.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44They had to go to a television room.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47So, he'd spent quite a wee while without television.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51So, we had got him home, settled him into his room,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55and when we were all going to bed, he was watching, I don't know,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59some comedy programme, and he was just giggling.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Just pure giggles.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05And I just said to my husband, I says, "Listen to that."
0:26:05 > 0:26:10I says, "You just didn't think you would ever hear that again,"
0:26:10 > 0:26:11his giggling.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59We thank you for the beauty and complexity
0:28:59 > 0:29:02and mystery of all that we see in your universe.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09We thank you for the hope, that through all our questioning,
0:29:09 > 0:29:13you will find us, even when we feel we are losing you.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19We thank you for the bonds of love between family and friends
0:29:19 > 0:29:23which carry us through the unexpected challenges which life brings us.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29We say goodbye to the Kingdom of Fife
0:29:29 > 0:29:33with a great hymn of praise from Dunfermline Abbey.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Next week, hymns and stories
0:33:18 > 0:33:21inspired by a subject we all talk about -
0:33:21 > 0:33:25the weather. Aled looks to the skies, with a cloud spotter,
0:33:25 > 0:33:28tries not to make it rain as he attempts a new instrument,
0:33:28 > 0:33:32and views planet Earth from a heavenly perspective.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35A good outlook for hymn-lovers everywhere.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:33:54 > 0:33:57E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk