We had a return visit from the BFG today. One pupil in year 5 said I thought the BFG would be bigger than that, which is fair enough, although if he was much bigger we might have had trouble fitting him in.

Since his last visit we have all been trying to find him a country in which to live since he doesn’t want to live in Giantland anymore. Each class was assigned a country to research and had to present their findings to the BFG so he could choose a new country. I just wish it was as easy of that for children looking for a new country today.

After all the countries were allocated, Scotland was left over, so I got Scotland which was fine with me because I love Scotland and think it would be a great place for the BFG to live. After all, Scotland was created by the female Giant, Beira, who according to legend created the mountains and lochs and stirs up the whirlpool of Corryvreckan. Scotland has been home to many giants and some still live there, including the Giant Pandas of Edinburgh Zoo and Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster.

Scotland is a place of early memories for me: the rain in Ullapool, the beware of the Adders sign in the Cairngorms. Most of all Scotland is a place of deep spirituality, a cradle for Christianity in Britain at Whithorn and Iona. These have been described as thin places: places where the distance between heaven and earth is narrow and the spiritual domain palpable.

Actually when you have the BFG in your Chapel then it feels like that there too as we had fun together. Not that Chapel is just about fun but on World Mental Health Day it is an important dimension of life worth celebrating for all young people, and a time to remember those still looking for a country to call home.