Writing well over a thousand years ago, the Celtic saints and their followers who penned them reflected not just the cares and concerns of their own times, but also gave voice to the universal human experience – the hopes, fears, joys and anxieties that are as much part of modern existence as they were in the Dark Ages. Meditations on birth, death and everything else that comes in between, as well as comments on the rhythms of everyday life, are mixed with musings on the natural world, the divine and, of course, the eternal questions that everyone asks. Laurence Wareing is a freelance writer and editor. He is the former Director of Pathway Productions, the Church of Scotland's broadcast and audio-visual production department, and has had a long career in audio-visual production.