Time and West Cork Time

One of the advantages of rural life in Ireland (as I suspect is true of non-city life almost anywhere) is the way time is treated.  Country time is not the hard slave master that city time can be; everyone in a hurry to be somewhere to do something to meet someone etc.  In West Cork, time is not a precise phenomenon, it is merely an advisory instrument that may or may not be relevant for the conduct of any given day or occasion.  Things will happen when they will, people will arrive when they mean to and not a moment sooner or later.

What got me thinking about time?  Well if you're still reading then you must be vaguely interested so I'll tell you - The Innishannon Steam Rally.

This grand occasion happens over the June Bank Holiday weekend every year. It's a great family day out, but what really caught my interest was (wait for it) ... the "Slow Tractor Race".  It's complicated, but basically the winner is the person to drive their tractor the slowest without stopping, so the person who comes last is the winner.  Ingenious!

Can you imagine such a thing happening in New York, Tokyo or London, where millions of people race around as if their lives depended upon it all day every day?  After witnessing this race - there were two heats and a final and it took a long time (but nobody was in a hurry), I know where the better quality of life can be found...

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

(2 Peter 3:8)

Letting Go ... letting God

Church of the Ascension, Timoleague  

Have you ever been at your wits end?  Have you ever been in a situation that was completely desperate and you simply could not see any way out?  I suspect most of us have felt a bit like that at one time or another.  Maybe it was a health problem, or something to do with finances or to do with a relationship or some kind of depression.  We are at a total loss and so we do not know what to do.  And so what is often our very last resort?  That’s right, we call out to God to help us.  And what are our prayers like in these moments; are they gentle platitudes?  No they are from the very depths of our being, from (as the saying goes) ‘the bottom of our hearts’.  And so with our fists clenched and our stomach in knots and our teeth grinding we cry out to God…  And do you know what?  In these moments prayer seems to have a potency and a power way and above the norm, it is like when we are on our knees in our own personal Garden of Gethsemene that the heavens are torn open and we have direct access to the Throne of Grace.  We have at last made room for God and He is there before the first word has even been uttered from our trembling lips.  

Early-purple Orchid

It's amazing what you can find when you're not looking for anything!  My better half came across this tiny little flower whilst she was cutting the grass (the blades of grass around the flower give a sense of the small scale).  We think that it is the beginnings of an Early-purple Orchid, but are not entirely sure, maybe some of you green-fingered readers will be able to help us out here?  I know some people like to treat their lawns with all sorts of chemicals so that they can enjoy a velvety grass-only lawn with not a weed or any moss in sight - I'll gladly put up with a few dandelions here and there if it means we can get to see such lovely flowers as this:

Lord, just as a flower can radiate its precious beauty

and cast its fragrance everywhere.

So I ask you to cast the sweet fragrance of your presence over me. 

Surround me with your love.

Fill me with your healing balm.

Enfold me with your peace.

Comfort me with your presence.

May your fragrance linger in the stillness of my soul.

May your healing love renew my very being.

(From Fr. James McSweeny: A Year in Reflection)

Courtmacsherry

Courtmacsherry comes alive during the summer months.  It really is a beautiful place and a perfect spot for holidaymakers (if only the sunshine could be guaranteed!)

Whilst I was there yesterday it was pretty quiet, but there is anticipation in the air.  The Church of Ireland community are beginning to get the wonderful little church building ready for the summer season and those involved in the tourism industry are hoping and praying that this year will be a good one.

Quite correctly, the people of Courtmacsherry are very proud of their Lifeboat.  The Lifeboat Station has been there since 1825 and many lives have been saved over the years between then and now.

Of course there is a clear parallel between the work of the Lifeboat Station and the work of the Church.  Both are in the business of saving souls; the Lifeboat crew save people from drowning, Jesus saves us from ourselves and sets us on the rock of salvation...

From Psalm 40:

I waited patiently for the LORD; 

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, 

out of the mud and mire; 

he set my feet on a rock 

and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth, 

a hymn of praise to our God. 

Many will see and fear 

and put their trust in the LORD.

I won?

It all happened a couple of weeks ago. Every year the General Synod of the Church of Ireland awards prizes for web sites, magazines etc. This year my blog won a prize. I have to say that when I look at my colleagues' blogs (links to the right) they really are very good. They write very interesting and thought provoking posts which are often supplemented by excellent media including video and photographs. It must be hard to make a judgement between them all. As there have been different winners each year (as long as I've been blogging anyway) I think they must be sharing the prizes around a bit, which is nice - because, honestly, they all deserve to win.

My prize arrived in the post this morning - a £40 Eason's voucher, which is wonderful, though I hope they accept sterling vouchers in Cork otherwise it will be a very long drive to spend it!

Thank you everyone for all your support and encouragement. I would have given up a long time ago without it :-)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Neighbours

Nikon D70s, 1/320sec, f4.8, ISO 200, 180mm

For a couple of weeks towards the end of last month we enjoyed the company of some new neighbours.  It was lovely to see them running and playing in the large green field behind our house.  Often when my wife opened the back door to hang up some washing or do a bit of gardening they would come trotting down to the fence to say hello.  They were quite happy to pose for a photo too!

Then, just as suddenly as they arrived, they were gone.  The field is now empty again, save for a large white horse that keeps to the distant end.  Whether the calves have gone to another field or to market I don't know, but we miss them :-(

In my Father's house...

Olympus OM-1, G.Zuiko 35mm f2.8, Yellow Filter, Ilford FP4 plus, ISO 125

...there are many mansions. 

These words of Jesus (from John 14) have ever since they were first spoken, been a source of tremendous hope and encouragement to Christians down through the centuries.  No matter what this world and what this life throws at us we know that Jesus has prepared a home in heaven for all those who would seek to follow Him in this life. 

I continue to be amazed by this.  I know that I am not good enough to be called one of Jesus’ friends and I could write an endless list of reasons why I shouldn’t go to heaven.  I have every sympathy with the Apostle Paul when he said:

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Romans 7:15)

Time and time again we become aware of the battle between what we know is the right thing to do and what we naturally want to do, the battle between “the flesh” and “the spirit”, often portrayed in cartoons as the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other, each trying to win the mind of the person trapped in the middle! 

If the Apostle Paul struggled with this then we are in good company.  He goes on to say:

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (v24, 25a)

Yes we inhabit “bodies of death” but thank God that we are rescued from them by what Jesus did for us on the cross. 

The picture above brought all this to mind.  I have passed by many times on my way between Ballinascarthy and Pedlar’s cross.  It is a sad sight.  Recently I had a bit of time to spare before a home visit so I decided to drop in.  There was no one at home although it had been used fairly recently by a chain-smoking tabloid-reading occupant.  I could have gone upstairs but I didn’t want to, I felt like I was trespassing.  I couldn’t help but feel sad for the person who had lived here last, who had poured so much of their life into this place, in keeping it clean, in decorating, in tending the garden.  I thought of the long gone days when the steam train would have been visible on the old railway behind the house; the white puffs of steam and jolly passengers making their way to or from West Cork.  I could almost hear the echoes of voices, calling from the kitchen that dinner was ready or the sound of laughter as children played in the garden (if they ever did I don’t know).  The tall trees stand like silent spectators all around. If they could, I wonder what story they would tell?

Everything that we take for granted every day is just so temporary, so transient that we would do well and wisely not to cling on to it too tightly.  Thank God that our home prepared by Jesus in the next life is a home that is permanent and where ‘moth and rust’ do not destroy and where thieves do not ‘break in and steal’ (Matt.6:19).  We do not deserve this home but we have a God who specialises in Grace – undeserved favour.