Séamus Ahearne: ‘Everything is going to be alright.’ Derek Mahon
Only those who see, take off their shoes:
I was grappling with Is. 6:1 plus for last weekend, and wondering what direction to go with it. I concluded that this was an experience of God and shared. Where and how does this happen for us? For me? For the people we gather together? At Mass? Is this what we are trying to cause happen, as ministers of faith? I think so often that the paraphernalia of religion gets in the way of God. Liturgy has become a dumping ground for all the individual good ideas that have accumulated over the centuries, and poor old God, hasn’t a whisper of a chance. But I was thinking. How do we share an experience of God when any of us gather?
I go down on my knees and do what must be done (Ceasefire).
John Bowman on Sunday morning (9th Feb 25) had researched the Archives of RTÉ. We heard of Michael Longley. His stories were told. Seamus Heaney featured; the man from Castledawson, Derek Mahon was mentioned. The Ice-Cream man appeared with the flowers put outside the shop by Michael’s daughter. Longley’s poem linked the wild flowers of the barren Burren, with that killing on Lisburn Road. We heard too of Ceasefire, and the serious reflection from that time. The three Northern poets were linked together. How come that these poets should be Northern and yet connected together and bonded deeply in the South?
I had dipped into Seamus Heaney’s Letters (Edited by Christopher Reid) and was amused at how the ‘ordinary’ appeared. How the chat between the poets was part of their everyday lives. I was amused at how unsophisticated their written language in the letters was. The neat, tidy, sharp words of the poets and poems, seemed to be forgotten, as the letters stumbled through the sentences. Yes. I was surprised that Heaney and the family allowed those letters to be published. But I did enjoy them. They gave a glimpse into the real life of the poet, and the great friendship-support of the fellow poets. Isaiah allowed us eavesdrop on his experience with God. I found Bowman’s adventure in the archives on Longley and Company a very holy moment. The poets take us into the wonderland of the transcendent. By the way, Brendan Kennelly did get mentioned in dispatches from his time in Trinity! And he wasn’t from the North.
Wild flowers in the Burren and wild birds and animals everywhere:
Accidently, I was taken on a trip to the Caribbean, some evening last week. I have no idea what the programme was named. All I know is that, we met with wild life everywhere and some great characters who spend their lives trying to protect such habitats. We had the Scarlet Ibis which was a beautiful sight off Trinidad. We had all kinds of birds and animals contributing to enhancing life everywhere. It was heart-warming. I also met with Gordon Buchanan (only in articles) who was born in Dumbarton and moved to the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. (Gordon appears on all kinds of nature and wild life programmes.) He became a cameraman before venturing into presenting programmes.
Gordon, wanders the world following many exotic animals. Bears. Wolves. Polar bears. Lions. Leopards. Cheetahs. He comes across as very calm and very much at ease, with the beauty and wonder of nature. His fearlessness or even Zen type personality creates a silence and a peace with the animals. He deeply believes that we share the world with all types of insects, animals, birds and that we can learn from them. We must do it very gently and carefully and respectfully. We were allowed to eavesdrop on Isaiah, in his experience of God. The world of the wild, and people such as Gordon Buchanan, give us too an experience of God, which is delicate, intimate, precious and very holy. I often wonder what on earth I ever learned during my very long educational journey as I seem to know so little.
Seamus Ahearne osa
10th February 2025.
That Kiss:
Luis Rubiales was over exuberant, when he kissed Jenni Hermoso on the lips. If only he had watched Pretty Woman. Julia Roberts could have warned him as she did Richard Gere– ‘not on the lips!’ Or maybe ‘Only a Kiss’ by the Killers! Or Lady Antebellum – ‘Just a Kiss!’ Has the world gone mad?