‘You are the sunshine of my life.’
‘You are the sunshine of my life.’ (Sunshine and showers!).
The man who saved the world (Headline on London Times after Colombia)
Rick Stanton & John Valanthen (Brits – of course!) reached the football team (12 boys and coach in the Thailand caves.) One diver has died (today’s news). Froome is cleared and is ready to start the Tour. Neymar is up for an Oscar.
Leo, Mary, Simon have become the backing group for Bono at the UN and are auditioning for a place at the Security Council. (Did Geraldine Byrne join in – I wonder!)
Leo went out of tune with his appeal to Trump and fake news. ‘The hand of God’ (Maradona) 1986 can be exorcised now that Dier scored has that penalty on the 3rdJuly.
1966 has thrived in the landscape of the English mind for generations. (Jordan Pickford – saved the World!) Sunshine and showers creates the contrasts of life.
Loose Words:
Erica Jong is very possessive of her books. (Fear of flying and many more). She often wrote of the pain of letting go of her writing. She felt that her words were her children. Carefully reared. They were too intimate to be let loose before the careless eyes of strangers. I think differently. I write as I drive and then my fingers take over. The words aren’t mine any longer. They go where they will. I have even been tempted to respond to the comments on the website at times but resist. The words are free. They have a life of their own. They can trigger off a conversation which can wander up an old boreen or go nowhere. It doesn’t matter. The chat and reflection is what is important. The words no longer belong to my keyboard. They are free. Meandering words: Sunshine and showers creates the contrasts of life.
Don’t hurt God’s feelings:
Josepha Madigan upset Diarmuid Martin. She had seen a problem and did something about it: No priest. No Mass. She did take off somewhat after that. Why not? Let her observations find their appropriate place. Diarmuid must have had a bad day. He is usually so surefooted. He has been the sensible spokesperson for the Church in stormy time. His response this time seemed churlish. By reacting as he did, he only gave publicity to Josepha’s words. Why couldn’t her words be let ramble where they would? I don’t think God will get a headache or have a sleepless night because of a wide ranging discussion. We do get much too precious and much too protective of our poor fragile God and our Religion. Sunshine and showers create the contrasts of life.
The 26thAugust 2018:
The tickets for Phoenix Park on the 26thAugust were announced. We spoke here to our folk. Some felt that they are physically the same as they were in 1979. But most are fearful of testing out such a theory. I hope all goes well for the World Meeting of families. However we have aged. Most of us can’t face the journey or the length of the day or the standing. Some of us simply don’t find those showpiece celebrations attractive.
I might be curmudgeon myself and wonder if all the energy that has gone into the preparation for this occasion could have been poured into a Synod. I think that the visit of Francis is a distraction and feel it is wrong to use him in this way. However, I admire the involvement of many in this project and expect the whole event to be most exciting and inspirational. It can be a wonderful celebration of ordinary life in ordinary families where the bread of love is broken and shared. Sunshine and showers create the contrasts of life.
Another corner of the Phoenix Park:
Mary McAleese is very loud and so noisy. She has always had something to say. She always speaks eloquently. Her present day words are lava-like. Does something happen in the Park? Even Michael D appears to feel he has to stay on, which is nonsense. He has done his job. He has done it well. He should move on. The messiah complex appears to find too much oxygen in the Áras. He has done his time. He has made us proud of ourselves. Our recent three presidents have been most impressive and have represented our country magnificently. Sunshine and showers create the contrasts of life.
Health conscious:
NHS is 70. Some talk of how bad it is. Many talk of how good it is. The rest of the world is jealous of it. Our own HSE has problems. Those of us who get past the A & E are full of admiration and gratitude for it. I am very squeamish of litigation. There is a hint of perfection buzzing about. It is as if we expect every illness to be curable and every problem fixable. Mistakes will be made. There is a need to accept mistakes and tidy up but descending to litigation feels almost obscene. (The Litigation in Midnight Court was appropriate!) We all get old and sick. We will die. We can’t live forever. When the legal folk come in and awards are made – the result isn’t just a loss of money but an increase in insurance; forcing further caution in the system and carefulness that is dangerous to the health of many. Bureaucracy becomes fearful and stifling. We are becoming a litigious generation. I think there is something fundamentally wrong with such an attitude.
The Disclosures Tribunal is of similar ilk. What will be the outcome? Who will gain? It has ridiculed the Gardai. Noirin O Sullivan was right in her Resignation Statement. It was impossible for her to do her job with all the extraneous and useless distractions. There has to be a better way. I suggest that such Tribunals should be paid for out of the politicians’ (party) money because so often Tribunals come about due to the politicians kicking that famous can down the road. Sunshine and showers create a contrast.
Rupert Everett (The Happy Prince).
“He’s a better Christ figure than Christ, if you see what I mean,” he says. “He has the godly side, the extraordinary vein of genius, and then he has his human side. His human qualities are ones we all suffer from — the snobbery, greed, ego — and for him he was completely undone by them. Most of us get away with it.” He was talking about Oscar Wilde. Sunshine and showers create a contrast.
God and Faith: Our permanent sunshine:
The sun shines. Faces smile. Hearts are lifted. There is warmth in the air. There is chatter in the companionship of life. We feel better. We walk with a spring in our steps. The world around us is a revelation of mystery. The friendships in life; the love among us, is splashed everywhere; the fun and laugher of life, graces our every day. (We need sunshine sometimes for that to happen).
In the dull days of faith, we need to catch the beauty and brightness of God among us. Faith cannot be fearful. God cannot be dour. Church cannot be solemn. The ministers cannot be stodgy or sombre or apologetic. If faith gives us perspective and God is very big, then the ‘faithful’ have to show off the graciousness of life. Sunshine and showers create a contrast.
We heard of Jairus and his daughter recently. He broke every convention by grabbing the feet of Jesus. We too need to do everything to find that innocent child in ourselves. The youthfulness of faith; the playfulness of faith; the jollity of faith and almost the stupidity of faith but especially the laughter in faith.
At Mass yesterday morning, Rita prayed that those who are paralysed in their understanding of the Word, can learn to share the God-experiences of life. (and then further she asked that people no longer be curtailed by passive Masses where only the priest is the voice of God!). And today many fastened onto the famine (of Amos) for the Word of God. The Bread has to be shared. Otherwise there is never a Eucharist. I am thinking too of Daniel J O Leary who hasn’t been well and I am thinking of the beauty of his revelations in words. He helped the sun to shine for so many. May he be blessed and may the gracefulness of his words continue to warm our souls. May we all scatter around the gold-dust of God. The sun still shines. It will always shine when the clouds of our hearts are lifted. Sursum Corda.
Seamus Ahearne osa
“I might be curmudgeon myself and wonder if all the energy that has gone into the preparation for this occasion could have been poured into a Synod. I think that the visit of Francis is a distraction and feel it is wrong to use him in this way.”
That struck a chord with me, Seamus. I agree BUT wonder how much desire there is among the people for such a Synod? We have become so inured in our own routines and patterns of living that I doubt there would be a clamour for seats at any Synod. How many are really engaged with reform now and is it not true that the majority of those engaged is heading towards dotage. Pre-dotage can be such a productive time of course but let’s face it, the numbers posting on any reform or discussion site are small. The numbers engaging in conversations even at parish level are few. The majority of mass attendees have more important things in their lives on which to focus their energies. ( in their opinion.). The Church has become an irrelevance for most.
I am 100% in favour of synods but we need to start small and we need to do so much more work in making the Church relevant and attractive, an open welcoming space for all. The official attitude to women, and to any dissenters and to the LGBTI community stinks quite honestly. I cannot think of a more appropriate verb. It stinks. Why should young people growing up in a society which is learning not to discriminate against gender difference want to play an active role in such an organisation?
By the way I do love our present Pope and like Seamus would find it too tiring and stressful to make it to the Phoenix Park ( much as I want to show my support) but I am reminded of that lovely story in Acts where Cornelius the centurion meets with Peter and bows before him whereupon the boul’ Peter immediately chastises him and tells him for goodness sake get up, sure am I not a man just like yourself. I love that story. I imagine Francis does too.