Returning home spiritually and physically
As I head towards 50 I want to say some thank yous
There was a ‘Tech’ in my hometown. Tech stood for Technical and it had a vocational orientation. Yet I was taking a bus 12 miles up the road to Armagh. I think that tells me that at times I want to go beyond what I think I know and place myself in unknown territory. I get a hunch that is connected to how I grow.
One of the key difference’s with Armagh was that is had a good proportion of students from the Catholic and Protestant communities. This would be a new experience for me as up to now my education had been within the state sector which mostly Protestants attended. The Isle of Man (IOM) had prepared me for this new experience and indeed the collapse of my political identity had opened me to new ways.
It was true that largely outside of the classroom people remained within their communities but at least we were in the one place for a good part of the day and interacting with one and other.
On Remembrance Sunday, November 1987 an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb exploded while a memorial service was underway at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen. 12 people died and many were injured. I remember the shock that reverberated through us all particularly my community as we saw this not an attack on ‘British forces’ but on us. How would I respond? Would I revert to my not long gone political type?
Gordon Wilson on the same night that his daughter was murdered by the Enniskillen bombing stated that he forgave those who perpetrated the atrocity. I believe his action spoken in his words saved the lives of others who may have been murdered in retaliation.
I was in observer mode. I was listening and watching and at the same time, I was part of a college community that was made up of the traditions of Northern Ireland. That was a good place to be as I was waiting.
In the Spring of 1988, I was invited by a fellow college student to a Christian youth event. I rarely refused an invitation to church so I accepted. I was surprised when I had to queue outside the Ulster Hall (a venue that holds 1000). It reminded me of what I had left some 4 years before when I stopped attending church although this contemporary style of Christianity had grown considerably. The preacher preached on Samson and I heard something in the message that I hadn’t before, “Samson’s hair began to grow again.”
If you know the story you will know that Samson strength lay in his hair. The deal was that he would remain strong for as long as his hair was not cut. The deal remained until the days when he could give his heart to another. Unfortunately the other would not treat it well and while asleep she cut his hair. He could not fight off his adversaries and he was imprisoned.
But while he was imprisoned something began to happen, his hair began to grow again. In time his strength would return and those who ensnared him would feel the full force of it.
It was as if the words, “ Samson’s hair began to grow again” were saying, “Just when you thought it was all gone something has quietly been going on in the background and one day you become aware that what you thought was lost has been restored.”
I felt my relationship with God that had drifted since the collapse of the Boys’ Brigade (BB) was being restored. I did what Evangelicals do, I went to the front, said the prayer and left the event. Would this be just an emotional response to the moment or had a change occurred?
Today’s thank you goes to Judith who guided me back home.
Best day,
g
