Bridget of Kildare               Word on the week              5^th February 2022.

Under the heading ‘The Biddies Are Back’ the daily newspaper showed dancers, clad in white, performing a ritual dance.  This annual event had been postponed because of the Covid pandemic.   They were heralding the start of Spring on the 1^st of February and paying homage to St Brid, the patron saint of the farming community.

Coincidentally the government had been considering granting the country an additional holiday partly as a ‘thank you’ for coping so well with the pandemic and partly to bring the number of public holidays more into line with other countries.   Another factor was the availability of St Bridget’s day so from 1^st February 2023 we will holiday.

Some may have wished the Saint would have chosen a warmer day to die but it was on 1^st February 525 (or thereabouts) that the event took place.  Brigid (the spelling varies) is said to have been buried at the right of the high altar of Kildare Cathedral, and a costly tomb raised over her “adorned with gems and precious stones and crowns of gold and silver”.   Then about the year 878, owing to Viking raids, Brigid’s purported relics were taken to Downpatrick and reburied in the tomb of St. Patrick and St. Columba.

Brigid of Ireland, or of Kildare, has been venerated since the early Middle Ages.  It is in place names that her influence is best seen.   In Ireland there are multiple Kilbride’s (Church of Brid).  In Scotland, East Kilbride and West Kilbride are called after Brigid. Lhanbryde, near Elgin, is thought to be Pictish for “Church of Brigid”.    Abroad place names abound from Newfoundland to the Antarctic!

Many wells have been made sacred to her as expanding Christianity turned heathen customs into Christian ones.   Wells were places where wishes were allegedly met and votive clothes tied to neighbouring trees.   The requests were often associated with fertility and childbirth.

The best known symbol of Brigid is her cross made of straw or reeds.  Legend has it that Bridget wove one while sitting at the bedside of a dying Chieftain, whilst she weaved, she explained the meaning of the cross to him.    He understood that Christ had made a way for him, via the cross. to get right with God.   Her calming words brought peace to his soul. He was so enamoured by what she said that the old Chieftain requested he be baptized as a Christian just before he passed away (Acts Chapter 8 verses 30 to 38).

Perhaps this inspired the hymn writer Henry Francis Lyte, an Irishman, to pen the last verse of his popular hymn ‘Abide with me’: – Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes, Shine through the gloom and point me to the shies; Heaven’s morning breaks, and earths vain shadows flee: In life and death, O Lord, abide with me.

Interestingly, ‘Hold Thou Thy cross’ have been changed to ‘Reveal Thyself’ to remove any transgression into idolatry in imbuing a man-made cross with supernatural properties.   However, Scripture has no such obsessions using the cross as shorthand for the atoning work of Christ (Galatians Chapter 6 verse 14).

Holocaust Survivors           Word on the Week             29^th January 2022.

“I don’t want to read about them!”   “Why can’t we be reminded about ‘Bloody Sunday, our own tragedy?”   Anniversaries, anniversaries, they often remind us of what we would like to forget.   And who can forget the photograph of the Priest waving the white handkerchief on Bloody Sunday?    That handkerchief has been preserved – lest we forget!

And that is the point – we forget!   There are also Holocaust deniers!   People whose dislike of Israel translates into stating it never happened.   Over 6 million Jews and Others were wiped out of history.   Hitler would be proud of these anti-Semitisic people!

The annual Holocaust Memorial Day fell on last Thursday.  It was commemorated, amongst other things, by Prince Charles commissioning portraits of 7 of the remaining survivors.   These paintings, which were shown in a BBC TV programme, are to be hung in the Royal Gallery in Windsor.   They will provide a lasting testimony to the atrocities of the death camps when those portrayed have died.

The portrait of Lily Ebert, now age 98, showed her wearing a tiny gold medallion.   It had defied Nazi inspections by being hidden in the heel of her shoe.   When the heel wore out she hid it in a piece of bread and thus it survived.   It is worn every day and is her only possession to outlast the Holocaust.   You can hear her account of her experiences on You Tube – https://www.cufi.org.uk/news/.

Most reading this blog could imagine something of what it would have been like to have been imprisoned in a concentration camp.  Few, if any, would conceive what it was like to be a perpetrator of the atrocity.   Yet Scripture speaks of the universality of sin and does not provide us with a scale (James Chapter 2 verse 10).

It is almost as if St Paul anticipated the holocaust.  In his Roman letter he writes, “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.  Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! (Chapter 9 verses 1 – 5).

In the following chapter the Apostle reiterates his desire that the Israelites may be saved.   He acknowledges their zeal for law-keeping in an effort to establish their own righteousness by-passing God’s righteousness and adds Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes in Jesus.

Covid Conquered             Word on the Week          22nd January 2022.

Conquered? Not quite but it certainly felt like it listening to the
Taoiseach’s broadcast last evening.   The only remnants remaining,
that would affect the majority, are the mask wearing and hand
sanitising that have become second nature to us!

It remains to be seen what the result of such freedom would be.   The
new reality of being able to move about freely and attend sporting
fixtures unhindered is heady stuff.   Two reactions can be predicted.
 The first following Prime Minister Johnston’s lead (although his
parties were a bit premature!) and hit the booze.  The other is the
mental struggle of coming to terms with liberty after such a lengthy
period of semi-isolation!

Both can wreck your head!  The first comes as the aftermath of the
party and is as debilitating as it is short lasting.   The second is
disorientating.   New life-styles have been put in place and a return
to old routines of the pre March 2020 ways of working may no longer be
desired or workable.

Change, that dreaded word, has happened and it would be difficult or
even impossible to re-wind our body-clocks to ignore those 22 months
of disruption.  The world’s billionaires would not want to.   The ten
richest of them doubled their wealth during the pandemic.   They now
own more than 3.1 billion of the world’s poor people.   To help
visualise how many that represents – it is the combined populations of
Africa and China!   Something is far wrong.

So much for the greed of man.   The birds have been making a better
existence for themselves.   Let me quote two cases.   The first is the
Little Egret who has moved north from the Continent of Europe to our
wetlands.  It is a small white heron with attractive white plumes on
crest, back and chest, black legs and bill and yellow feet.   It first
appeared here early in lockdown and although very shy of people was
first seen fishing in the Hartwell river.  It took off at a steep
angle and disappeared among some trees.

The other is the swallow.    By now he should be basking in African
sunshine.  There are a number who realised the effects of global
warming and have taken a chance of surviving winter in these islands!
  They have figured out that it saves them a 12,000 mile round trip!
Let’s hope the food supplies hold up for them.

What would be a Word that would sum up this week?   Perhaps we would
find it in Lamentations or “How” as it translates in Hebrew, “How did
this happen?” Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.   They are new every morning; great is
your faithfulness.   I say to myself, “the Lord is my portion;
therefore, I will wait for him.” (Chapter 3 verses 22 to 24).

The First Beginning                    Word on the Week          8^th January 2022.

For most of us it is the beginning at school that imprinted itself on our minds. That unforgettable first day!   For others it may be the first day at work with the trauma of a new beginning that became the time we cannot forget. 

By comparison in the Biblical account of the beginning of planet earth everything seems to have been structured and orderly from the first day (Genesis Chapter 1 verses 1 to 5).

For instance, Genesis Chapter 1 verse 1 reads “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  This breath-taking statement was given to Moses.   Everything was organised.  There was no hint of trauma until Chapter 3 when humankind’s rebellion ruptured relationships.  The result is being played out in the world to this day.

The next new beginning we are to consider is that of one of the leading scholars of his time.   He was searching for deeper meaning in life and was attracted to the teachings of a new Rabbi.   In fact, he thought the Rabbi may have been sent by God.   The remedy on offer was not some new resolution but nothing short of a new start to his life.   This would take place if he looked in faith to the Rabbi who is Jesus. 

The illustration Jesus used would have been well known to the man as it referred to an incident in Israel’s history (Numbers 21 verses 8 and 9).   Just as the people had looked in faith to the snake in the desert and were cured of the plague they were now to redirect their gaze to Jesus who would become their Saviour (John Chapter 3 verses 1 to 16).

There is also a last ‘new beginning’!   People were complaining that it was a long time coming.   Jesus had told his disciples that ‘He would come again’ (John Chapter 14 verse 3).   They wanted to see the promise fulfilled!  It was left to Peter to explain that 1,000 years are like a day in the Lord’s reckoning. And he added the reason for the delay.   It was the Lord’s patience.   He was ‘not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance’ (2 Peter Chapter 3 verses 3 to 9). 

We are at the beginning of a New Year.   Will we try the Lord’s patience by ignoring Him or will we be like the scholar – Nicodemus who enquired further.  His quest was rewarded and with the gift of faith.  He went on to serve Jesus amongst the most difficult of people, the Pharisees, and assisted at the Lord’s burial (John Chapters 7 verse 50 and 19 verse 39).

It required courage to follow Jesus then and it requires courage now to follow Jesus in the counter Christian culture of today.  This He will give to those who ask him.   Let’s make it our resolution so to live for Him in 2022 and forever.  

Making Merry                   Word on the Week          18^th December 2021.

“‘Tis the Season to be jolly” a line from the well-known Christmas Carol with a not so well known “Tiocfaidh ár lá” insertion got ex-president of Sinn Féin Gerry Adams into a spot of bother this week.   It was his own composition but it was the inclusion of the infamous line “They haven’t gone away you know” which awakened ghosts from the past!

Gerry had borrowed the classic Christmas carol called Deck the Halls, written by Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant in 1862, and put his own words to it.   He has a reasonable singing voice and it was a pity he didn’t stick with the original words.

The verse continues with; – Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la, la la la la.   Fill the mead cup, drain the barrel, Fa etc.   Troul the ancient Christmas carol.   The ‘Deck the Halls’ is simply to put up the decorations.   ‘Troul’ means to sing lustily.

‘Fill the mead cup, drain the barrel’ is a strange one.   We always bottled the mead in July and sealed the bottle with yeast.   It remained undisturbed till Christmas when the mead became part of the Christmas dinner.   How they sealed a barrel of mead is a mystery!

The song was also sung at the New Year.   It contains the verse, ‘Fast away the old year passes, Fa etc.  Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!’ words not so surprising considering they were written by a Scot with a fondness for that time of year!

Isaiah wrote about the joy of their harvest festival – You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest.   A successful harvest meant plenty of food till the next harvest time – a major reason for rejoicing!    Then comes the great joy of God’s child: – For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  The son always existed and was gifted to save us!
And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Then comes the picture of the Kingdom of God.
 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.   He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Chapter 9 verses 3 & 6/7)

A promise which gives real and lasting Joy. This is the fruit of the Spirit.   May it be with us who know and love the Saviour now and forever.   

Communication Chains             Word on the Week          11^th December 2021.

Not the paper chains we make to decorate the house at Christmas but the metal chains that bind us.   To be in chains is such an emotive expression conjuring up visions of helplessness.   That is unless you were cut from the same cloth as the Apostle Paul who used his chains to his advantage!

The Apostle had time in that Prison in Rome.   Two years in fact.   During them he wrote letters to the churches at Ephesus, Philippi and Colossi.  He also shared the Gospel with the Jewish leaders (Acts Chapter 28 verses 17 to 28).   When the majority of Jews rejected the message Paul spent the next two years preaching to the Gentiles (Acts Chapter 28 Verse 31).

St Paul’s chains were a great encouragement to Christians who may have been suffering persecution and took courage from Paul’s witness from prison so that the whole of the Imperial Guard heard the gospel (Philippians Chapter 1 verses 12 to 14).

At this week’s Bible Study, the usage of the word ‘chains’ among hymn writers was discussed.   The bulk of the time it is used to describe the binding nature of our sins which refuse to be shaken off.   Perhaps the best example of this is Wesley’s ‘And can it be that I should gain’ which has the verse: –

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.                                                              

Describing in graphic terms the new convert’s feelings upon conversion.

Then there is that song dating back to 1745 which deals so clearly with sanctifying grace in the daily life of the believer.  The first line, ‘The Saviour died and rose again’

Who then can e’er divide us now

From Jesus and his love,

Or break the sacred chain that binds                                                               

The earth to heaven above.

Of all the chains that communicate truth the idea of a sacred chain whereby God binds himself to the earth is one of the most vivid.   The notion of this chain of divine love wonderfully illustrates St John’s ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (chapter 3 verse 16).

Blessed chains that communicate truth.

The Long Walk                Word on the Week                     4^th December 2021.

A picture of our President honouring a local fundraiser with the Distinguished Service Award was indicative of the fellow feeling that exists between the Irish and Native American people.   Doreen McPaul had raised money for the Navajo who are experiencing extreme hardship caused by the Covid pandemic.

The Navajo have a long history of persecution.   This culminated with their being caught up in the American Civil War.   The Military Commanders of the Union Army decided that “recent occurrences in the Navajo country have so demoralized and broken up the nation that there is now no choice between their absolute extermination or their removal and colonization at points so remote…as to isolate them entirely from the inhabitants of the Territory”!

The “Long Walk” of 400 miles started in the beginning of spring 1864. Bands of Navajo led by the Army were relocated from their traditional lands in eastern Arizona Territory and western New Mexico Territory to Fort Sumner in the Pecos River valley. The march was difficult and pushed many Navajos to their breaking point, including death. The distance itself was cruel, but the fact that they did not receive any aid from the soldiers was devastating. 

Few Government promises were kept.   Perhaps the inclusion of the rainbow in the Navajo flag indicates faith in God’s promises!

The Bible maps out the 40-year pilgrimage from Egypt to Canaan.    During that time God guided his people despite their many acts of unfaithfulness.   They experienced His love and justice but despite all that He had done for them they still grumbled and at times would have wished to go back to Egypt (Exodus Chapter 16 verses 2 to 4).

Psalm 78 gives a summary of the journey.  It poses the peoples question, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?”   Food was never far from their minds and tested their faith daily.  “Man eats the bread of angels” (verse 25).   He struck the rock so that water gushed out (verse 20) and they drank.

The manna – literally ‘what is it’ – was provided daily (Exodus Chapter 16 verse 31 to 35).   Water came from the rock (Exodus Chapter 17 verse 6) at Horeb.  A later incident of water from the rock occurs when Moses was told to speak to the rock in front of the congregation.   Instead he struck the rock twice and God graciously sent forth water.   The act of disobedience cost Moses his desire to enter the promised land (Numbers Chapter 20 verse 8).

The Apostle Paul identifies the life sustaining water with Christ our Rock smitten for us at Calvary (1 Corinthians Chapter 10 verse 4) and manna remembered in the breaking of bread (Chapter 11 verses 23 to 26).        Perhaps the Navajo have heard of this Bread (St John Chapter 6 verse 31/5).

Mervin Tinker                   Word on the Week                     27^th November 2021.

“Then the king said to his men, “Do you not realize that a commander and a great man has fallen in Israel this day?” (2 Samuel 3:38).

The death occurred this week of Mervin Tinker.   He was minister at St John’s Parish Church, Hull.   He was one of the leading lights in the group of Evangelicals in the Church of England.   Although largely unknown in Ireland he was appreciated in evangelical Anglican circles and will be missed.

He wrote a number of books aimed at encouraging the faithful and was a popular speaker at conferences.   His address to the Global Anglican Conference in 2018 formed the substance of his last book entitled “That Hideous Strength – How the West was Lost”.  The first part of the title was taken from C S Lewis book of that name.

Lewis’s book is a classic work of storytelling with insights into the human condition. It is part of a trilogy which stages an epic battle between forces of light and darkness across a canvas of other worlds.   It foretold the state we are in today and so made an appropriate title for Melvin’s current book.

“That Hideous Strength”, the title refers to the anti-God alternative in today’s West.  In it his summary of how political debate is conducted today puts it well– “Forget argument and reason, assume your opponent is just wrong or stupid (or both) and explain his ideas away by appealing to pseudo-science.”   You can see it being used regularly in social media.

The book goes on to look at the gender agenda, education, the destruction of the family, and how the Genesis creation account, is being taken over by a pagan view. He finally goes on to helpfully and biblically demonstrate how we can challenge these evils with the truth of the Gospel.

We should commend the truth, culturally engage, and courageously refuse to depart from the Scripture.    We need the involvement of faithful Christian communities that consist of a praying people, a literate leadership (biblically and culturally) and a born again membership.

The Apostle Paul writing to the church at Corinth suggests the remedy; – Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 22 to 25).

We need to humbly proclaim the Gospel to our ‘Jews’ and ‘Gentiles’ today.

The Disappeared             Word on the Week          20^th November 2021.

Here in Ireland the tragedy of teenage girls disappearing, sadly, is not new. What was new this week was the disappearance of the young Chinese tennis star who has endeared herself to the sporting world following her success in the doubles tournament at Wimbledon.

Peng disappeared after writing a social media post on 2 November accusing a former top government official of forcing her to have sex after playing tennis at his home.   Her original post on Weibo has been taken down and neither former vice-premier Zhang Gaoli nor the Chinese government have commented on her allegation.

Copies of Peng’s original post still exist but if any attempt to forward it is made the post simply disappears into cyberspace.    The process is known in China as being “Harmonised”!    An email said to be from Peng was released on Wednesday by the Chinese state-affiliated media CGTN, but doubts have been raised over its authenticity.   This has been followed by photographs on Friday showing Peng playing with a cat and surrounded with soft toys but experts have expressed scepticism about their validity.

The Women’s Tennis Association have said Peng deserves to be heard, not censored.   Fellow tennis stars Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic have joined the campaign to find the ‘missing’ Chinese tennis star.   Whether or not the Chinese government is impressed by any of this remains in doubt.

Certainly there were many doubters when the body of Jesus couldn’t be found.   He had said in a cryptic way, when he was with the disciples, that he would rise from the dead (St John Chapter 2 verses 19 to 22).    After He arose from the tomb what Jesus had said became clear to the disciples.  They realised that God’s power was not to be located in buildings but in the living, reigning Lord Jesus Christ (St Matthew Chapter 28 verses 18 to 20).

The disciple Thomas, the most famous doubter of them all, bridged the gap between unbelief and faith in a most spectacular way.   When he met the risen Christ he exclaimed “My Lord and my God”.   It had all come together for Thomas (St John Chapter 20 verses 28 to 28).  Then Jesus referred to you and me.   “Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.”

Are you amongst the ‘those’ which is said to include every tribe and tongue and nation?   None are left out – this salvation is for all (Titus Chapter 3 verses 11 to 14).   Turn away from trusting in yourself and ask the Lord for the gift of faith.   All of us have come from unbelief! (St Mark Chapter 9 verses 23 to 24).

Countryside in Autumn              Word on the Week          13^th November 2021.

There is a saying that all news is local.   Results of competitions that happen countrywide find their matching result nearer home.   Thus it was with the 2021 Tidy Towns Competition when our local Village of Kill carried off the Co Kildare Gold prize for Category D towns.   Congratulations to all concerned!

The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.   This year technology was used to judge the entry remotely.    Perhaps this enabled the local black spots to remain ‘off camera’!   Actually these are being eradicated annually in inventive ways that add to the floral content of the village.

Our tree landscape is under attack.   The ash, for so long the wood of choice for making hurley’s among other things, has succumbed to the ash dieback disease.   These magnificent trees are showing signs of stress when attacked by the disease which has, for the present, no known cure.

Another tree, which produces delightful blooms in the late spring, is the rhododendron.   It grows well, perhaps too well, in the wet soils of the West coast.   Hundreds of acres in the reeks have succumbed to the multi-stemmed shrub, which can live for 130 years and reach four metres in height in dense thickets.        Its leaves are poisonous to animals and honey, made from its nectar is also poisonous.

Birds and insects feed on the ash.   The dense clusters of seeds which hang out from the branches, when they ripen, are food for red and grey squirrels and various types of finches.   On the other hand, nothing eats the invasive rhododendron.   It drives out other species of tree and with them the animal life they supported.

There has been a large drive to re-forest parts of Ireland.   This is being done largely by farmers planting native species.   The aim is to restore habitat for birds and animals which, in some cases are threatened with extinction.    They also moderate climate change.  However, thanks to a dysfunctional licencing system operated by our Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine there is a large backlog of work which has almost brought planting trees to a standstill!

So we have in Nature the good trees dying and the bad trees taking over.   These things are not what they are supposed to be.   That’s what the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans (Chapter 8 verses 20 to 21).    Humans are included as we see in ourselves and the Department of Agriculture that things are not what they are supposed to be! (Chapter 7 verses 19 to 20).

In the Bible there is a gold prize which Job saw in spite of all his troubles.   It was the realisation that one day he would come forth as gold (refined by his life’s ordeal Chapter 23 verse 10).   This became a reality for the Elders in Revelation Chapter 4 verses 4 and 9 who laid their golden crowns before the throne of the one who had redeemed them from their sins and by Jesus blood had ransomed people for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.    They sang a new song and so will we by God’s grace.