Porridge—breakfast of VIMers. Most of us were up and enjoying the beautiful
surroundings before our hostesses blessed us with porridge and
hospitality. As per usual, the early
morning hours were blessed with conversation, tea, coffee, and laughter. A few of us took long walks while a few more
of us sought to get email programs to behave.
I understand that the sunrise was beautiful, but I only awoke after the
clouds rolled in over Northern Ireland.
Who would have expected rain in Ireland?
Before worship and after breakfast, I personally snuck away
to the quiet of the worship area. We
have done and seen so much on this trip that my introverted, quiet self has
struggled to find that alone space that I cherish. It is good to sometimes simply be alone—there
is so much to process and ponder.
When worship began, it was both delightful and puppet
filled. It was a prayerful and
delightful experience filled with song and marching. I do wonder if anyone from Africa could have
understood us singing Siyahamba with our glut of accents, but such is
life. I am certain they would have been
thankful that we were marching in the light of God together.
During and after worship we explored how puppets can help
break through barriers to address issues that are difficult to face
otherwise. Through simple but serious
skits a person can evoke empathy, consideration, and compassion through
inanimate puppets that one can easily ignore if a living breathing human being from
the other side of the interface were to face such situations.
After worship I found the gift shop and the books had
already been decimated by the other pastors on the trip. I still managed to find a wonderful book
called “The place called Reconciliation: Texts to Explore” by David
Stevens. Corrymeela Press seems to have
a lot of good books that I would recommend people consider.
When Mike finally managed to convince me to leave the Gift
Shop, we hopped on a bus to the Giant’s Causeway. Traveling by bus can be challenging in the
hills. When we reached the Causeway we
were in a place of natural beauty. On a
clear day a person can see Scotland and the local legend says that the causeway
was built and subsequently destroyed by two giants who wanted to have a
tumble. The story is told that the
Scottish giant (who was bigger) was deceived into running away by the smaller Irish
giant. I’m betting the story is told
differently in Scotland. Geology says
that the causeway is a result of a volcanic eruption that cooled rapidly. The giant story is certainly more colorful,
but either way we walked off at least one piece of pavlova walking up and down
the hill. I personally believe Mike and
Pat are trying to train all of us to win a power-walking relay race.
After a delightful lunch at the Smuggler’s Inn, we traveled
to Dunluce Castle where we toured the remains of a major power center of
several clans over the last millennium.
We heard several tales and found a room in a tower with a heavy door and
bars for those people who choose to tell bad jokes in years to come. I’m personally thinking of renting it for my
daughters when they become teenagers.
Upon returning to Corrymeela we watched a video showing the
efforts within several Belfast schools to create peace through understanding
and relationship/ The program began as
an effort to have young children in two schools (one Protestant and one Roman
Catholic) play together. As the kids
gathered an amazing thing happened. The
parents of the children requested a chance to connect through a program of
their own. That was encouraging. Soon after the parents began to request the
program continue through primary school and that is very encouraging. I find it is often through such little things
that community is truly built.
In a few minutes we will be spending the night discussing
and reflecting on what we’ve seen. As
the week began I often wondered about how much time we have spent learning
about the local culture, but as we spent time learning I realized how deep
these issues run. Just take Dunluce
Castle as an example. At first glance it
appears to simply be ruins that are fascinating but unrelated. On further reflection when you realize the
back and forth of the Scottish, English, and Irish rulers would lay the
groundwork for the eventual struggles between their Protestant and Catholic
descendants, you begin to realize that the conflict in this space took hundreds
of years to come to a boil. Is it any
shock that these issues are taking a while to work through in Northern
Ireland? When you stop to think about
it, isn’t it just as likely that the conflicts we face in our daily lives have
deeper roots than we expect?
I suspect we’ll all be thinking about these things we have
seen for a long time to come. I know
that I will. Also, if I return, you can
probably find me locked in that tower.
Blessings.
Submitted by Rob Dean
Lunch at Smugglers Inn:
Dunluce Castle:
