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Showing posts from February, 2016

Listening and Learning 50 and 100 Years On...

I am currently reading a book that looks at classical culture and at one point the author questions the possibility (or indeed the point of) establishing the historic truth of any of the foundation myths of an ancient city like Rome, looking back thousands of years to a tradition that was probably already almost a millenium old. We in this part of the world should know the truth of this as we already have difficulty untangling the historic truths of the past 50 years of conflict, never mind the foundation myths of the two jurisdictions on this island, many of which find their historic roots in the events of 1916 in the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme. There are many upcoming events commemorating/celebrating/reflecting on these and other anniversaries of this so-called "Decade of Centenaries" including two public lectures in Belfast South Methodist: IRELAND ON THE BRINK 1912-1922:  Some Thoughts on the Decade of Centenaries on Monday 15 th February  at

Are You Listening?

Are you listening? The theme for this year's 4 Corners Festival , which began last Thursday evening and runs to next Sunday evening in St. Nicholas' Parish Church, is "The Art of Listening". Yesterday at Fitzroy Presbyterian, the church where 4 Corners founder, Steve Stockman , is the current minister, my friend and colleague, Heather Morris, preached a challenging sermon on that theme, and it is worth a listen (or a read) . But we began the festival with an event organised by EmbraceNI , in the City Hall; "From Syria (and elsewhere) with Grace , looking at the plight of refugees and asylum seekers coming to this city and what we as churches might do to help. It was important to be warned of the danger of our compassion for Syrian refugees here and elsewhere adversely affecting refugees and asylum seekers from elsewhere... to hear about the gap between the granting of asylum and the ability to access benefits or be permitted to take a job... and heart-breaking to