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Showing posts from March, 2014

Springing forward

Well, did you SPRING forward yesterday? Or did the loss of an hour’s sleep make yesterday morning more of a challenge than it normally would be? There’s a debate about whether there is much point in changing the clocks in spring and autumn any more, or whether we should simply have summer time all year round… If that guaranteed us actual summer time all year round I would be one of its greatest supporters, although in any normal year here that isn’t a great boon… where summer usually just means that we get slightly warmer rain… But the lack of sunshine in summer is not the only distinctive about this province. Every time the clocks change I am reminded of the old joke about the passenger plane landing at Aldergrove and the pilot announcing over the PA system, “We have now landed at Belfast International Airport, please set your watches back 300 years.” We do sadly, have a reputation for being more focused on our past than other places… Whether that past is hundreds of y

From a Prize Pedant on Mothering Sunday

Hello again... I've been poorly for a couple of weeks, adding to my blogging lethargy... But tomorrow I am back on Good Morning Ulster's Thought for the Day, so I had to get the proverbial finger out... Especially in the wake of Padraig O'Tuama's superb pieces for the past few Friday mornings... (If you haven't heard them check out the last one from last Friday morning on iPlayer before it self destructs...) At one point I was considering doing something based on what follows, which first appeared as a piece on Downtown Radio in pre-blog days... But I ended up writing something else, and you'll just have to tune into Radio Ulster at Stupid o'clock tomorrow to find out what... Or wait until it is posted here later tomorrow). In the meantime here's something to think about: So... all you Mothers out there... Did you have a good day today? Breakfast in bed? Flowers? Cards? Sunday dinner out? No dishes to do? I’m telling you... you get a good deal... al

Who knows what forgiveness means?

It's been a while... Have you missed me? What do you mean no!? It's OK, I'll forgive you...   Which brings me (clumsily) to that long promised post on the theme of "forgiveness" in the light of the "Listening to your Enemies" event in Skainos back at the end of January (doesn't time fly when you're having fun...) I've been driven back to the blog because I am killing a number of proverbial birds with one stone. I was reflecting on the subject of forgiveness myself over the weekend as it was the last Sunday before Lent, which in the Orthodox Tradition, as I have said previously, is observed as Forgiveness Sunday, but also because I'm leading a Bible study on the subject tonight, in our ongoing exploration of ECONI's old document "For God and His Glory Alone" and the key Christian principles that we need to help us live in a conflicted community. It is also Ash Wednesday, a day associated with repentance and for