Some Lesson from a Trip Out West – Part 3

This is the final part of a 3 week series about some lessons learned from a family holiday in the West of Ireland about a month ago. In the first week, I was thinking about the power of welcome. Last week, I was thinking about entrepreneurship and lessons the church can learn from those who put their business ideas out there, and this week, what I want to think about is the restorative power of nature.

When you haven’t been somewhere for some years, you tend to forget how remarkably beautiful it is, and this was certainly the case when we recently stayed in Connemara. The holiday came after a busy season in the church’s life and it was good to ease the pace, to slow down and spend time with family and to drink in the beauty of our surroundings.

We stayed in a beautiful area called Mannin near Ballyconneely. One of the great joys of getting up early was to watch the sun rise over the bay as I spent some quiet time with God reading the Scriptures and praying. It was beautiful to see the glorious colours of the landscape and watch the sun rise over the bay. You were reminded of just how remarkable our Creator God is as he put everything in its place. Sometimes, we live so fast that we fail to pay attention to the beauty outside of our windows and doors.

Over our time away I did one or two things that were a bit outside of my comfort zone, but they took me outside and into nature. My son is a very keen climber and, while he prefers indoor boulders, he spotted a mountain he thought we should try on the road to Roundstone called Errisbeg. We got ourselves a picnic and used a guidebook we found in our rented cottage to scale the mountain. Conor was very patient with his old Dad as we made our way up sheep paths and tracks and climbed rocks to eventually make the summit. Coming down was, at times, even more of a challenge as we shuffled down crevices and crags, but what stunning and glorious views over the bay and the countryside. It’s more than a little dent to my pride where I am now dependent on my 14 year old boy to get me up and down safely, and he has to constantly wait for me rather than the other way around! I had to follow the paths and tracks he led the way on. It’s in many ways like the life of Faith, where we try to follow and do the things Jesus did and those who followed him have done before us.

We took a ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran islands one day. This involved a car journey to the heart of the Gaeltacht, the Irish speaking region of Connemara. As we stopped at a local shop, I had to employ my very rusty Irish from my school days to enquire about the whereabouts of toilets and to buy some ice creams. One of the things I noticed was how much people appreciated when you made the effort and how patient they were in ensuring you understood. The experience of going to church is a very strange one for many modern people. Can we help people to feel more confident and to navigate the intricacies of our liturgies and services?

When we arrived on the island most people get around by bicycle and there is very little traffic. I hired a bicycle to go across the island to see the ancient fort Dun Aonghusa . It was exhilarating cycling across with the Atlantic wind blowing against your face, showering you with sea spray at times. You could stop to appreciate the rugged coastline, the seal colonies, the ancient worship sites and churches. The very nature of such a rugged coastline makes you feel fully alive combined with the effort of the cycle instead of just hopping into the car. You appreciate how very blessed and fortunate you are to have your mobility and your health and your eye sight and hearing as all those senses are stimulated on that special place.

We took a trip to visit Kylemore Abbey,  a Benedictine Convent which is set with the most glorious backdrop of the mountains and rivers. The community of nuns make soap and candles and punctuate their day with a rhythm of prayer and worship. They have created the most wonderful walled garden and grow flowers and herbs which are used in the café. It’s the subject of a 3 part documentary called the “The Hills are Alive”, which is currently being screened on RTE 1, the Irish television channel. There is the opportunity to visit the convent which used to be a school until quite recently, and the walk to the walled garden has some beautiful trails and vistas. Sitting in the walled garden is again such an oasis of tranquillity and beauty, and it’s moving to watch the nuns in their habits tending the gardens with such love and attentiveness.

The big takeaway for me in all of these places is just how important it is to slow down and pay attention to the beautiful world God has created. When you walk or cycle, when you smell the wild flowers or garlic or hedgerows, when you watch people working the land and tending the produce of the soil, it does something powerful and restorative to our soul.

We are surrounded by incredible beauty here in Co. Down. If you cross the road from the church and go up the Cregagh Glen, if you go to visit the Mourne Mountains, or watch what goes on in your own garden, my prayer is that you will be blessed and become profoundly aware of your creator who loves you and longs for you to experience more and more of His presence.

The blog will be taking a break for a couple of weeks, but please do join us for our community fun day on 6th September and bring your family and friends. We look forward to organisations and activities recommencing in September and we look forward to speaking again soon.

Much love to everyone,

Jono.

Listen to the latest episode of ‘Bitesize Chunks of Faith’