Hillwalking and Hitchhiking in Ireland

 

Since we have more than enough adult help with the Holiday Bible Camp, half of the trip sponsors helped out at the HBC on Monday, while the other half took their turn on Tuesday.  So, with a free morning, Philip Morrison and I took the Dart down to the far southside of the city where we took a hill walk over Bray Head and down to Greystones.  The cross at the top of Bray Head is worth the hike alone, but when you add in the added beauty of the coast and the Wicklow Mountains, there's not a better way to spend a Tuesday morning, especially when the weather is as good as it was today.  A while back, the cliff walk between Bray and Greystones was closed due to erosion (parts of the hill crumbling into the sea isn't ideal).  So, we traversed the trail to the top and then tried to navigate our way down to Greystones using an alternative trail.  The alternative meant that we didn't wind up in Greystones, but some out of the way farm.  After exploring a potential road that would have gotten us to the village, but after a very long walk on a winding and dangerous road, we were blessed by an ecologist who had just finished up a survey on one of the nearby farms.  Hanna, from Sutton, offered us a lift into Greystones, provided we weren't a couple of crazies.  I told her we were Americans and though that definitely qualifies as "crazy", she gave us a lift anyway.  Philip and I enjoyed some local refreshments before catching the Dart back to the city centre.

After Philip left me to head back to the hotel, I continued north to Raheny where I met back up with the teens who had completed another fantastic day at the Holiday Bible Camp.  The numbers of kids who attended grew by 50% and we were all blessed with a special guest after our lunch of sandwiches and crisps.  Ronan and his fiancé, Arianna shared their faith testimony and a little bit about the ministry they are presently involved in.  Ronan, who grew up in the southeast of Ireland had a nominal faith in his youth and became an atheist as a teen.  However, through time he began to search for something more than the materialist/atheist story had to offer and after a long journey, became a Christian around the age of 30.  His fiancé, Arianna also came from a very secular background, but after being touched by God through Ronan and others, came to faith recently as well.  Arianna is a neuroscientist and Ronan is beginning a new work as a campus minister here in Ireland.  Our group was extremely encouraged by these two stories, and we look forward to hearing from my friend, Davood, who will share his unique Persian/European conversion story tomorrow.

Mid-afternoon, the group split into three, headed down to the city centre and explored, shopped, and ate before arriving here at the hotel.  We are about to have another devotional and reflectional session before bed, and we all hope to get to sleep early tonight, as tomorrow will be a long day - a long day, but we also pray, a very good one! - Shay       

Camp - Day One

Having been a bit rushed to get to Raheny on Sunday, the group made sure to leave in plenty of time to make it to All Saints Church on Monday morning, the first day of camp.  It was a good thing we gave ourselves plenty of time, because one group got on a bus going the wrong way, but thankfully figured it out in time to make it back to the others before the event kicked off.  

The Holiday Bible Camp runs from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM and features drama, arts and crafts, games, music, dance, and plenty of other frenetic activity.  Our teens fully embraced each and every child who arrived and they immediately put the children's parents at ease by their sheer enthusiasm and joy.  A couple of the teens from the All Saints Church are also involved in leading the camp and it's been great to them and our group interact together.  The youth did such a great job of leading the activities, a few of us adults went out to spread a some more leaflets around the community to promote the event.  

After camp wrapped up, we had a quick lunch of sandwiches, crisps, and fruit before heading back into town for a Viking Splash Tour of Dublin!  

We next had a great wood-fired pizza dinner, before Juli and I split from the group to enjoy a birthday pint at TP Smith's.  Yes, I celebrated my 49th birthday yesterday - I am officially in my late 40s now!  At 9 PM, the group gathered for a devotional in the courtyard of our hotel, as is the daily custom.  Beth Abraham has put together written devotionals that our group reads together and discusses each evening, and they have encouraged deep reflection from the group.  Not only did I, but Jennelle Hunnicut also celebrated her birthday yesterday (I'm sure she's much younger than me), so we were serenaded by the group before we all wandered off to our respective rooms.  As I type this, the gang is about to head back to Raheny for camp day two! - Shay    

Blended Worship - Anglican / Free-Church Style

On Sunday morning, the Christ Connect Youth Group felt far more alert than they did the day before - having had hot showers, hearty meals, and eight plus hours of sleep.  We traveled to Raheny via the Luas, bus, and Dart, and were in place for the 11 AM joint worship service with All Saints Church, Raheny, and St. John the Evangelist Church, Coolock.  The liturgy consisted of a mix of evangelical free church elements and traditional Anglican ritual.  It was an enriching experience for all in attendance.  Terry from Christ Connect delivered the 10-minute homily, and we all discovered that we have a potential bank robber in our midst (you'll have to ask him about that!). 

After our worship service, we were given a tour of the All Saints building by Seamus, one of the parishioners.  The church was built by Arthur Guinness, Baron Ardiloun, the great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, the founder of the Guinness Brewery.  He and his wife, Olivia are buried in a crypt within the church building, which our teens found to be very strange.  Despite our unfamiliarity with having burials within church buildings, we were all greatly impressed with the architecture and beauty of this elegant structure of worship.  Our youth group will spend some time doing some refurbishment on the church grounds this Wednesday afternoon.

After our impromptu tour of the facilities, we joined our co-worshipers for some hotdogs and tea and cake.  The teens then spent the rest of the afternoon decorating the church hall for our Bible camp and I must say that they did a fantastic job!  They created the designs and did 95% of the setup.  While they were busy at work, I took a few adults over to the Raheny Inn (one of my old Arsenal viewing pubs) to watch the All Ireland Gaelic Football Final.  County Mayo, who had not won the title since 1951 and had supposedly been suffering from a curse delivered by a priest for the past 75 years, upset County Kerry and delivered the trophy to the northwest of the country.  

We all made our way back to the city centre in the evening, where the Mayo fans had taken over and were appropriately celebrating this epic victory in true Irish fashion! 

Nearly everywhere we turned, the Mayo faithful were pouring out of pubs and restaurants, and many of us took the time to congratulate them and wish them well going forward.  We were all in bed by 11 PM (ish) and ready for a new day in Dublin. - Shay      

We're Not in Kansas Anymore Toto

 

I arrived in Dublin two days ago.  Over the past 48 hours, I've reconnected with old friends over cups of coffee and other select beverages, while enjoying fine food and live music.  I've also had the opportunity to visit some of my old haunts in Dublin's fair city.  After catching a gig late last night and even later, enjoying some curry chips with a friend, I woke up at 5:30 this morning having only had 4 hours of sleep.  But the Christ Connect Youth Group arrived around the same time, mostly having not slept a wink.

Once they all cleared customs, we caught the Aircoach down to the city centre and made our way over to our hotel via the Luas tram and a brisk 10-minute walk in the cool morning air.  Unable to check into our hotel until 3 PM, we scarfed some grub at the St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre where the teens were introduced to an Irish breakfast including bacon rashers that resemble but taste different than Canadian bacon and black and white pudding (congealed blood mixed with a variety of spices and fried up in a sausage like patty).  We then went north to Raheny via the Luas, the Dart train, and our two legs and two feet.  No one is going to fail to get their steps in over the next week!

In Raheny, we passed out leaflets advertising the Bible Camp at the All Saints car boot sale and we explored St. Anne's Park (Dublin's second largest park and a former estate of the Guinness family).  Juli arrived via a later flight and met us all in the park where she also reconnected with an old friend.  

The group was exhausted, so we mercifully made our way back into town where we have now checked into our hotel and most everyone but me are fast asleep.  Tonight we'll dine at Gallegher's Boxty House in the Temple Bar area and tomorrow we will worship with the All Saints Church, experiencing an Irish picknick after services.  Hopefully everyone will refreshed and ready to embrace what this coming week will bring after a hearty meal and a good night's sleep. We'll keep you posted. - Shay  

A Trip 14 Years in the Making

I met Jim Carroll, the rector of the All Saints Church of Ireland located in Raheny, the north Dublin suburb Juli and I lived in from 2010-2015, in a local coffee shop back in 2012.  Jim noticed that I was reading a Eugene Peterson book and so he immediately struck up a conversation and when he learned that I was a fellow pastor, he gave me a tour of the beautiful All Saints building and invited me to be the guest speaker at their Harvest Sunday worship service.  In October of 2012, I spoke at the event and a couple of years later, Ashlyn enrolled in the Springdale National School which is run by the All Saints parish.  I continued a friendship with the new rector, Reverend McCausland, when Jim retired, and I have since come to know, albeit only briefly, Kevin Ronne, the current All Saints rector.

Through this relationship with the good people of All Saints, Ashlyn's youth group will partner with this Raheny parish to run a Holiday Bible Camp from July 27-30.  I will be arriving in Dublin tomorrow and the youth group and some other adult sponsors will be arriving on Saturday.  It will be good to be back in bubblin' Dublin and it will be fantastic to reconnect with so many friends and loved ones in Ireland's fair capital city.  I plan to update this blog daily over the next 10 days or so to capture at least some of the shenanigans the group gets up to.  Who could have imagined that a "chance" meeting in a coffee shop 14 years ago could continue to be so fruitful?!!! - Shay 

The World Cup: A Foretaste of the Age to Come

I would imagine that the most googled two words in the universe today must be "World Cup".  Far bigger than the Super Bowl, more significant than the NBA Finals, and of much greater interest to the globe than College Football could ever be, the beautiful game has captured the imaginations of the 48 participating nations and quite a bit of the rest of the world as well.

My introduction to football (soccer) came in 1999 when I moved to Nottingham, England.  I experienced the end of the 1998-1999 Premier League season which saw Manchester United narrowly pip Arsenal to the title.  Nottingham Forest was relegated and so I decided I would not support a team that was no longer in the top division.  John Glesinger, whom I was working under in an apprentice ministry position, begged me to become an Arsenal supporter.  I was reluctant at first, but since there was a natural connection to the club through John, I agreed to support Arsenal with one condition - we had to attend at least two matches throughout the season.  We went to the Arsenal - Derby County match early in the season at Pride Park (2-1 Arsenal win), and then in the spring of 2000 we watched Arsenal dismantle Deportivo La Coruna 5-1 in the UEFA Cup at the old Highbury Stadium in North London.  For 27 years I have been an Arsenal (and USMNT) supporter in particular, and a big soccer fan in general.  

Though I am a huge Texas Longhorn fan and love College Football, I realize that American Football, especially College Football, is a niche sport without a large global following.  What I love about supporting Arsenal and being a soccer fan is that I can find connections with other Arsenal supporters and soccer fans almost anywhere in the world.  One of the things that this World Cup should teach us is that there should be far more that unites us as human beings than that which divides us.  I have loved seeing the supporters of African, South American, Asian, European, and North American teams all coming together in various Mexican, Canadian, and US cities to cheer on their nations, with a friendly, diplomatic, and curious tone.  Though the United States has much for which to be ashamed in its past and present (like most every nation), I hope that our guests for this World Cup have been warmly welcomed and that they have seen the best that we have to offer.  I also wish that the nations of the world would find more opportunities to come together in moments of partnership and celebration, rather than through war, hatred, suspicion, and strife.  I hope and pray that we see more of these positive scenes in my lifetime, but I know that in the age to come, the promise of this World Cup will be realized in ways that we cannot even begin to imagine.

At the end of the book of Revelation, we are given a glimpse of what life will be like in the renewed creation when God comes home to live with his people.  The writer of the Apocalypse describes it like this: "And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.  Its gates will never be shut by day - and there will be no night there.  People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations...On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 21:23-22:2)

Through this World Cup we've seen a little glimpse of what life could be like if the nations of the world could find common ground and live as one.  I can't wait when this foretaste will become reality when God's will is finally and fully done on earth as it is in heaven. - Shay 

From Death through Resurrection: Days of Ash and Easter Lily

Last summer I began a blog series where I ranked U2's albums from worst to first.  I had heard rumors that the band was in the studio creating a new record and preparing for a new tour.  Here's how my ranking came out from 1 to 14.

1. The Joshua Tree

2. Achtung Baby

3. All That You Can't Leave Behind

4. Rattle and Hum

5. The Unforgettable Fire

6. War 

7. Boy

8. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

9. Songs of Innocence

10. Songs of Experience

11. Zooropa

12. Pop

13. No Line on the Horizon

14. October

On Ash Wednesday, U2 released a surprise six track EP titled Days of Ash.  A few weeks later on Good Friday, the band shocked their fans with a second EP called Easter Lily.  Since these are two EPs and not full LPs (though if you combined them, they would make one heck of a record) I won't attempt to rank them with U2's other work, but if these 12 tracks were a proper album they would rest firmly within the top 10.  Let's dive in.

Days of Ash 

Days of Ash begins with American Obituary which laments the senseless killing of Renee Good by Ice agents in Minneapolis on January 7.  The song is fueled musically by fuzzy garage rock style guitar riffs and a chunky bass line.  Bono passionately sings "I love you more than hate loves war."  And the song ends with a chorus of people singing "The power of the people is so much stronger than the people in power."  We can only pray that this will be true.

The next song on the EP gets its title from Richard Rohr's recent book, The Tears of Things.  This is a mostly acoustic track with lush strings and beautiful and intricately crafted poetical lyrics.  Bono uses the image of Michaelangelo's statue of David brought to life to lament the brokenness of this world, while still yearning for the next.  The song ends with a hope for universal salvation.  "Everybody is my people - let my people go."

Song of the Future is inspired by Sarina Esmailzadeh, a 16-year-old Iranian girl beaten to death by security forces during the 2022 protests against the killing of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested for improperly wearing her hijab.  Despite being inspired by dark events, the music is defiantly hopeful.

The next track is actually not a song, but rather the poem Wildpeace written by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai and read by the Nigerian musician Adeola over a soundscape produced by Jacknife Lee. The poem claims that for peace to be lasting, it must arise organically.

Sticking with the theme of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East, One Life at a Time references the murder of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen by an Israeli settler in the South Hebron Hills.  Though his killer may have wanted to eliminate the Palestinians one life at a time, the message of the song is that the world can be changed one life at a time.  

The EP ends on a high note struck from a dark place.  In collaboration with Taras Topolia of Ukrainian band Antytila and with English singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran, Yours Eternally is based on the 4-year struggle that Ukraine has endured as it fights for its freedom, resisting Russian aggression.  The music, and the lyrics are utterly hopeful and yet poignant.

Days of Ash walks the listener through the symbolism of Lent (self-reflection and self-denial, even death) to the promise of rebirth which brings us to Easter Lily.

Easter Lily

Easter Lily begins with Edge's chiming, arena ready guitar strums and then elevates the mood even further with church choir backing vocals.  Song for Hal was written for Hal Willner, a music producer and Saturday Night Live contributor who passed away during the Covid 19 pandemic.  Though an elegy of sorts, the first song of this EP already sets the expectation that this batch of songs is going to be about life, not death as the Edge sings "Did you hear 'Forever'?" on the opening line.  It's great to hear the Edge take lead vocals on a song again. 

The upbeat mood continues on In a Life where this time Bono sings, "I never achieved anything on my own."  This entire song is about the importance of human relationships and is musically reminiscent of All That You Can't Leave Behind era tunes.  

And though this record is upbeat, the vibe shifts slightly with the third track.  The Adam Clayton bass line on Scars sounds similar to the thumping on Iris and Volcano from the Songs of Innocence album.  Though new life is just around the corner, we are reminded that our scars sometimes follow us into that new reality, though we don't have to hide or cover them any longer.

The forever that was hinted at in Song for Hal is made explicit in Resurrection Song.  The idea of resurrection might seem either glib or silly in the 21st century, but Bono is not holding back as he joyfully bellows, "If I sound ridiculous, I'm not done yet!".  Bono claims that there are countless signs pointing to forever and echoing John Donne, he exclaims that even death will die too.

The celebration continues on Easter Parade as the piano, bass, and synth drive the song forward while Edge's guitar licks add flourish in the background.  And this is as good a place to mention this as any.  Welcome back Larry Mullen Jr.!  Larry's drumming throughout both Days of Ash and Easter Lily is energetic and creative, providing ass shaking rhythms.  In this penultimate song we hear, "Something in me died, but I was no longer afraid...Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy)."  

Brian Eno provides a synth background as Bono sings emphatically "I will bless the Lord at all times." on Coexist.  The last lines of the song are sung a cappella: "Changes, these changes, Will rain on this parade.  Changes, these changes I am not afraid.  The pages that enrage us - She tears them from the book.  'Save us, save us' sings the girl of Guadalupe." 

Between these two EPs, U2 takes the listener on a journey from death through resurrection and out the other side into new life.  With 12 tracks and over 50 minutes of music, this could have easily been the next U2 album, rather than two surprise EPs.  If these songs are any indication, the next U2 record should be a dandy. - Shay