All Over

So the last of the exams have been done (for the moment at least), Jonathan and I have packed up all my belongings from the college (I really had that much?!), and I have caught up on my sleep a little. I can't quite believe that it is all over and the 3 years has passed by so fast. It has been a little surreal saying au revoir to all my calssmates and knowing that it will never be the same again. I am not really uspet as I have spent most of my adult life moving on and not always by my own choice.
I will be on line a little more I hope tracking the life and times of a green curate. I think it is all a little surreal at the moment. I have the uniform, the ember cards have gone out, the teasing has increased and now the exams are over it is the next thing on the calender. I have been astounded by the support I have had and the interest that there is my ordination. So many people seem to care, its humbling.
That will be an even stranger day than leaving college I imagine.

Hey, such a long time no blogs. Am on the last round up now. Term has ended and the study weeks have begun. It's a little more complicated this year as there is all the pre ordnation stuff to do as well. I have had my medical and all clear. I have had my eyes tested and all has become clear! Ember cards are written and being posted. The wall between my and Jonathan's bedrooms is being moved mext week as he is growing and I am getting shorter (discs compressing - it happens with age...). The outdoor office should be in place by the end of this month as there is a roomful of books in the college that is due for transfer here. I have clerical shirts on order (can't quite believe it myself), and need to shop for a suit to wear to my ordination.

So far this year I have packed in a trip to London with Jacq, my little sister for her big birthday. A trip to Berlin with my lovely children to have the chance to hang out with them for the weekend, and a spin to Barcelona with some of my classmates because the chance presented itself. Its no wonder I'm tired.

Despite the long silence, I would hope to be more active on the blog as I learn the new job and get back to life in the real world.

The Frightened Motorcyclist

On my way to college in the morning, if I time it right, I come across the frightened motorcyclist. I can see him or her from quite a distance away as the brake lights glow like a beacon from quite a distance. On drawing closer, I can see that it is a small cc bike, the type of moped that is not quite a scooter - not quite a motorbike.

The brake light is almost constantly on as I follow it at around 20 miles and hour through the quiet side roads. The intrepid traveller seems so focussed on the danger of the task that there seems little pleasure in the sensation of travelling. Their backpack seems to add to the burden of the journey. Helmet on tightly, hands in protective gloves, raingear ready for bad weather. They travel along with their feet off the footplate, soles down, ready for the need to stop and connect with the security of the road surface.

It struck me this morning that this is a very good example of the way that people (including myself on too frequent an occasion if I’m honest) live out our Christian lives. We protect ourselves with layers that prevent us from feeling the impact of our journey, saving us from hot and cold of contact with life. We brace our feet, ready for the possibility of a crisis. We keep the brakes on, not because we need them – but just in case…

What would happen if I got on the motorbike of my Christian journey and travelled the road with the wind blowing my face and hair, brakes off, full throttle shouting “YEE-HA!” fully connected, exhilarated, and trusting in God to keep the bike on the road? I think I am about to find out as I start the new phase of my life in God and with God. Its going to be quite the journey!

The End Of The Year

It is time for reflection and sighing at the thought that the old year has nearly finished and the new year is about to begin. It has been a mixed year but good overall. Jonathan successfully did his Junior Cert. Jessica went back to college. I passed my exams and went into my final year of training. Mum has recovered in a way that none of us thought possible when she was so ill in hospital during the Summer. Jessica went on a whistlestop tour of California with a brief foray into Mexico. Jonathan and I saw the delights of New Brunswick in Canada and Montreal in Quebec. I saw Florence and Pisa during a study trip with the college. Wow we did a lot of travelling.
The curacy rounds have kicked off and there are 18 parishes and 14 of us. It was a good year to be looking in the Republic but I don't think the list suited those in the North as well. having said that, it is a challenging process and it has invaded my brain more than I thought it would. I trust God to sort it all out but I'm sorry that it is impossible for all to be settled about initially. I am also sorry that the process seems to be so hard on the class cohesion. Perhaps that will assist in the natural dispersion of us all at the end of the course. I wonder though where I will sent the class Christmas cards next year.
So what do I wish for the new year/ Jonathan's safe return from skiing in the States for the next week. Happiness and peace for the family. For Mum to be able to continue living at home. I wish you all the best the season has to offer and that you feel that God goes with you into the future

Curacy List

So here we are. After 3 years it is finally our turn to wait anxiously for news of where may be available to hang my cassock and set down semi-permanent roots. After 3 years of looking at my home and wondering how on earth I would try to pack it up (and even more importantly - how on earth I managed to collect together so much stuff!) I know that I will have to make decisions about the house but these will have to wait until I know if I can use it easily for any potential time off. Jess will live there and Jonathan will too eventually assuming that college and work in Dublin is on the cards. It would be good to still have a "my room" to retreat to.

I have lived there for 20 years and it will be odd to acclimatise to a new home. I look forward to the work and the challenge but the getting there will be an issue. I can see my self constantly finding that the thing I need is in the "other" house.

The other big question that needs answering is where Jonathan gets to go to school. Newpark has been very good for him and I know that he would be heartbroken without being able to finish it. At least he has his ski trip next month.

Those That Serve

I am biased. I have a brother who has been a member of the Garda Siochana for the last 20 years. I think that in any organisation there are those who are the rotten apples and those who do their job above and beyond the call of duty with compassion and empathy. I believe my brother Andrew is one of those. When visiting his home towm in the West Of Ireland I have always been struck by the warmth of greeting that he receives from so many people living within the district he has responsibility for. He takes an interest in his local community and is involved in projects for the elderly including accompanying them on an annual trip to Dublin, and many other things. I know that there has been many occasions that he has been unable to leave a problem at work and has felt frustrated that he couldn't do more for a grieving family or a child in difficulty. Quite simply, he is one of my heroes.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, he was out in the squad car on a call and arrived back to the small Garda station where he was the only Garda on duty to find that his own car had been vandalised. Vandalised so completely that it is a write off. All bar one of the windows had been smashed and the body work is also damaged. It would appear that this act of cowardice was personal. No other car was damaged in the area.

I think we take forgranted those in our uniformed organisations. We forget that we are protected at land and sea as we are so rarely worried by threats to our security. We, as a nation of increasing individualism, are so quick to stand up and shout when we feel that we have not been treated fairly and demand our rights but so much slower at saying thank you. Last week members of the fire service were injured trying to go about their business also. Are we shouting as loudly as we ought in their defense? We are not. Why?

So today, if you know anyone in these organisations doing their best in increasingly difficult circumstances and under increasing budgetary pressure, who is still willing to go that extra bit because we are lucky enough that they still care - don't forget to say thank you for a job well done. It may well have been a long time since they heard it.

Thank you Andrew!

Women In The Church

I have had the pleasure in my short journey into ministry so far to be positively affirmed as a woman. Last year at the Woman's World Day of Prayer, two Roman Catholic nuns made a point of expressing their delight that the Church of Ireland ordained women and their regret that this avenue was not open to them. Today at the tea following the Ecumenical Harvest Service I was approached by another Roman Catholic nun who said that she would be praying for me and that she was delighted that I was approaching ordination as she felt regret that she could progress no further with her own vocation, a doctrinal glass ceiling. It is both humbling and daunting to realise that I am regarded as a representative of my gender as well as myself.

It was with this in mind that I was very disturbed to read in the Church Times over the weekend about the Curate, Rev Yvonne Hobson in Cornwall who has received another death threat in a continuing campaign against her. The postcard that the lastest threat was written on was found in a Bible in her stall in the church. She had just returned from leave of absence following a series of threats last year which included a hate letter campaign. How awful is that? A person called by God to further the work of the Kingdom threatened by backward looking individual, too cowardly to engage publicly with what they profess to believe.

I am unfamiliar with the direct challenge to my vocation on the basis of my gender but I am conscious that I do not have the acceptance I would wish from all around me. I am saddened by intolerance and have spent time this weekend thinking about my own intolerances with interesting results. It is the kind of self examination that takes a lifetime of checking into rather than a weekend. I find it hard to deal with intolerance as it speaks of feeling superior to another individual or group. What a dangerous concept. Jesus mixed with those who society dismissed, He didn't see the labels given by others, so why do we insist in doing so, and worse, applying some of our own?

Tomorrow I hope to attend a debate in Trinity College on the subject of the role of women in the church held by the Theological Society. Funny how things come together when you're are thinking about stuff.

Heavenly Father spare us from the idea that we are any better - or any more called -than anyone else. Amen