When God Judges Ministers
In the news recently a Church of England minister was found guilty of indecent assault. In Ireland, we know the cost of clerical abuse of power all too well. We could add to the list the prosperity ‘preachers’ who fleece the vulnerable with their mega-ministries on TV. There’s a passage in Malachi (chapter 2) addressed…
Final Account
I came across an interview with Leonard Cohen recently. It was towards the end of his life, and he spoke about preparing for death—and it was strangely pragmatic for such an enigmatic poet! I was struck by a couple of things he said: “I am a tidy kind of guy. I like to tie up…
A Fox, a Bin… and the Leader We Need
During the recent UK by-election for Makerfield, Andy Burnham found himself competing with candidates dressed as a fox and even a bin. It’s thought he may become the new labour leader and Prime Minister. It does make you wonder how someone dressed up as a fox or a bin can seriously aspire to lead. Yet…
Shelter in the Storm
As I sit down to write this column, news is coming in of tragedy in the Donegal International Rally. It’s utterly heart-breaking—a sunny summer’s day of laughter and excitement closes wrapped in the dark clouds of numbness and grief. Storms come uninvited and unexpected into our lives—three Sundays ago, as I came out of church,…
What makes a life valuable?
As I held my young son in my arms the consultant from a London hospital told me that they recommend abortion for his condition. Was the consultant really saying that my son’s life was not worth living? How do we determine the value of someone’s life? The Ridgeway family sent shockwaves around the world as…
“Little Liars?” (guest post from our placement student Gareth)
“Did you take that toy from your brother?”… “No” “Do you have a dirty nappy?”… “No” As a parent of four young children, I have quickly discovered that children don’t need to be taught how to lie. Apparently, deception begins even before they learn to talk! According to a study by researchers at the University…
Making Friends on the Water
“People should make friends on the water,” said my 12 year old son during last week’s heatwave. I asked him why and he said “because no one can see your disability on the water and they treat you as they would treat you normally.” Wow! What perception. My son suffers with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy which…
How Little we Know (guest post from Gareth Orr)
It’s that time of year again. The leaves have returned to the trees, the flowers are blooming, the grass is growing (albeit slowly). All this can only mean one thing. Exam season is upon us once again! Even if you are not currently revising for exams yourself, no doubt you know someone who is. Across…
Can anything good come out of Down?
Can anything good come out of Down?! That’s what we might be wondering after they knocked Donegal out of the championship. But there was good news from another recent sporting event as Aaron Beggs from Bangor sacrificed a personal best to help a fellow runner in the Boston Marathon. Ajay Haridasse was less than 200m…
The Watershed
Sometimes on holidays we find ourselves in interesting places by accident. Last year we were in Austria and took a bit of a detour just to avoid a tunnel—not much scenery to be seen in a 13km tunnel! At the summit of a mountain pass we noticed, off to the side of the road, a…
Counted
On Saturday 18th April the National Archives made freely available over 700,000 individual household returns from the 1926 Census of Population—the first census conducted after the foundation of the Irish Free State. Within hours, four million hits had flooded the site. Across Ireland and the diaspora, people leaned into their screens, searching for grandparents, great-grandparents,…
The Moon is always round
There were “audible screams of delight” from NASA scientists onboard Artemis 2. One of the Astronauts, Victor Glover, had this to say: “As we are so far from Earth and look back at… the beauty of creation… In all of this emptiness — this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this…
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Milford RPC 