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09/08/2019
A reflection and prayer to start the day with Rev Dr Lesley Carroll.
O for a thousand tongue to sing
We'll walk by faith
The power of the Cross
When I survey the wondrous cross
The Lord is my salvation
In Christ alone
Last on
Fri 9 Aug 2019
05:43
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
PRAYER FOR THE DAY - SCRIPT 9 AUGUST 2019
Good morning. It was 1974. Violence was increasing in Northern Ireland so on this day it was decided to introduce internment without trial.
For some this was a necessary evil while for others it was a trauma that would never be forgotten. For many years after, August 9th was marked by unrest. The divisiveness of the decision was in the binary interpretation of it made by different communities - it was good or it was bad, things were black or they were white.
It was the anniversary of internment somewhere about 1990 andΒ I was assistant minister in a congregation in North Belfast. Near midnight a nursing home rang to tell me a member of the congregation was dying. I drove anxiously through the loudness of Belfast to pray with a woman called Kitty. Determined and full of faith, Kitty held strong opinions and was never short of sharing them. She did not believe that women should be ordained. Every time I preached I could hear her tut. Kitty disapproved - I knew it and she knew it.
At the nursing home I was taken to a darkened room where the now frail Kitty was nearing death. I prayed with her and stayed until 4am when I decided that the last thing Kitty wanted was to die with me beside her. I left her to die in her own time and in her own way. Perhaps I knew how entrapping binary approaches are - black or white, your way or mine, no in between. I was saddened and felt a sense of failure because we had never reached an understanding.
God of love, we give thanks for the opportunities you give us to change, to forgive ourselves and others. Thank you for the hope you give us. Amen.
For some this was a necessary evil while for others it was a trauma that would never be forgotten. For many years after, August 9th was marked by unrest. The divisiveness of the decision was in the binary interpretation of it made by different communities - it was good or it was bad, things were black or they were white.
It was the anniversary of internment somewhere about 1990 andΒ I was assistant minister in a congregation in North Belfast. Near midnight a nursing home rang to tell me a member of the congregation was dying. I drove anxiously through the loudness of Belfast to pray with a woman called Kitty. Determined and full of faith, Kitty held strong opinions and was never short of sharing them. She did not believe that women should be ordained. Every time I preached I could hear her tut. Kitty disapproved - I knew it and she knew it.
At the nursing home I was taken to a darkened room where the now frail Kitty was nearing death. I prayed with her and stayed until 4am when I decided that the last thing Kitty wanted was to die with me beside her. I left her to die in her own time and in her own way. Perhaps I knew how entrapping binary approaches are - black or white, your way or mine, no in between. I was saddened and felt a sense of failure because we had never reached an understanding.
God of love, we give thanks for the opportunities you give us to change, to forgive ourselves and others. Thank you for the hope you give us. Amen.
Broadcast
- Fri 9 Aug 2019 05:43Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
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