Gardens without Borders                    Word on the Week           28^th May 2022.

You know summer has come when the media proclaims the opening of the Chelsea flower show!  This week long event is a logistical triumph.   Many entries come from round the world.  Keeping their flowers alive and coming to their peak for Chelsea is no small task.

In all there were 39 gardens and 80 nursery floristry represented. Some 13 were selected to be show gardens.   These average an amazing 3,125 plants!  Transporting and creating these gardens takes place the week before the show opens.  The best in show garden came from Ireland.

The trends are towards wilding from the wild kitchen garden with edible fruits, flowers and herbs to one showcasing a natural re-wilding of landscapes.  This one confined itself to using plants grown in these islands.  Following the reintroduction of beavers in south west England there was a water feature with beaver dams.   All of which provoked Monty Don of BBC’s Gardeners World to question if this was really a garden at all!   Perhaps a new class incorporating fauna needs to be created!

Queen Elizabeth, who is a patron of the show, was present in her version of the ‘popemobile’!   This being her Platinum Jubilee there were many floral tributes including one of her profile in flowers on a platinum coloured background.

For the record the plant of the year was voted to be the Semponium ‘Destiny’.  My choice would have been the Irises of which the blue is my favourite.

Returning to more pressing matters the Plantsman’s Ice Garden provided a warning of global warming.   It centred around a 15 ton 2.5m cube of ice symbolising Siberian permafrost.   The cube gradually melted during the week providing a cool water supply of melt water for the surrounding Siberian irises.

Designed by Joe Swift, the BBC Studios Our Green Planet & RHS Bee Garden is buzzing with inspiration for gardeners to help protect bees and other pollinators in their own green spaces. With a design based on a bee wing, the garden shows how easy it can be to create a beautiful space that is great for pollinators too.

When the Lord God planted the first garden he designed the prototype for all the gardens that were to follow (Genesis Chapter 2 Verse 8).   Weeds, the emblems of our sins, destroys it’s beauty.  With the atoning work of Christ on the cross for our sins the possibility of a renewed garden arises.   This time the living water Jesus spoke about (St John Chapter 4 verses 10 to 14) flows through it removing the curse and healing those who respond to Jesus’s invitation to drink i.e. trust in Him.   His promises are true.

The Black Hole                       Word on the Week                        14^th May 2022.

An international team of astronomers on Thursday unveiled the first image of a supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy, a cosmic body known as Sagittarius A.    When news of it reached our Men’s Shed on Friday it caused mild consternation in the group!

Something had appeared in the black hole that had never been seen before.   Because it is 27,000 light years from Earth, it appears the same size as a doughnut on the Moon.

It was picked up by a group of scientists at eight different global locations with their telescopes synchronised. This is the first, “direct visual confirmation of the presence of this invisible object”, said the report.

Back at the shed it was thought to be all very well for the scientists to go after invisible objects in space but what about the nature of our own planet earth?  Where did we come from?   Did the Bible really say that it all belongs to the Lord because he made it and everything in it?   ((Psalm 24 verse 1).

And what about nature evolving over time?   There was a lot of support for the theory.  It may have taken millions of years but little by little we evolved – science says it!   Here was belief of a high order.   Faith in science appeared to include worshipping the scientist.   Something akin to the Samaritans worship (John’s gospel chapter 4 verse 22).

The absence of evidence of one animal evolving into another proved to be a stumbling block.   Only some minor mutations could be produced. Those occurred within the species.   No known cases of selective breeding have produced a new species.   We have the Genesis Chapter 1 account which records in an orderly manner what each creation day created.

The bible also speaks of God making the heavens.  He has set the moon and the stars in place (Psalm 8 verses 3 to 4).   You can set your smartphone by the rhythms of the sun which are eulogised by the Psalmist in Psalm 19 verses 1 to 6.

Our bodily needs are catered for in the promise to Noah ““As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis Chapter 8 verse 22).

Our spiritual needs are catered for by God’s son becoming that seed which was promised from the beginning and would bear fruit in every heart open to receive it (St John Chapter 12 verse 24).

Science has its place but it can never produce the love of God – a love which does not wane and lasts forever (Jeremiah Chapter 31 verse 3).

WOTW                             Word on the Week                     7th May 2022.

This one could be called the Blog that talks to itself!   Although I have been going longer than I care to remember the reason for my existence may not be self-evident.   Indeed, it may not be evident at all!

Word on the Week came into being with the intention of applying people’s knowledge of the Word to one of the major events of the week.  The idea was to inculcate, through time, an appreciation that the Word of God could be applied to every decision or situation in life.

Thus with people habitually thinking ‘Christianly’ conversations in the staff canteen or wherever your Areopagus is (Acts chapter 17 verse 19), could be turned from the usual Government bashing to something more Christ-centred.

How to turn a conversation that is going nowhere into something more profitable requires a bit of thought.   It can be as simple as prefacing your words with “I take my cue from Jesus on this subject” when the latest case of gender dysphoria comes up for discussion.   Jesus brings the argument back to the beginning when there was no identity crisis (St Mark Chapter 10 verses 6 to 9).  People then see the ideal comes from scripture and the conversation is enlightened by the grace and forgiveness the gospel can bring.

One of the Apostle Paul’s ‘Words on the Week’ occurred when he visited Corinth.  He saw the confused state of their worship revealed in the many statues to their gods. One statue was dedicated to an unknown god.  St Paul used this to proclaim Jesus, the God you can know. His power and authority is seen in his resurrection from the dead (Acts chapter 17 verses 24 to 34).

No form of government is perfect because they are made up of sinful people.  This week we were able to witness the democratic principle of free election in the North of Ireland and at the other end of the scale the authoritarian regime in Russia silencing its people from critiquing its leader’s war efforts against Ukraine.

There will be Christians in both camps – some preferring the one over the other.   Jesus understood the anxieties these things create and calms our fears using the Gospel passage which points us to another Kingdom, a heavenly one, that one day will be ours (St Luke Chapter 12 verse 32).

‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’

Elon Musk’s Tweet                    Word on the Week                    30^th April 2022.

At this time of year, we are enchanted by the Dawn Chorus.   The mating season is announced daily with a symphony of birdsong.    This week one ‘twitter’ made more noise in the media than the rest and that was Elon Musk.   He parted with a relatively small portion of his fortune to obtain Twitter.

What would an electric car manufacturer with a desire for space travel want with a social media platform which earns a relatively small amount of money?  Perhaps what appealed to Elon was witnessing how the former US President, Trump, self-promoted his ideas on the network.   Daily users, currently at 229 million, would be an attractive base to what he has termed a ‘digital town square’.

So who is this 50-year-old billionaire who has purchased Twitter?   Musk was born in Pretoria in South Africa, the eldest of three children.   The parents divorced when he was 8.  He describes his father as a ‘terrible human being’ but that didn’t stop him from making his first $500 at the age of 12!   He now lives in Texas, has married three times, (twice to the same woman), and has six sons the eldest tragically died of sudden infant death syndrome.

His stated intent is to make Twitter available to everyone as a forum for the exchange of ideas.   Musk’s advocacy of “free speech” – which means reducing moderation of online content – promises to make Twitter a far nastier, angrier arena.

So who will control Musk? The way he controls the network must be made transparent.   The rapid growth of artificial intelligence has to be controlled.   The potential of robots is well understood in car manufacturing so Musk would understand it.  Putin has said, “Artificial Intelligence” is the future not only for Russia but for all human kind.  It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict.  Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”  (Quoted in John C. Lennox’s book ‘2084’).

The battle for the mind of man will first be fought with words.   The problem is that Robotic language is becoming increasingly hard to detect.   However, words are the Christians’ stock in trade.    Christians’ follow Jesus who is the living Word of God (St John Chapter 1 verse 14).

By God’s grace we have the Divine revelation, miraculously preserved, in the Bible. In Psalm 119 the Psalmist praises the Bible; The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple (Verse 130).  2 Timothy Chapter 3 verse 15 explains what this could mean.

We need to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians Chapter 6 verse 17).

The Kinahan Gang                    Word on the Week          23^rd April 2022.

Growing up, being a member of a gang was a way of life!   At the end of our street was the mart with its network of cattle pens.   These had an alternative use for small boys engaged in an elaborate version of hide and seek.

Later we graduated to the ‘sand-holers’.   They occupied a spent sand pit which had become an unofficial rubbish dump – what more could a young boy ask for!   There our skills for constructing little shacks, which boasted a fireplace and chimney, were honed in.   Unfortunately, the fire was more smoke than flame so they would rapidly become uninhabitable!

We moved house when I was age 10 to a coastal village.   This introduced me to the delights of sea fishing.   At the same time, it put paid to my future as a gang leader for there were only six boys of varying ages in the place!

The Kinahan’s do not seem to have had such recruiting problems!    I expect the addiction element in peddling drugs ensured a plentiful supply of recruits.   In the early days defending one’s turf became critical.   The enemy, the Hutch gang of drug pushers, had to be prevented from encroaching onto your patch.

Back in 2016, in a daring attack in the Regency Hotel in Dublin the Kinahan and their rival the Hutch gang came head to head.  There was a fatal shooting which resulted in heightened Garda activities.  The leaders then moved to Spain.   At that time the father of the Kinahan’s was living in Dubai where he had gone into the food import/export business.

It was not long before his sons Daniel and Chris joined him.  Some of the commodities they dealt in were dairy, beef and sugar.   They didn’t mention the heroin and hard drugs which were concealed in the shipments!

Their business has a wide spread dealing with such countries as Australia, New Zealand, China, Brazil and the US among others.   The volumes of cash they handle is substantial so the US sanctions imposed last week would make trading difficult.   The body blow however was when on Tuesday the United Arab Emirates announced the freezing of the gang’s assets.

In a move reminiscent of their ‘Wild West’ past the US have offered a €5,000,000 reward for information leading to the financial disruption or the arrest and successful conviction of each of the three Kinahan’s.

Barabbas was a gang leader in the Bible who led an insurrection and was sentenced to death at the time the same sentence had fallen on Jesus (St Luke Chapter 23 verse 25).  The name Barabbas means son of the father i.e. everyone.   Jesus’s death bought his freedom.   And not only his but ours (Galatians Chapter 3 verse 13).  St Paul writes He died “for us”.  Believe it and live not as a gang member but a disciple!

Broken World                   Word on the Week                     15^th April 2022.

There are so many signs of brokenness in the world that we need to go back the Genesis Chapters 1 and 2 for a refresher course.   We can so easily forget how very good it all was in the beginning (chapter 1 verse 31).   Adam had the helper made for him – perfect in every way with the creation ideal of faithfulness implicit in the covenant of marriage (Chapter 2 verses 23/24).

The one man plus one woman in a monogamous marriage was compromised by adultery so, on that ground and because of the hardness of the peoples’ hearts, Moses permitted divorce (St Matthew Chapter 19 verses 7 to 9).   God hates the practice of divorce as, among other things, it thwarts his plan for godly offspring (Malachi Chapter 2 verses 13 to 16).

Divorce, or the practice of singleness, goes against the divine ideal.   “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis Chapter 2 verse 18) so a covenant of companionship surrounded by self-giving love was created.   There are those who, like the Apostle Paul are called to be single but, that apart, the creation ideal applies.

Nowhere is the world’s brokenness better seen than in the individual person’s sexual orientation and gender dysphoria.    In the current culture where marriage is no longer automatically the custom many alternative lifestyles have competed to take its place.    There has been a rapid spread of these new ideologies.

Events in Sligo town this week resulted in a man being charged with double murder.   The deceased were on a gay dating site and the murderer came to their homes in the guise of a client.   The homophobic responsible was taken into custody.  

The dead men were members of the LGBTQI+ community   There was a spontaneous outburst of support for the bereaved men from the community which took the form of parades and went countrywide.  

Many years ago it was prostitutes who were the soft target in these hate crimes.   They were thought of as marginal and of little worth.   In fact, they occupied a similar place to the gays today. 

Someone else was killed this weekend.   He was the friend of the marginalised.   In fact, it was sinners He was attracted to – but not in a sexual way.   Rather he restored them to wholeness of life (St John Chapter 8 verse 11).   His death caused death to die.   It could never be the same again.   He arose from the grave and offers eternal life to the gay believer and me!  How about you? (St John Chapter 3 verses 15 to 17).

Making Prayer                           Word on the Week                    2^nd April 2022.

As we approach Easter it is common to be like Lydia, recorded Acts Chapter 16 verse 13, to make prayer.   The act requires faith that God exists (Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 6) and the belief that He will answer our prayer.

Many admit to a difficulty in that our words are addressed to an invisible God.  The God of the universe is not to be represented in wood or stone!   This is similar to the mystery posed by Israel.   When the surrounding nations looked at her they could see no representation of Jehovah.  They said Israel worshipped the ‘God of the seventh day rest’ as that was their distinguishing feature!  

These laws concerning idols and rest are written in the 2^nd and 4^th commandments (Exodus Chapter 20 verses 4 and 8).  

However, our God has revealed Himself most perfectly in Jesus (St John Chapter 14 verse 9).  We cannot see Jesus now nor can we see the Holy Spirit.  We are to use the ‘eyes’ of our understanding as the King James Version quaintly puts it until Jesus returns when we will exchange faith for sight (1 Corinthians Chapter 13 verse 12/13).  

Until then we are empowered to use His Name, not as a magic formula, but as our authority (St John Chapter 14 verses 13 to 14).   This is why prayers are frequently ended by evoking the name of Jesus. The discouraged Ephesians received this prayer from the imprisoned Apostle Paul who showed his concern for them.

 ^“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!   Amen’.

While we may not be able to pray like the Apostle we can always copy the Tax Collector whose prayer was heartfelt and, Jesus confirmed, was heard.  He said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (St Luke Chapter 18 verse 13).

2022 Census                   Word on the Week                     26^th March 2022.

It would have saved Joseph a lot of bother if there had been Census Enumerators back then.  All this hassle of having to go to his ancestral town, Bethlehem – the city of David.   He would have been proud of his royal line although now reduced to peasant stock and living in the backwater called Nazareth some 70 miles away (St Luke Chapter 2 verses 1 to 6).

By comparison we have it easy as the Census Enumerators who are about to descend on us next week are equipped with well-designed forms along with instructions written in 22 languages!    There has been little prior notice of the event which formerly occurred at 10 year intervals but now, such is the speed of migration trends, may come along every 5 years.

The Central Statistic Office which keeps tabs on us all shows 12.9% or 645,500 of the population to be Non-Irish.   This figure will soon increase when the influx of refugees from Ukraine, fleeing the fighting, come looking for asylum.

A new feature to the Census form is the provision to write a letter to be placed in a time capsule to be opened 100 years from now.   We are encouraged to write in our own language an account of something which would be of interest to these living in 100 years’ time. 

This invitation would seem to afford the Christian the opportunity to share the Gospel with particular relevance to the Spiritual needs of the days we live in.   Perhaps a couple of outlines would help us to put pen to paper.

First outline.   The Lord Jesus Christ, after he was crucified for our sins, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.   He was the first fruits of the resurrection to be followed by those who trusted in him.   The Apostle Paul wrote about this in his Bible letter 1Corinthians Chapter 15 verse 22/23.  If the Lord Jesus has not returned in 100 years that means that there are more people to be saved and that could include you who are reading this letter!   This Good News is as relevant today in 2022 as it will be in 2122.

Second outline.   People in 2022 get anxious and apprehensive of what might happen to them.   They wish to keep in with God and try by their behaviour to blot out their permissiveness and tolerance of what is wrong.   They do not have to live like that.   If their faith is already placed in the Lord Jesus Christ as their redeemer, then on their worse and most faithless day they can run to their heavenly Father.  He will not turn you away.  Your acceptance is not because you kept God’s law but that Jesus did.   Your faith is in Him (1 Corinthians Chapter 15 verses 3 to 8).

If Joseph had had to write a letter it would have been full of joy at the miraculous birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary and his later role as husband.

The Shamrock                 Word on the Week                     19^th March 2022.

It was found beside the cattle pen amongst the first flush of Spring grass.   A tiny shamrock which immediately brought to mind the Aer Lingus logo which graces the tail plane of their fleet of aircraft!  

Of course it was inspired by St Patrick’s adoption of the plant as a teaching aid.

When St Patrick arrived in Ireland in the year 431 there were many triple deities.   These were worshipped as one.   The formation of the shamrock with its three leaves growing from one stem gave a physical representation to the teaching of the Christian trinity.    Thus the difficult concept of three persons in one was taught.

This, in the words of J.I. Packer, the Trinity is a divine mystery without parallel!

There is no way the shamrock can show the personality of each member of the Trinity.   Nor is it possible to explain that each of the three persons is fully God and not one third of God.

We ourselves are people.   We ourselves are created in the image of God.   And we can understand people relating to each other.   We do it all the time!    Just as we relate to people in a personal way believers enter, by the Spirit, into a personal relationship of trust in the Father through the Son which is the hallmark of true Biblical faith (Romans Chapter 8 verses 15 to 17).

It is good to remember when Jesus was in trouble he used the personal word of ‘Abba’ which could translate as Daddy (St Mark Chapter 14 verse 36).   And when the Apostle Paul is describing life in the family of God he emphasises our relationship by his use of the word ‘Abba’.  We too call upon our heavenly Daddy in our prayers and in times of trouble.

Let us give the last word to the Saint – part of the hymn known as St Patrick’s

Breastplate.

I bind unto myself the Name,

          The strong Name of the Trinity;

By invocation of the same,

          The Three in One and One in Three.

Of whom all nature hath creation;

          Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

          Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Of Mice and Men             Word on the Week                     12^th March 2022.

March of many weathers has arrived.   The chilly blast from the East heralds her coming.    It causes man and beast to curl up in themselves and search around for shelter.   Only our three young Highland Cattle seen to be enjoying themselves when, immune to the chill wind, they escaped from their pen and enjoyed the freedom of the yard last night!

Weather forecasts have become increasingly accurate so we have no reason to doubt the current one with its promise of wet and wind.

The writer of Ecclesiastes has this to say: –

“When clouds are heavy, rain comes down.

Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
it stays where it falls.

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.

If they watch every cloud they will never harvest.

Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind

Or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,

So you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for

you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another – maybe both.”

Chapter 11 verses 2 to 6. (NLT)

The writer of Ecclesiastes recognises things which are beyond our control.  Life is unpredictable.   We are to work with what we have been given.

Our knowledge is limited we must admit.   How the spirit of life brings new life to the child in the womb goes beyond the chromosomes to the purpose of God.

There is the potential in each human birth of that life being transformed by an encounter with Jesus, the ultimate result being eternal life.

It was the purpose for which Jesus came to earth.   Jesus accomplished our redemption on the cross from the kingdom of Adam to the kingdom of Christ and the Apostle John summarised it for us in his Gospel Chapter 3 verse 16: –

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.