AWKWARD DANCE OF PEACE
23/03/2017
My thoughts are in Derry/Londonderry this afternoon, for the funeral of Martin McGuinness. For those surprised at that, I am surprised too, BUT peacemaking which I am absolutely committed to, as a call from Jesus to do so and as an attempt to give my children a better future, leads you into strange and often difficult relationships and indeed friendships.
AWKWARD DANCE OF PEACE
Between the bloody dark
And grace’s redeeming light
Between the hate riled gloom
And the rays of forgiveness, bright
Friendships can be messy.
Between the blowing up
And the pieces fixed on landing
Between the bleak black funerals
And the bridegroom standing
Friendships can be messy.
This is an awkward dance
With partners disconcerting
The tender tentative steps
With all our wounds still hurting
Take two up and one back
Move close to hold the seams
Swirl in the suspicious space
To soar in audacious dreams.
Thanks, Steve. Love your piece. A friend of many years who was a prominent leader in Loyalist Paramilitary circles phoned me this morning to say that he watched Martin's funeral in Derry yesterday unfold with civic, political, Christian Church leaders and diplomats joining the tens of thousands at the Long Tower Church. 'An act of serious decommissioning took place in Derry yesterday', he said. 'The political, religious and cultural weapons that have dominated our minds and hearts for centuries were visibly destroyed in the warmth, generosity and inclusiveness of the occasion. Now is the time to bond together, rise above the divisions that have marred our diversity and push for a future together that has space for us all to form deep and lasting friendships that can transform our country.' My loyalist friend put into words my own scrambled thoughts of have been caught up in it all yesterday in the company of Dr John Dunlop. Your all-too-true poem made me want to share the experience with you. Shalom, Ken
Posted by: Ken Newell | 24/03/2017 at 12:33 PM