leading

I love spending time going through News websites. I have been known to be become so involved that the battery on my phone ran out mid read! I begin by scanning the main headlines, many of which I have picked up through radio or TV but  I find myself captivated by smaller more obscure stories, many of  full of human interest. They are a bit like grace notes to the main News agenda, but are deserving of consideration.
Recently I have been enthralled by the fact that the drought being experienced throughout the world, has yielded many hidden archaeological treasures – some of which have emerged for the first time. For example In Italy the remains of a first century CE bridge crossing the Tiber can now be seen and examined for the first time by archaeologists. A Spanish Stonehenge, about 6 thousand years old, has appeared from under the sea for only the 4th time since its discovery in 1926.  While in Texas, the footprints of a 5 metre tall dinosaur weighing 7 tons have appeared in a river bed. They are over 113 million years old. We can now literally walk in the footprints of the dinosaurs!
I remember my first time in Jerusalem, going down 4 metres below street level to the original stone slabs that made up the Herodian street at the time of Jesus. It was amazing to me that this lay hidden under the bustling city passages from where I had begun my descent. I only found it because I went looking.
History is a difficult subject for many - as the past, for them, holds bad memories. They would prefer not to go looking. Anniversaries evoke feelings many wish to forget. It could be the recall of a family tragedy, a life changing accident, a flashback to an experience of terror. This place I call home holds many such bad memories for thousands of people.
On this day, 31 August, between 1973 and 1993, 13 people lost their lives in the period we euphemistically call “the troubles”. History records the stark facts, it cannot relate the enduring pain and suffering. Today brings those bad memories to the fore again.
We can offer some small support on these days by sending a message or making a phone call to the one remembering – just to say we haven’t forgotten and that they are being held up in prayer.
It is vital we talk about what we have done to one another over the past decades to ensure that the sins of the past are not repeated. It is equally important that we do not get stuck in the past by engaging in “what-aboutery” .
We cannot change the past but we can be creators and not consumers of the history yet to be written.

So let’s make footprints that others would like to follow as together we create a new, better shared future for all.