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Dear Friends
At the end of March I
attended the official ‘reopening’ (if that is what you call it) of
Malachy’s Wall.
The wall underwent some
major renovation last autumn that has left it secure and
attractively available to succeeding generations and we are deeply
indebted to the Northern Ireland Environmental Agency and to
North Down Borough Council for generously sponsoring the
work.
I imagine that there will be some, however, that will look at it and
wonder what we are getting so excited about and even question the
value of preserving it at all. At the opening I was telling the
story of a man who returned to his hometown after many years away.
He found it completely changed and so unrecognisable that it
disoriented him. Even his old school was rebuilt, except for the
wall that ran around it, and the crack in the wall that he had run
his finger along as a child on his way to and from school.
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He said, as he traced his
finger along the crack once again, it was like putting a ‘needle in the
groove of a record’ as the memories and experiences of his early years
flooded back and in the midst of so much change he felt secure.
I hope that Malachy’s Wall
will give the whole of Bangor something of a sense of where it has come
from. So much has changed in the town, making it almost unrecognisable;
people’s experience of life is one of constant change, which can be
bewildering and frightening. May the wall stand as a symbol of the
unchanging presence of God, who offers himself as a bearing for our
lives, giving us purpose and direction.
The same illustration might
apply to Holy Week. The story of Christ’s passion is no new
thing, and many in the society in which we live will wonder about its
relevance. But, during this week, as we trace our finger along the
familiar grooves of the record of the Gospels we will find the living
Lord present through his Spirit, offering us hope and direction for the
future.
With
best wishes
Ronnie
Nesbitt
Rector of Bangor Abbey |
