As a clergywoman – even one who no longer ministers in a parish – my life is interwoven with symbols and symbolism…with those things that literally ‘bind together’ (sym-bolen, to throw together.) Vestments are symbols; paraments are symbols; chalices and patens and crosses are symbols. The language of rites and sacraments is metaphor (which is …
On 30 January 1816, the military transport ship HMS Seahorse went aground off Brownstown Head in Tramore and sank. Of the 402 people on board, 376 drowned. The ship was carrying men returning from the Napoleonic Wars. It was also carrying wives and children who had ‘followed the drum’ during the military campaigns that eventually …
Our sabbatical is beginning with three short stays in England as we head to Ireland for our first house exchange. We started with eight days in London at a friend’s flat. We are currently partway through seven days with friends in southwest England, and on Saturday we leave for a week traveling across the south …
Beltane is the season in which the Christian feast of Pentecost falls — a feast filled with tempestuous wind and sparkling fire. The Christian church inherited Pentecost (which simply means “the 50th day” ) from Judaism, where the 50th day after Passover is now more commonly called Shavu’ot (or the Feast of Weeks). In Judaism, …