The Pointer Online only June 2020
Rector The Rt Rev Darren McCartney 028 4175 3497 suffragan1@gmail.com
The Magazine of the Church of Ireland Parishes of Clonallon & Warrenpoint with Kilbroney in the Diocese of Down and Dromore Contact the editor, Elizabeth, if you would like a pdf sent to your email. hannamanor15@btinternet.com
We have been so blessed these last few months when it has come to our weather and the ability to get out into the garden. Last month we attached a swing to a tree out in the front garden of the rectory and Liam has loved it. He spends many happy hours in the garden and we certainly have appreciated the weather.
an object and walk to it, when I get to the end and am turning the mower around, I can see the cut is straight. If I get distracted and look at something else, when I get to the end and turn the mower, I can see where I was not fully focused.
Recently I have been thinking of my grandfather who died back in 1997.
We can be distracted by life, family, making a living, our hobbies. I think what I am trying to say is that it is very easy to lose focus on Christ and His Way. Jesus, after all, is the author and perfecter of our faith. I would suggest that if we are genuinely interested in the Christian Faith, that this is the starting point and for that matter the finishing point – Christ Jesus. What is it he would ask of us? How did he live his life on earth amongst us? What did he say into the world of humanity and how might we learn from him?
I remember going to visit him; I would have called with him most days. As a young lad, I was eager to hear his stories, stories of what life used to be like. He had gone out to Canada around 1928 and he would have shown me some old photos. I remember him telling me about driving an old Ford car to Niagara Falls and seeing the photo from that trip. Interestingly, the Canadian House of Bishops would meet there at least once a year, in an old monastery, and I would often remember my grandfather and the photo. So much has changed since then, but there are a number of things that have stayed the same, the falls themselves and you can still see how flat the land is above the falls on the Canadian side. My grandfather came to mind earlier this morning when I was cutting the grass; I find myself thinking of him every time I cut the grass! My grandfather, David, was known to be a very good ploughman with a team of horses. He would tell me that the important thing when ploughing with horses, was to pick an object way off in the distance and keep your eye on it so as to keep the furrow straight. It is important not to look back, as you would then go off course, and the furrow would not be straight. You need to trust and look forward. Well, I have proved the same to myself when it comes to cutting the grass out on the front lawns in the rectory garden. If I keep my eyes fixed on
I am quite sure some of you have guessed where I might be going with this story. It is oh too easy to be distracted from what we are called to be and do, when it comes to following the Way of Christ. We get caught up with things in the news, we get caught up in ourselves and start looking inward, forgetting about others, forgetting about God’s love and his promise to never leave us.
So, I guess, if we are genuine, if we wish to focus on Christ Jesus, we need to take a good look at Holy Scripture, in particular the gospels and there we will meet Him. We ought also to see something of him in the life of those who profess him. I love the book of James, I love the quotation:
“… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:17 It is my prayer that others will in fact see something of Jesus Christ in our lives, through our words and through our actions!
Blessings +Darren