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Editorial:
"Know Thyself"
Alwyn Thomson
Comment:
Illiberal Democracy
Alwyn Thomson
From
the Director: Good News People?
David W Porter
Balancing
on the Edge
Tony Davidson
Grateful
to God
David McMillan
Space
& Freedom
David Hewitt
Imaginative
Engagement
Keith Getty
No
longer at ease with this dispensation?
Mike Wardlow
Living
with our deepest differences
Os Guinness
Deep
Questions
Johnston
McMaster
Steady
presence
Cecelia Clegg
No
longer lonely
Joseph Liechty
Something
to give
Ingri Sakaria
Bible
study series: Faith in the future
David
W Porter
Review:
The Elusive Quest, Reconciliation in N I by Norman Porter
Bill
Brown
Review:
Journeying Towards Reconciliation, A Song for Ireland by Ruth Patterson
Lynda
Gould
Review:
Islam in Conflict:Past Present and Future by Peter G Riddell &
Peter Cotterell
Alwyn
Thomson
Review:
The R Option - Building Relationships as a Better Way of Life by
Michael Schluter & David John Lee
Anna
Rankin
Review:
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
Glenn
Jordan
Summer
School Poetry
Various
For
God and His Glory Alone:
Study 6: Truth
REVIEW: Journeying
Towards Reconciliation, A Song for Ireland by Ruth Patterson
Reviewed by Lynda Gould
"This is not a theoretical account of why Christians should engage in reconciliation, but a guide as to how to go about it. Ruth Patterson blends Scripture with life, life with prayer, insight with inspiration and reflection with a call for action."
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
This book holds together the wisdom, inspiration, vision, biblical reflection and prayer that emanate from that special sanctuary that is Restoration Ministries. Ruth illustrates new ways to understand the complexity of reconciliation by telling the story of their journey as community, weaving together scripture and experience. The words written in this book have been lived out in the lives of the many people who have turned to Restoration Ministries in search of hope, justice and reconciliation. But it is not simply a diary recording their unique journey. Ruth argues that the wounds of division and prejudice can be healed and that trust and respect can be part of the new song of reconciliation we might sing.
Music is the metaphor for the journey of reconciliation. It begins with a reflection on Psalm 137 and the challenge to the Children of Israel to "sing a song to the Lord in a strange land". At this special point in our history Ruth asks, "How can we sing in and from a situation like ours?" From here there is time to hear the songs of sorrow and suffering that come from those who have experienced personal loss because of the "Troubles". The journey then takes another turn causing the reader to think about an inner, more personal journey of reconciliation and at this point the .road. felt a little steeper when I considered my own comfort with the way things are and my fear of learning a new "song".
As the chapters increase in number the book expands into the area that characterises Restoration Ministries and is the heart of reconciliation as presented in this book. It is the gift of welcome, of generosity, of hospitality and of the restoration of relationships. These seem to be the melody of the new song of hope that Ireland might sing. Finally Ruth throws out a challenge to the church, "What song have we to sing from Ireland for the rest of the world because of the way we ourselves have travelled?"
There is a deep vein of truth and wisdom embedded in what Ruth has offered us in this book. It is written as Ruth might say it and I could almost hear her pause to make sure that I had grasped all before moving on. Indeed, the "song" echoed long after I turned over the last page as I found myself re-reading the Scriptures and using the prayers at the end of each chapter for personal reflection.
This is a book of possibilities, written with the sceptics and weary in mind. These are not hollow words nor is the idea of a new song simply an aspiration. These words are rooted in real lives and experiences. We are invited to embrace a hope that is to be lived out through ordinary people taking small steps to change our world – this is what makes it inspirational, believable and doable!
LYNDA GOULD is Director of the Transforming Communities Team with ECONI.
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