The Parishes of Bantry Bay

 I have always been fascinated by ‘the wonders of the ancient world’. It’s is hard to imagine how our ancestors felt about these wonderful constructions rising out of the ground around them. I suppose we have some idea when we look at the ‘wonders of the modern world’ like the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome and the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio to name four of them. They are truly spectacular. The only ancient ‘wonder’ still in existence is the great pyramid at Giza. The one I would have loved to have seen was the great lighthouse at Alexandria. Although it was not the first lighthouse in the world it was the largest and immediately became the template for every other lighthouse. It stood higher than a football pitch and it’s light could be seen from 100 miles away! 

The Jewish festival of Sukkot (booths) is also called the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot was the first place where the Children of Israel made their camp after leaving Egypt. Once the festival was inaugurated the faithful made their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to give thanks for the ‘ingathering’ of the harvest and to give thanks for their deliverance from Egypt. As a symbol of remembrance of how they lived and dwelt in the wilderness the pilgrims would build booths or rudimentary huts in Jerusalem. It was a joyful, colourful occasion with the booths made of whatever cloths the pilgrims had brought. Part of this great festival was a ceremony called the Illumination of the Temple. This involved the ritual lighting of four huge menorah (7 branch candelabras) which were about 75 feet high. They were lit to remind the people how God guided them in the wilderness by fire and cloud. It is said that the light was so brilliant that it illuminated the whole city. 

When Jesus told his disciples they were the ‘light of the world’ He was telling them to be like those great menorahs - to let their lives illuminate the whole world. To be beacon and a guiding light for others. Equally, when a light is hidden it is no use, so also salt is no use if it loses it’s saltiness. Salt was and is a valuable commodity -  used to enhance flavour and to preserve but it is not the meal itself. In both cases the light and the salt are not the focus of the attention but rather they help with the task at hand, the task at hand being to live life worthy of God. 

There is the story of the child on a swing being pushed by a parent. Looking at the sky and talking about the clouds and the sun the  parent says that earth revolves around the sun in one year. The child exclaimed ‘I thought the earth revolved around me!’. There is a great risk in modern society of people either assuming or acting as if they are the only character of importance in the drama that is daily living. Everyone else becomes a ‘bit player’ of no consequence. 

The drama in which we are are called to find our role is God’s drama. Discipleship means that we are called to illuminate the way for each other and to be ‘the salt of the earth’ for each other so the all may prosper and flourish. 

Paul