Photo was taken at Tooreenbawn, Millstreet, Co.Cork (Irl)

Despite recent cold weather and lots of rain the sycamore tree pushes forth new growth and leaves with a great energy.

Thought on Monday – April – 23/04/2012

‘The truth is sometimes our hearts are on fire and sometimes the flame is nearly extinguished. Faith invites us to stay in the struggle, not deny that it exists.’ ~Terri Mifek

When it comes to home decorating, there is always a choice whether to use wallpaper or simply paint directly. An even more difficult choice is if an existing room has wallpaper and you want to paint it. Do you remove the wallpaper or simply paint over it. Removing wallpaper can be difficult and messy. But painting directly onto wallpaper has its problems too. Sometimes because of too much moisture underneath, the paint can crack over time and show up what you were trying to hide underneath. It often happens to us in our spiritual lives too. We often try and hide what’s underneath but despite our best efforts we can’t hide everything and the cracks begin to show. This is especially true when it comes to personal worries, personal stress related events, trying to make ends meet financially, grief, an illness and many other things that can create cracks. We often let on that everything is ok until the cracks begin to show. The key message is that it’s ok to have cracks. Every single person has them without exception. We are not meant for isolation and it is always good to share the stuff that gets us down. Spiritually God’s light and hope can penetrate every single crack. Faith invites us to stay in there no matter how many cracks. It is at the heart of the Easter message.