Photo was taken yesterday at Col√°iste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co.Cork (Irl)

These apple blossoms are just about to come into full bloom and colour. Timing can often make a big difference especially if there is a risk of a spring frost.

Thought on Wednesday – April – 25/04/2012

Life for many is a difficult or impossible riddle, a tangled web of unanswered questions. Inevitably people will ask questions, many, many questions. Answers need to be attempted. Maps are needed to give us an understanding of who we are, why we are here and what the way forward consists of.’ ~Flan Lynch

Many of us can relate to having lots of questions and very few answers. We can relate to the complexities of life and how many things are often outside our control. We can relate to feeling at a loss spiritually as to why God isn’t doing more. If God is all about love, why do so many bad things seem to be happening? A simple almost clinical answer is that God made us free, free to choose good or evil, free to do what we want or go where we want. God cannot intervene directly because we are free. There have been volumes of books written about this question and even these have more questions than answers. There is one thing we can say with absolute certainty, God may have made us free but God is totally on our side. The bible is a collection of many stories written about how God has journeyed with people in times of great joy but also in times of great distress. These stories continue to be written today, your story, my story, our story, their story, all our stories. It is some collection. The variety is incredible and the humanity in all of them makes them special and at times sacred. In every story God is present somewhere. While we may not have all the answers, there is great comfort in knowing we are not on our own.