Friday Thought with Father Chris Ferguson

Buoyed by enthusiasm, resulting from successfully slow cooking chicken and an assortment of vegetables, Fr Gerard was going country. I don’t mean music, as he already is a big Daniel O’Donnell and Dominic Kirwan fan. Although I lost all respect for my colleague at the mention of Hugo Duncan. Instead of music I’m referring to the world of horticulture. Fr Gerard after one Sunday dinner was so excited, that cooking dinner was no longer enough. Though and behold the Tyrone native was looking to produce dinner from seed to plate. I looked on with wonderment, if not bemusement as the Downton Abbey fan outlined big plans for the back garden in the Parochial house. By the time he finished his musings, the only detail lacking was a terraced garden with its own fountain and hedged maze.

If my colleague thought to mention garden gnomes, then I had a chance of a job, the only item I was missing was a fishing rod. For weeks I waited for work to begin in the back garden; three months later, and still, there were no reports of flower beds, vegetable patches nor the sight of multiple rows of potatoes, onions and carrots. There was one afternoon when the sun was shining, I did spot Fr Gerard out in the garden. I knew it was warm because the Tyrone priest was not wearing an overcoat, only a three-piece suit. At one point I thought his new agricultural enterprise had started when I saw Fr Gerard bend down to pick up a weed. However, it was a false dawn, what my colleague actually picked up was ten pence he had dropped, when checking his pocket containing his First Communion money. Speaking of going back in time I have fond memories of trying to help my grandfather plant cabbages. I was probably more of a hindrance but I was all excited by the planting, only to get fed up ten minutes later when nothing had grown yet.

Anyone with green fingers, an interest in farming or gardening, will explain the essential need for patience. We inhabit a world where we want and expect instant results.

We know little of the time, effort and struggles involved in producing food for our plates, or the everyday items, which populate our work and homes. One of the issues highlighted during the current pandemic is the fragile nature of our global supply lines. The essentials we have become dependent upon are the products of distant lands, peoples and cultures. In these transformed times, when many of these supply chains have been broken, we might even have learned to appreciate the nature of the world we live in. Many, myself included, might begin to learn the gift of patience, through having to contend with frustrations and disruptions, which have characterised recent months. No longer can we expect to get want we want, when we want it. Hopefully, we’ll gain a sense of perspective, regarding the impact of our needs upon the lives of others.

How do our incessant demands shape our lives and determine the lives and conditions of our global sisters and brothers? We all want to be comfortable, familiar with a certain lifestyle and a standard of living, but at want human cost? Can we alter our expectations to protect the planet and its peoples? Facing into an environmental crisis, we need to get in touch again with the cycles and the rhythms of the earth.

Unfortunately, its only when an event becomes local, when we’re confronted on a parochial or family basis, that we begin to appreciate the major issues affecting all life on this planet. The world we live in, the people we share this planet with, need to be treated equally with respect. Otherwise what we sow now will grow like a weed threatening the development of future generations. It’s our children and children’s children, who will reap what we sow. Seeing beyond the immediacy of our own lives and our own generation, can we embrace a Christlike perspective on the world, a world, Jesus came to save and redeem.