| Lent should be marked
as a period for quiet reflection. Below, the editor of The JT shares his thoughts on the
little things that mean so much in life. "Hello readers.
It's fitting at the time of year when we reflect on Our Lord’s personal sacrifice
that we pause and give thanks for those little things that bring us pleasure in life.
I can still remember the excitement of receiving my own first bicycle as a Xmas gift.
Indeed, if now I close my eyes very tight I can still bring back to mind the image of the
lights on our Xmas tree reflected in the bright new chrome handlebars.
And then of course, the joys of a young life spent close to nature. The impossibly long
summer afternoons of childhood memory spent playing Cowboys and Indians amongst the
heather and bracken before a parched homecoming to Mum, tea and the calming embrace of
cool sheets on a warm night.
And the clock ticks on and I look down on the face of my new first born, marvelling at
her perfection and for a moment, in looking at |
my tired partner,
exhausted and yet impossibly fulfilled, I experience a profound sense of connection with
her, my daughter, and of generations passed and those yet unborn. And now, in my later
years, I feel that sense of connection more, not less. Of a autumn night, the quiet
evening air seasoned with the smoke of the day’s burned leaves, I'll sometimes stand
at our open backdoor, marvelling at the universe above me and taking comfort in knowing
that I share this small lump of warm rock with others who likewise take pleasure in the
small things in life.
Indeed, I was reminded of that fact just this weekend when Ireland humped England at
Twickenham and I was privileged, as the final whistle went, to enjoy what will become to
be marked as The Look On Woodward’s Face moment.
His eminently slappable face crumbling with disappointment is an image that will live
happily in my mind forever. And indeed for generations to come, yet unborn, because I
taped it..." |
