sligo for all-ireland? - Comhaltas Archive

onds, the light-bringer who dissipatesthe darkness. This is the theme of thesilent harp, or as Job says: "My harp istuned to funeral wails, my flute to thevoice of mourners" .In all the wealth of metaphor inScripture where life on this earth is concerned- it is variously described as aflower, a dream, a vanity or even as amilitary service - two aspects of humanexistence are stressed in very markedfashion. The first is its depen.dence on ahigher power, and the second is thetotal and unshakeable confidence thatsuch a dependence entails. God is primarilylord, ruler, dominus of the humanrace. He is Ri an Domhnaigh in theIrish phrase. He is also Saviour,Slanuighthe6ir, Healer and Restorer.Our concepts of God as Ruler, as the infinite, eternal, unfathomable, spiritual,personal Truth are hazy, clumsy, moredark than light. We are like blindpeople trying to describe light andcolour, or like deaf people trying to describemusic - that is, if we rely totallyon our reason. But the heart is ourguide in the darkness. It is morecapable of leading the soul by theinstinct of love, towards God than is ourreason .. It is true that we cannot see Hiscountenance, but we can be aware ofHis presence, because it is only there wefind total tranquility. God is theAlmighty Ruler, to whom all things andall men pay homage, if only because allhuman beings and things are mortal, andonly God remains ever young and everlasting.Everything earthly is perishable.Babylon has fallen, the fertile granaryof the Roman Empire is now a barrendesert, with its people dying of starvation.The earth itself is gradually windingdown - everything upon it is destinedto decay. Iron rusts, graniteweathers into powder, the mighty oakrots and falls, beauty ends in wrinkledtoothless ·old age, intelligence ends insenility .... Nothing is comparable to theworship of our Infinite Lord, Masterand Ruler. The whole purpose of ourcreation", in the Master's plan, is our loveand praise of Him at the time of ourflowering and our splendour, and notless so "when our blossom is shed, ourpower faded, and we the mere husks ofwhat we were . But then human, transitoryrejoicing is replaced by profoundestadoration; an adoration so perpetualthat it is eternal. That is God's plan forus. We don't always live up to it - wedon't follow the blue-print. Sometimes,because of sheer obstinacy we don'tknow how to read it.God is our guide through a labyrinthof contradictions. The thread thatguides us through the maze of life inHis holy will, and if we drop that threadwe lose all sense of direction. Wecannot cope with the struggles andsufferings of daily living. We cannotbring order or harmony into the chaoswhich we call human life . It is theorganising activity of the Divine Will ofour Ruler and Lord which alone cansave us. Our strings must be properlytuned, our adherence to the rules ofcomposition strict, if we are to produceharmony and make music for the Lordout of our lives. We need God to bringlight out of darkness, we need to keepon learning - making music not justplaying scales. And for each one, as foreach string, there is a different pitch.For one it is health, for another sickness;for one riches, for anotherpoverty ; a short but high-pitched careerfor some, for others the long boringdrone of low-profile renunciation andsacrifice for others. We are members ofthe orchestra - only God the conductorknows the whole score. As St. Paulsays: "Think of a musical instrument, aflute or a harp. if one note on it cannotbe distinguished from another, how canyou tell what tune is being played?"The harp has always been held inhonour in Ireland - it is ournational symbol. One of themost common motifs in Irishilluminative art, in stone sculpture andin meta1craft is that of the Psalmist andhis harp. We find it, time and timeagain, in our illuminated manuscripts,on our High Crosses in Clonmacnois,Monasterboice and elsewhere, on suchshrines as the Breac Maodh6ig and theShrine of St. Molaise. We shouldhonour that tradition by listening to thestill-repeated prophecy that come withthe harp, the same message that St.John saw in the Book of Revelations."I seemed to see a glass lake suffusedwith fire and standing by the lake ofglass, those who had fought against thebeast and won, and against his statueand the number which is his name.They all had harps from God, and theywere singing the hymn of Moses, the servantof God, and of the Lamb :-"How great and wonderful are all yourworksLord God AlmightyJust and true are all your waysKing of nationsWho would not revere and praise yourname, 0 Lord,You alone are holyAnd all the pagans will Clf--le and adoreyouFor the many acts of justice you haveshown".9