Monday, November 18, 2002
It's a drizzly day in Ballycastle
posted by John Davies at 2:26 PM
It's a drizzly day in Ballycastle
The mist's rolling in from the sea
The Mull of Kintyre's only twelve miles away
That's why that song's following me
(alternative version:)
It's a drizzly day in Ballycastle
I've walked into town by the sea
Watching some birds (of the feathery kind)
Dipping, diving for fish happily
Corrymeela offers stark contrasts. One day it's frantic activity with a group of youngsters, the next it's like today - quiet and full of time to reflect, reconsider. Kids visiting here are demanding from breakfast till the wee small hours, such as those we had from a Belfast cross-community project this weekend, who were frenetic on Friday, and by Sunday had settled well into mere manic levels of activeness. Seriously, though, it was good to see, as it always is with such youngsters, they moved, grew, together through the weekend. Above the door at the centre is a sign which says, 'Corrymeela begins when you leave'. My only doubt about such a group is whether they will continue to meet, across peace-lines in North Belfast, or whether their goodwill will evaporate once the project ends. The hope is, something will stick.
Eleven days to go. I hope to do some more work with groups, revisit Belfast for a day or two, and next weekend take part as a delegate in the weekend on Ecumenical Spirituality which also has a few friends from the Iona Community involved. And someone here wants me to have a natter with them about the Corrymeela Community website which they reckon needs a good going-over. Does high-tech suit the nature of the Community? Maybe not, but it might help. After all, as Frank and Mike said the other day, the Centre works like a duck - all calm on the surface, paddling frantically underneath. While I relax here in Ballycastle Library the young volunteers are on probably their fourth demanding meeting of the day.
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john davies
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