It is an excerpt from the March 5, 1776 issue of the Londonderry Journal, the newspaper of the time in what is now Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Several things are interesting about it.

First is the extraordinary age of the deceased. It is amazing that anyone lived that long in those times.

Second was his service record. It’s not often you find a reference to military service that includes the Battle of Boyne.

For those of you not steeped in Irish history, the 1690 Battle of Boyne was one of, if not the singular decisive moment of modern Irish history. It was when the forces of William of Orange, the Protestant, defeated the forces of James, the Catholic. It cemented England’s rule over the whole of Ireland which lasted for a further 232 years until predominantly Catholic Ireland won its independence as the Irish Free State in 1922 and the predominantly Protestant counties in the north of Ireland subsequently seceded to form what we now know as Northern Ireland.

The modern day reminder of the Battle of Boyne comes on July 12, when the Orange Order marches triumphantly through the streets celebrating the Protestant victory. Their route through Catholic neighborhoods was an annual flashpoint during “the troubles,” Ireland’s modern day insurrection designed to unite all of Ireland. That era, thankfully, has been superseded by the current peace agreements and integrated Protestant/Catholic government in Northern Ireland.

The ability of the Protestants and Catholics of Ireland to find a peaceful resolution after centuries of atrocity filled conflict gives hope for similar solutions to similar sectarian battles raging elsewhere.

It took some time to get our tree this year. We had a couple of abortive attempts, but one or the other of us was just not in the mood.

Finally, a few weeks ago, we made the trek down to Home Depot and almost immediately found a beautiful Noble Fir. While the other shoppers in line were tense and edgy, repeatedly looking at their watches and checking their list of things yet to do and gifts yet to purchase, the two workers cutting the trees to size were cheerful and full of holiday spirit.

The Hispanic cutter, with little but his happy eyes and beaming smile showing through the sawdust, said a heartfelt “Merry Christmas” as he handed our tree to us. It was a good omen.

Steph had an idea for the tree. A simple design of lights, single color balls and ornaments made from things we’d collected in our exploration of the world this year. It was brilliant.

The lights went on quickly, followed by a background of gold balls. Next came the ornaments, carefully wrapped in tissue and carried back from the far corners of the world.

As I placed each ornament onto the canvas of fir, light and reflective gold, I was swept back to the places we’d been, the experiences we’d had, the adventures we’d survived, the people we’d met and in the spirit of this season, the many times we’d been touched by seekers of God.

For the rest of the story see the PDF document at:

http://www.hackneys.com/travel/seekers-12.pdf