After the success that was Thursday, I was extremely optimistic about yesterday's potential. We had gotten a tip from a friend at the Culturlann that we should check out the walking politcal tour of West Belfast, and so we rose bright and early, got a day pass for the bus, and made our way to the circle she had drawn for us on the map.
It was mostly downhill from there. Metaphorically. The actual tour was mostly uphill from there.
It's really easy to get pessimistic about yesterday, but we did get a lot of information. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how applicable most of it is to our goal. The tour was given by a former political prisoner of what's called "the troubles." The long and short of it is that after Ireland gained it's independence from the United Kingdom, six counties in the North remained under British control. This is why Northern Ireland is still part of the UK. Many of the indigenous Irish people living in Northern Ireland began to feel oppressed, having to learn British history and without access to their own culture or language. They felt persecuted by the British loyalists, and so conflict between the two groups escalated throughout the 60's and 70's. Many were killed or imprisoned. It was during this time that the Irish language began to thrive as Irish nationalists used the language to communicate secretly both in the open and in prison.
Today the British government has allowed Irish speakers their place in the UK, but there still exists great tension between the primarily Protestant British loyalists and largely Catholic Irish natives. And the language is caught up intimately in all of this, so, by association, it is of great interest to us.
Even though we learned all of this, I felt like it wasn't enough. We were completely worn out after a day of walking, so we went immediately back to the hostel and didn't venture out again as I attempted to get as much of the massive history lesson we had received typed and logged. We had planned to do so much more. And, so I focused less on what we had accomplished for the day, and more on things we hadn't. And the fact that we only have a week and a half to get it all done.
But, in the time that's passed since I originally set out to write this blog early this morning, we've transitioned from our first hostel to a new one in the city, rested, discovered that there was no free wifi anywhere near our new hostel, and hunted down the nearest coffee shop to log on for a while. And I've also experienced a shift in perspective.
I shouldn't be frustrated or upset or pessimistic because my plans failed again. See how easy it was for me to forget? We learned a lot yesterday. But more than that, what reason have we to be pessimistic? We're here because we were brought here for a purpose. And I must trust that the journey hasn't been pointless.
I realize now that I got bogged down in the details. I wasn't meeting some quota I had set for myself. I wasn't where I wanted to be. But I'm still right where God wants me. He's still in control. There's hope for the rest of the trip. The task is daunting only when I lose perspective. What could be daunting for the Lord? It's time we refocused on Him, and He'll take care of our focus while we're here.
- Sam R. Franklin
Day 7 in Belfast
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