Here is a piece written by a Gateway Member for you to enjoy!
Truth
When I was a boy my Irish teacher told me a story about how
he used to fetch water from the local well for an elderly neighbour when he was
a boy. As a reward for his kindness, she made him a cup of hot sweet tea.
Now in
this ancient cottage with its open hearth and oil lamps there was a deficit of
drinking vessels i.e.. one delph mug,cracked and chipped, and a couple of
jam jars. On account of Seamus being "a very good boy" Bridie
insisted that Seamus should have only the best, and offered him her mug. Not
wanting to offend his hostess Seamus graciously accepted the offer. Bridie herself
was a also a kind and generous person.
Unfortunately poor Bridie, in her
twilight years, was suffering ill health as was evidenced by numerous cold
sores around her toothless grin. Seamus' mind scrambled for a resolution
that would solve this diplomatic conundrum. In a eureka moment Seamus lifted
the mug with his left hand thereby reducing the risk of acquiring an
infection. Seamus sat on the milking stool on one side of the hearth while
Bridie sat on the other side on the only four legged seat in the cottage. Bridie's
happiness at being able to repay Seamus' kindness was elevated to elation
when she discovered another trait.
Apart from this kind heart that they shared, as
she pointed with her gnarled arthritic index finger of her left hand at the mug
and said the words that were to be the straw that was to break the camel's back
as Seamus, with great effort, had been suppressing the urge to purge. "I see
Seamusine like meself you're a cithog (irish word for left handed or awkward )
My Buddist
friends say "politicans have the hardest job in the world". I am sure
like myself you are finding this statement incredible and not evidence based (as
they say these days mainly due to the absence of blind faith. Ah! God be with
the days!). Until they explained to me that if politicans told the truth they
would never get elected, so it becomes a necessary evil in order to get elected
and go on to serve the public.
This privilege and honour of service I
regard as the primary motivating factor of people who enter politics, and not as
some cynics would have you believe a desire to feather their own nest and that
of their friends (I will accept that there is a good deal of unskilled thinking
involved as is evident in some of their policies but that's for another day - watch this space)
-Eucabious Mcgrail
