Events are moving too rapidly to allow separate
postings for each event. There are two
exciting bits of news that will be given at the end of this posting and because
of them, one an event and the other a change in lifestyle, two potential
postings need to be consolidated into one.
First we will complete our Irish tour by visiting the Irish countryside,
a sheep farm, and the Cliffs of Mohr.
Then we fly to England, rent a car, explore south Wales, London and
attend a study group meeting west of London.
And by the way we also stand on the very spot where the rule of law
began exactly 800 years ago. With such
ambitious goals we had better get started!
I feel that the changes that are entering into my life
are in harmony with God’s Will, and so the theme of the quotations in this
posting is “Accepting God’s Will.”
Jesus:
“When God’s will is your law, you are
noble slave subjects; but when you believe in this new gospel of divine
sonship, my Father’s will becomes your will, and you are elevated to the high
position of the free children of God, liberated sons of the kingdom.” The Urantia Book (1588.5)
Old Stone Wall
We rode between our various stops throughout the Irish
countryside in a fancy bus with our local guide Patrick giving us the stories
and history of the regions we were passing through. He claimed this wall was at least a thousand
years old and who are we to say otherwise?
It is interesting that the stones in this one are mostly flat and
vertical. It is difficult to see in this
photo, but the ground behind this wall is higher than that in front, so the
flat stones equalize the pressure on the wall.
Besides, there is something charming about old walls with plants growing
out of them.
Irish Countryside
This view
of the Irish countryside is typical. The
entire landscape is covered with these regular plots outlined by trees and
shrubs. The white spots in the center
are sheep while the dark spots on the left side are round bales of hay that are
bagged according to European Union regulations.
At one point our bus halted near a highlands region that overlooked an
interesting bay. We were informed that
the movie “The Quiet Man” with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara was filmed in that
spot.
Next was a
visit to a Sheep Farm, complete with a demonstration of a sheep dog in action,
sheep shearing, a visit to a thatched roof cottage and a hearty lunch. There were also some magnificent Irish Grey
horses that came up close to us for attention.
The dog separated one sheep with few commands from the trainer and
herded it into the holding pen where the trainer picked it up and expertly
sheared it. This sheep was only a year
old and this was its first shearing but it tolerated the whole process quite
well.
The road
out of the farm was only one lane and another bus had to back out so we could
leave since we were on the road first.
Many of the roads in Ireland are very narrow, not made for large buses
and such.
Cliffs of Mohr
The Cliffs of Mohr are a distinctive formation on the
Atlantic coast of County Clare. At their
highest point they are 700 feet high. As
we walked along the nearby cliffs it appeared that there is no guardrail along
the cliff edge on the far side. Look
closely and people can be seen on the path on the far side and there seems to
be no safety rail. After exploring along
the clifftop we rode to the base of the cliffs for a boat ride offshore amongst
countless diving sea birds. There was
one towering rock just offshore that was covered with birds. This was an impressive sight to behold and if
I am in your area I would be glad to show more of the photos.
There were many other sights worthy of mention, but we
must move on to the other part of our journey to lands across the pond.
Two Guards at Windsor
Palace
We flew from Dublin to London, rented a car and drove
to Reading, which is a bit west of London.
We stayed there a couple of days to recuperate a bit and while there we
took a train to Windsor to see the palace.
I suspect the guards in their bearskin hats are used to tourists hamming
it up around them. The tour of the
castle was a bit overwhelming. It was
impossible for us to imagine anybody living surrounded by such opulence
including vast collections of weapons, suits of armor and impressive works of
art. Thus the kings of Europe have lived
for hundreds of years.
Driving on the wrong side of the road was a bit scary;
Betty Lou did the driving while I nervously clung to the arm rest. Not once did she run into anything nor did I
faint. The one thing that got us through
the ordeal unscathed was that the car had GPS, who we called Grace. Even then we twice wound up in the parking
lot of the same sports complex.
Glass Dome at Welch
Botanical Gardens
We stayed a few days near Swansea, which is on the
south coast of Wales. One day we drove
west to the Welch National Botanical Gardens.
It happened to be Father’s Day and I was let in for free. The sight was impressive with all kinds of
plants imaginable. The greenhouse shown
here is the largest single span glass structure in the world. Inside, amongst the trees and plants an
orchestra was playing. There was also a
display of British Roadster autos in the parking lot.
Another day we took the bus to The Mumbles, which is a
small mostly tourist town at the end of Swansea Bay. While there we explored Oystermouth Castle,
walked along the shore and had lunch at a restaurant on the boardwalk. This was quite an adventure and we had an
effortless excursion due to the efficient bus system.
Red Damselfly in Wales
When we left Swansea we tried to find some waterfalls
that we had noted on the map, but somehow we missed them. Instead we found a lovely walking trail that
went along a small stream, we returned by a higher path through the woods. It was great to be able to walk at our own
pace and enjoy the sights. There were
several Damselflies along the stream. I
also got a good photo of a pair of mating Blue Damselflies.
Our next stay was at a quaint Bed and Breakfast in
south Wales. While there we had supper
at a nearby pub in Maudlam called “Angel Inn.”
From there we drove to Caerphilly, which is north of Cardif, to visit
Gary and Liz. Liz took us on a walking
tour around the castle there which has a tower that leans more than the one in
Pisa. Later Gary rode with us to Reading
for the study group meeting.
Urantia Study Group in
Reading, Great Britain
The Urantia study group was at Chris and Tina’s house
in Reading and was well attended. It was
a good meeting and was conducted much the same as others I have attended over here.
There was one notable difference
however, midway through the meeting the reading stopped and snacks were brought
out, afternoon tea no less.
From
Reading we drove to Heathrow, said goodbye to Grace and thankfully turned our
car in without incident. For our last
days in England I chose a hotel on the River Thames; after making the
reservations I was looking at the hotel web site and learned that a twenty
minute walk away is the very spot where the Magna Carta was signed exactly 800
years ago. We stood on the very place
within a week of the exact anniversary.
Where the Rule of Law
Began
Both of us had picked up a nasty British virus so we
were not eager to play tourist in London.
What we did was to take a train into the city, get on a double decker
bus and take the full ride, about two and a half hours. We could have gotten off to visit various
places of interest, but we were not so inclined. Nonetheless it is an efficient way to see the
city and many of its sights.
Now for the news.
First Betty Lou and I will be attending the Parliament of the World’s
Religions in Salt Lake City later this month along with other UAI brothers and
sisters. There will be thousands of
people of faith from all over the world in attendance. The list of speakers includes Dr. Jane
Goodall, many Nobel Prize winners and other notables of faith. The Dali Lama was to be the main speaker but
he had to cancel. The second bit of news
is that Betty Lou and I are looking to purchase a house in the Asheville, North
Carolina area. Just today we learned
that the seller has accepted our offer and the process begins. We plan to continue to visit our fellow
Urantians and other places of interest.
The specifics are still uncertain but we do plan to travel somewhat once
we get properly settled in.
The doing of the will of God is
nothing more or less than an exhibition of creature willingness to share the
inner life with God — with the very God who has made such a creature life of
inner meaning-value possible. Sharing is
Godlike — divine. God shares all with the Eternal Son and the Infinite Spirit,
while they, in turn, share all things with the divine Sons and spirit Daughters
of the universes. The
Urantia Book (1221.2)
All photos are by
Doug Cable
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