Good news for the countryside: Things that are important

​I write on my daughter’s 14th birthday. It’s a school day, so cards opened and presents unwrapped quickly while getting ready, all accompanied by laughter, joy at what was asked for, and surprise for what wasn’t – a lovely start to a special day.

As any parent knows, as children grow, they stay up later, with tiredness often a distant dream. But that wasn’t always the case. Many a Saturday, or Sunday afternoon - when sleep was proving difficult – I would put her in the rear car seat and head for the twisty, narrow roads, that criss-cross the Holywood Hills. Usually, the sound of success – sleepy silence – could be heard from the back, as the gentle motion of the car worked its magic.

Depending on the time that I reached a certain point in our journey, I’d have to stop, as a small herd of cows were leaving one field, walking the few hundred metres down the muddied lane, then turning into the farm yard and on to the milking shed. It was second nature to them. While there were two men at either end of this bovine column directing operations, I am sure the cows were quite capable of dandering on to be milked by themselves. Out of one gate and through the next.

There are many important things at the heart of farming, like managing livestock on a public highway! Generally speaking though, farmers also need good growing conditions, quality livestock, good seed, raw materials and farm gate prices, to make a farm work – and much more besides.

Each is important, along with having the requisite skills and knowledge that comes through learning and education, knowing the livestock and the land that’s so often been farmed for generations. Wooden, or galvanised steel, and just as important, is the humble gate - protection for the public and security for livestock, keeping one out and the other in.

The start of a journey often begins with the opening of a gate, as you make your way along your chosen route. And there are usually many different ways of getting to the same destination. Coming into a relationship with the God, who loves and created us in His own image, is not the same, however, as all ways do not lead to Him.

In John 14:6-7, Jesus tells us, “‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well…’” To know God is to know his Son, Jesus, and to know the salvation and eternal life that He alone offers, we need to believe who Jesus says He is, and ask Him to forgive our sin, which has separated us from our Heavenly Father.

Jesus also tells us that we can only “‘Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction [Hell in some translations], and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it’” (Matthew 7:13-14.)

As we start to savour the newness of spring, having opened Lent’s gate on the 40-day journey to Easter, it’s the perfect time to begin to reflect on what Jesus did for all of us on the Cross, making that unique way to His Father. Please don’t miss the narrow gate – for it is of eternal importance.

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Before coming to live in Belfast nearly 40 years ago, Mark grew up in a village in rural Sussex, coming to Northern Ireland in his late teens. He is a member of Bloomfield Presbyterian Church in east Belfast and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s press & media officer.

If you would like to talk to someone about any of the issues raised in this article, please email Rev Kenny Hanna, PCI’s Rural Chaplain at [email protected] or call him on 07938 488 372.