Treasures for sharing
Many outsiders would not expect a Community of Religious Sisters to be sports mad, but, believe me, it happens! I have lived in communities where the football results achieve almost a sacred status on a Saturday evening. I have frequently been amazed by the ease at which scores and performance can be analysed and mentally recorded for the subsequent occasions even if they are years ahead.
By way of a change, I’ve now moved to a household where the gentler scenes of natural history are more popular than haring around a patch of ground after a ball that refuses to go where the bystanders would choose.
This evening, we’ve been watching some magnificent images of India as a cameraman from this country was invited to join a famous Indian who, after 17 years of filming tigers, had never succeeded in filming one hunting and catching its prey.
The programme was beautiful, with superb images of landscape, birds and animals. The genuine love of the camera crews for their subjects was very real and tangible. It was sad when, after 17 years of trying, the Indian just missed by seconds, as a magnificent tigress caught a deer, Although I do not like to see animals killed, I was saddened to watch him cry in disappointment. I shared his joy when he eventually succeeded.
It is a strange thing that the media so often portrays a limited scenario. Those of us who have never seen India are familiar with pictures of overcrowded streets and the Taj Mahal. How often do we see the real beauty of the subcontinent? How often is people’s image of Britain confined to London, which, although fascinating, is not the whole country? How many of those who have never visited Italy have been limited to scenes of Rome, Pisa, Naples, Venice and Siena?
People and countries have their own beauty and riches, treasures that are there for the sharing. We are all who we are thanks to a cultural heritage that has been fashioned through many centuries. We are all the recipients of ancient wisdom and loveliness.
Thank God!
God bless,
Sr. Janet
By way of a change, I’ve now moved to a household where the gentler scenes of natural history are more popular than haring around a patch of ground after a ball that refuses to go where the bystanders would choose.
This evening, we’ve been watching some magnificent images of India as a cameraman from this country was invited to join a famous Indian who, after 17 years of filming tigers, had never succeeded in filming one hunting and catching its prey.
The programme was beautiful, with superb images of landscape, birds and animals. The genuine love of the camera crews for their subjects was very real and tangible. It was sad when, after 17 years of trying, the Indian just missed by seconds, as a magnificent tigress caught a deer, Although I do not like to see animals killed, I was saddened to watch him cry in disappointment. I shared his joy when he eventually succeeded.
It is a strange thing that the media so often portrays a limited scenario. Those of us who have never seen India are familiar with pictures of overcrowded streets and the Taj Mahal. How often do we see the real beauty of the subcontinent? How often is people’s image of Britain confined to London, which, although fascinating, is not the whole country? How many of those who have never visited Italy have been limited to scenes of Rome, Pisa, Naples, Venice and Siena?
People and countries have their own beauty and riches, treasures that are there for the sharing. We are all who we are thanks to a cultural heritage that has been fashioned through many centuries. We are all the recipients of ancient wisdom and loveliness.
Thank God!
God bless,
Sr. Janet
