walking – Page 2 – Northern Pilgrim

So. Farewell then Damien Sweeney

Here is my poem for Damien, inspired by the poems of E.J Thribb. The shock is still sinking here and it was nice to try and put it in words.

He was funny, good humoured and oh so kind

There is a big Damien shaped hole for so many of us, which not even the loveliest Laphroaig whisky could fill.

The road will feel longer and the nights a lot quieter without Damien for company.

Damien was a true friend because he joined you in being enthusiastic about whatever it was you cared about and his passion meant that his interests always seemed fascinating to you, too.

Until then, my friend, rest well.

I will miss him. I do miss him terribly. It seems impossible that all of that, all the crazy stories of his misadventures on Student Cross, all his warmth and humour, are permanently in the past.

Nobody had a bad word for Damien

I knew Damien for more than 40 years. He was a constant example of how to make the absolute best of what he had been given, how to put others ahead of himself without it ever seeming like a sacrifice, and how to bring everyone around him into the warm circular glow of his love for the things he loved.

Summer reflections from the North

It’s four months since I returned home from Northern Leg of Pilgrim Cross. What has stayed with me from the week? First of all, challenge and change. Challenge from the walking itself, from the (relatively minor) discomforts of sleeping on church hall floors, from the inevitable frictions entailed in the creation of an intentional communityContinue reading “Summer reflections from the North”