Gareth from London wrote to me,
“Your blog on the Full Circle about C.S.Lewis, reminded me of Ps 23v3 – “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The Hebrew for “path” in this instance has a root meaning of circle, so could be translated “He leads me in circles of righteousness” So sometimes when we think we are going around in circles, it could be that God is giving us another chance to learn or do it more “right!”
Many commentators have been drawing a parallel between Donald Trump and Andrew Jackson – Jackson being the first “populist” American president. He too was of Ulster Scot’s ancestry (After you have had coffee at Established and Claire’s cake at The Loft you can visit his ancestral home in Carrickfergus – a few miles away : – )
I cannot judge the man, however The Indian Removal Act which he was responsible for had tragic consequences. One native elder friend, Father brought into our lives, was Alvin. A long serving Methodist ‘minister’ he told us the story of how his believing grandmother had walked the “Trail of Tears” as her people were forcibly removed from their homeland to a Reservation in what is now Oklahoma. It was a deeply moving experience when he taught us a “Jesus” lullaby in his native language that she had used to settle the babies when they would get upset by the trumpeting soldiers carrying out their duty on behalf of the “Christian” government – to “grab” more land.
A few weeks ago Gilbert’s car broke down. As I was driving to his aid I decided to listen to the radio, something I don’t often do. What I was meant to hear was an incidental piece of news – that Andrew Jackson’s picture was to be removed from the $20 bill (and replaced with Harriet Tubman’s)
” Mmmm” I thought, “So the architect of “The” removal, is now himself – being removed!”
Last week I mentioned another famous Ulster Scot who was a contemporary of Jackson’s known as the ‘king of the wild frontier’ – Davy Crockett (You might remember Paddy had wakened that morning thinking of the very same man…….and humming Davy’s tune throughout the day!)
As I read the Wikipedia entry about Crockett I discovered a couple of interesting things. His Ulster Scot’s great grandmother was called Sarah Gilbert Stewart. Well Hilary’s mother was Sarah, my father was Gilbert, and both our mothers had the surname – Stewart. What a “God-incidence”!!!
Then I discovered that Davy Crockett was the only one in the Tennessee legislature who opposed The Indian Removal Act!
Here was a redemptive sign for our tribe…..where another one of “us” historically had proven to be the Indian’s Friend – not Foe!
I shared this exciting discovery at dinner time with the family. “Oh!” Kim, our American daughter-in-law said, ” The little Irish ancestry there is in our family line……is said to go back to – Davy Crockett!
The photo above is of Ben and Kim’s daughter Isla Kyle and Mni Cloud in dress up and in an embrace as they are “best friends” Mni is a 6th generation descendant of Chief Little Crow, who lead the Dakota Uprising in Minnesota (1862). They live here together in the Big Green (Ps.23) House.
Isla is Scottish for island. Mni is Dakota for water. I guess Father put this friendship together!
The world of fractals shows us how each of our little lives are reflecting a much greater story, for the most part unknown yet sometimes known, as our Shepherd leads us in “Circles of Righteousness”