Here is a brilliant little documentary about INSPIRE Chemnitz. INSPIRE was started in 2014 by 8 Christians in Chemnitz who have a heart for the Brühl neighbourhood. We work and collaborate with all kinds of people to share light and love and breathe new life into this part of town. We are grateful to Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church for encouraging us and helping us to make this short film. Hopefully it will inspire churches to engage their communities and bless their neighbourhoods. For more follow us on Facebook or here.
Pilgrim Music CD
So, dear friends, I found the password to my blog site and can finally write here again 😉
When I am on the road doing my Irish Evenings with songs, stories and reading from my book, people quite often ask me if I have a CD of my songs. Well
now I have! I have finally made a little EP of four songs to test the waters before maybe doing a full album.
The songs are in English, but I have English and German translation on the inlay inside the CD. The music and lyrics are all my own – just me and my acoustic guitar. Songs about love, life, faith, social justice… and domestic violence. Take a listen to this one below – dedicated to all sufferers of domestic abuse. It’s called ‘Taste of Home’
The EP costs 5 €. Let me know if you want one – I can even send you a signed copy 🙂
Der gestürzte Baum – ein Gedicht
Hier das Gedicht vom vorigen Beitrag jetzt auf Deutsch…
Der gestürzte Baum
Ich hörte sie nicht mal fallen.
Tageslicht offenbarte sie mir, da wo sie lag.
So selbstverständlich ausgestreckt.
Still. Verlassen. Am Boden.
Gestern stand sie aufrecht. Groß.
Mit spindeldürren Armen gen Himmel erhoben,
In einem demonstrativen Akt der Anbetung,
Irgendwie majestätisch. Sogar trotzig.
Heute nicht.
Jene gleichen Arme erniedrigt
Mit knochigen Fingern in einem Akt der Verzweiflung ausgedehnt.
In der Hoffnung, von jemandem gefangen zu werden. Von mir? Vergeblich.
Jetzt keine Bewegung mehr. Ihre leblosen Glieder, wie eingefroren,
Fangen den verhängnisvollen Moment ein, der die Krone löste und die Königin stürzte.
Der ultimative Schnappschuss. Von einem Akt Gottes. Auffällig durch seine Abwesenheit.
Dessen Atem bläst, wo er will. So sagt man, zumindest.
Kein Zeuge mehr. Sie ist unfähig zu sprechen.Vom Kommen und Gehen.
Von verbotenen Begegnungen und Narben, die erinnern an genommene Freiheiten.
Also nimmt sie die Namen ihrer Peiniger mit ins Grab.
In ihren Gedächtnis geätzt. Nun ins Vergessen geschnitzt.
Die Ringe unter ihren Augen könnten sicher Geschichten erzählen.
Von damals, angewurzelt, als der heftige Sturm durchmarschierte. Den Untergang diktierend.
Oder vom Volk. Von Macht. Von Frieden drehen.
Sie war dabei.
Durch Regieren und Herrschen und die gemeine Zeit;
Und als das Mauerblümchen den frischen Wind herbei tanzte,
Und neunundachtzig Herbstblätter von braun zu rot in blühende Landschaften blies.
Wir vergessen, wie viel sie weiß. Nicht mehr.
Im Dreivierteltakt nahm sie jeden Blatt von dem Mund, bis sie jedes Mal blass aussah.
Die Früchte ihrer Arbeit aber rings rum in Sicht.
Wie sie, ein Atemzug Frischluft. Schützend. Nährend. Sie atmen Leben aus.
Warum habe ich sie für selbstverständlich gehalten? Ich hörte sie nicht mal fallen.
Barry Sloan
30th January 2018 Chemnitz
A poem.
”Friederike in Germany”
I didn’t even hear her falling.
Dawn revealed her to me, there where she lay.
So matter-of-factly sprawled out on the ground.
Silent. Forlorn. Broken.
Yesterday she stood tall. Upright.
With spindly arms raised skyward,
In some demonstrative act of adoration.
Somehow majestic. Even defiant.
Not today.
Those same arms humbled,
Bony fingers now extended more in an act of desperation.
Hoping someone would catch her. Hoping I would catch her. In vain.
Now she moves not. Her lifeless limbs frozen in time,
Capturing the fateful moment that dislodged her crown and forced her bough down.
The ultimate snapshot. Of an act of God, conspicuous by his absence.
Whose breath blows where it will. Or so they say.
A witness no more, unable to speak
Of comings and goings. Of forbidden encounters or scars that recall liberties taken.
And so the names of her tormentors go with her to the grave.
Etched into her memory, carved now into oblivion.
The rings under her eyes would surely tell tales.
When rooted to the spot as that ferocious storm trooped past, dictating destruction.
Or of people and power and a peaceful turning.
She was there.
Recounting regimes and rules and the common era.
And the wallflower who danced to the wind of change,
Blowing autumn leaves from brown to red to green shoots of new life.
We forget how much she knows. No longer.
Every fall leaves her pale. But the fruits of her labour, all around to see.
Like her, a breath of fresh air. Sheltering, nourishing, expiring life.
Why did I take her for granted?
I didn’t even hear her falling.
Barry Sloan
(Chemnitz, Germany)
Book Launch of English Edition!!!
I am delighted to announce that my book “Pilgern auf Irisch” will be published in English. The English title is: When the Saints go Marching.
Official launch is in Bangor, Northern Ireland (Saint Columbanus Parish Church, Ballyholme) at 11.30 am on Saturday, 21st November. This will be part of the official celebrations marking 1400 years of Columbanus. More details here.
Some blurb about the book to whet your appetite …
Why would a Northern Irish Protestant, raised in a staunchly loyalist community, hitchhike through Catholic Europe on the trail of medieval celtic monks? What role did an Ulsterman play in the creation of the European Union, and what can be done today to break down walls and bring people together? Who was Columbanus of Bangor and why are present-day librarians from all over the world indebted to him? Why does God not like zebras, has Murphy’s Law anything to do with chaos theory, and why are the Germans the reason Ireland had to wait 1900 years to get decent, straight roads?
The answers to these questions are found in ‘When the Saints go Marching’, the story of 6th century Irish saint, Columbanus, and of a 21st century sinner, the book’s author! Weaving history, politics, theology, and personal narrative together in a humorous and readable way, Sloan tells the fascinating story of Columbanus and his colleagues from Bangor and their legacy in uniting Europe. Profound moments of reflection, insight and food for thought are punctuated with hilarious episodes of breakfast with Vikings, an attack by monster bees, and lunch with a talking horse!
From November my book can be ordered from either here on my website (just drop me a line here), or over Amazon or at any good book store (ISBN 978-1-909644-95-3). Hope you like it!
Blessings
Barry