the lion roars

I was in East Belfast today, home of CS Lewis, at the launch of the 2017 CS Lewis Festival. This is a now established arts event running over several weeks engaging thousands of people in a range of cultural and arts experiences. The gable walls of the local community have been the canvas of "city artists" for many years. Being what is called a "loyalist" community, the walls have held murals reflecting paramilitary crests, activities and logos. Through a process of re-imaging communities these often threatening images have been overpainted by more acceptable pictures - this one of an old son of Ulster. It was the banner headline that caught my eye "you are never too old to set another goal". Amen to that! These communites are emerging from a 40 year old conflict and trying hard to reimagine a shared future with new goals, fresh dreams and common visions. Such an aspiration! As CS Lewis said in his Narnia chronicles:  "All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”