Ascension : News From The Grotto - Thought For The Week
Submitted by The Islander (Shari Parkhill) 21.05.2009 (Article Archived on 04.06.2009)

This week, we are getting close to the day of Ascension, when the Lord completed his forty days on Earth before ascending to heaven.

This week, we are getting close to the day of Ascension, when the Lord completed his forty days on Earth before ascending to heaven.  He spent this time visiting with his friends.  Some welcomed Him with open arms, others doubted Him, and some even feared Him.  But He spent the limited time He had with them sharing His wisdom, His charity, and most of all His love. 

Here on our little island, this is a special day, because it marks the day that Ascension was discovered.  Ascension Island is one of the few places in the world that can claim to have been truly “discovered”, since there was no indigenous population.  So much of the world’s history texts talk about the discovery of places like the Americas or Africa, when in truth, this only relates to their discovery by Europeans.  For the people already living there, they knew where they were!

But Ascension was truly waiting to be discovered.  And waiting to be inhabited, although it had to wait three more centuries for that to happen.  Until then, no one really wanted it.  Without a good source of fresh water, it was seen as barren, desolate and of little use.  But history has proven how important this island was on so many fronts.

Those of us who live on Ascension all came here from somewhere else.  We’ve left family and friends behind for varying periods of time, and understand the pain that this separation can bring.  But we meet so many new people here, folks from all different backgrounds and home countries.  And we make new friends. 

Unfortunately, so many people move on eventually.  Our old friends are back home, our new friends scattered in the wind.  Sometimes we are lucky enough to stay in touch, by mail, email, Face Book (one of my favourites!) and so we stay a part of each other’s lives.  We see pictures, and watch children grow up, and we see cute pictures of grandchildren.  In this electronic age, it is so much easier to stay in touch, and actually see what is going on in all our friends’ lives.

But some we lose touch with.  Sometimes, we meet them, share a bit of our lives with them, sometimes just a fleeting moment where we talk about where we come from, where we’re going, and what we do.  A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet some of the passengers of the cruise ship when it was in Clarence Bay.  I had wonderful chats with a number of people, learning where they called home, and how they came to be sailing around the world.  I was able to share a little bit of Ascension with them.

And then they were gone.   So many people come and go through our lives.  Some we lose through death, some move on in other directions, and we miss them terribly.  Others we grow away from and they become a part of our past.  Unfortunately, some we have to leave behind because we have realized that they really are not our friends.  Their presence in our lives is a lopsided affair in which they are only using us for something they can get.  These relationships are better left becoming a thing of our past.

I received a quote, which I’m sure I won’t get right here.  It says that we all reach a point in our lives when we will realize who will always matter in our lives, who doesn’t anymore, and who never did.  There is a reason that some people from our past don’t make it into our future. 

If they are left behind through a painful experience, put the memories away in the place in your heart and mind where you won’t visit again.  If they were good friends, find the compartment that has easy access for those times you want to dust off the memories and have a smile.  For those friends and loved ones we keep close, cherish their presence in our lives, and appreciate the gift of their friendship and love.

I am off this week to England to visit with one of my most cherished friends, Raxa, and her family.  We have a trip planned to Europe, exciting for me since I’ve never been on the continent before!   Ours is a friendship that has been the glue in some of the difficult times I’ve experienced since moving to Ascension.  Every woman needs a good girlfriend to be more like a sister!

I wish all of you a wonderful Ascension Day.  Celebrate your faith, celebrate your lives here on Ascension, and celebrate all the wonderful friends in your life, past and present.

May God bless all of us, and all our friends.  Happy Ascension Day!