We arrived at Stansted Airport…
At five o’clock yesterday morning there were many people, many different languages… There was a little girl carrying a pink unicorn, an old man drinking beer, energetic, purposeful walkers, a young man sleeping on the floor… We sat people watching, waiting for our flight.
An elderly couple walked past. The woman was in full flow: ‘At least mine is twice a year.’ That’s all I heard. I haven’t a clue what she was talking about. It’s more fun to make up your own story.
We boarded our plane…
I’m reading musician Philippa Hanna’s book, ‘Following the Breadcrumbs’. The back cover reads: ‘Like many girls, Philippa’s teenage years were ones that she’d rather forget. She looked for direction and meaning in all the wrong places, and found herself lost…’
When she was twenty, she started attending a church, writing in her diary: ‘…the questioning that terrified me and stopped me believing, the part that’s always stopped me from being my best self, starts to lose its power as I absorb… the truth. I no longer look for contradictions in the Bible and in Christians, and I start to search for understanding.’
We flew to Cork, in Southern Ireland.
We were waiting in a queue to have our passports checked, behind a young woman who engaged us in conversation. ‘What life-advice would you give me?’ she asked. We discovered that she’s called Amy, a teacher from Sydney, Australia. We talked about finding truth, loving your neighbour, loving God.
Amy has a faith, but she asked about our understanding of faith. She has some understanding; she wants to understand more.
A coach took us to Bantry in South-West Ireland.
All is good. The scenery is beautiful. We’re comfortable in a pleasant hotel. We’re looking forward to our holiday. And I’m musing on airport-lady who it’s fun not to understand, Phillipa Hanna whose questioning led her to search for understanding, and Australian Amy who, far from her home, continues to grow her understanding.
malcolmsmusings.org 
I think virtually from birth we are searching to understand. I feel that children under about the age of three cannot be “naughty”. They are experimenting, investigating and searching to understand.
Some are led down deceptive roads by their own insecurities and clever storytellers who inveigle them into accepting falsehoods.
But we all get through this life in our own way and should congratulate people who have found a way that they find fulfilling.
Enjoy your stay in Ireland Malcolm.
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isnt it amazing where we get those divine appointments, praying that Amy left with more answers than questions and she has been blessed by your conversation, have a great time in Cork.
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