A chara, – It was very interesting to read what Fintan O'Toole had to say about how most people live in two world: one physical or external; the other mental or internal ("The Irish Christmas is a fiction of home", Opinion & Analysis, December 20th).
His words about how we have both an intense sense of place yet an intense sense of displacement, as if we were “creatures who evolved to live in one climate but had to learn to live in another”, in particular struck a chord.
They are reminiscent of an idea expressed in several books of the New Testament, the essence of which is that we are but strangers or pilgrims of this earth whose true citizenship is of heaven. I realise, of course, that Fintan O’Toole’s echoing of sacred scripture is most likely unintentional; but that he should do so shows how Christianity is woven into the very fabric of our culture – part, I suppose, of the internal landscape of our being.
And how very appropriate that he should, accidentally or not, remind us of this at Christmas, when Christians believe that the two realities of heaven and earth connected in the most intimate way through the birth of our Lord. – Is mise,
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Rev PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.