Identity

I wondered whether or not to take this slant on the word identity for Five Minute Friday, as for anyone outside Northern Ireland it may make little, if no sense. For some within Northern Ireland it may offend.However the point of Five Minute Friday is to write what we know and this is what I know.

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This small bit of land that I call home. Northern Ireland. I love it. I love it's beauty. I love the people. It is my  home on this earth and scene of time.

However this is a country which has been battered and bruised. Terror has roamed these streets and destroyed lives. Families devastated. Lives cut short. Bitterness is never far below the surface. Why? The problems run so deep and have been written about time and time again. By the scholar. By the man on the street. But one word can sum it up I feel. Identity. Am I British or am I Irish? Are they British or are they Irish? Which passport bears our name?

I am both. I am British. But I am also Irish. The money in my purse displays the face of the Queen. But I live on this island of Ireland. I was educated in the British system of education. But my ancestors were Irish.

I am Northern Irish. To me this perfectly combines both strands of my identity politically and culturally. My true identity however is in Christ. Who surpasses all man made identity.