"Sheila and I would like to wish all of our family and friends a very happy and peaceful Easter.
I rose this Easter Sunday morning around 5am., having developed a sore throat and being unable to sleep longer because of a troubled foot. As I made myself a cup of tea, I decided to compose my 'thought for today.' The thought I held most prominent was one of 'rising', and in particular, the words 'resurrection' and 'insurrection' came to mind, along with my 'reflection' upon my first Easter present to my wife, Sheila.
Easter Sunday is the most important festival in the Church calendar. In short, it tells all Christians that Christ has risen and that Christ is love.This was the first thought that my mind resurrected today.
One hundred years ago in Ireland, the land of my birth, there was another Easter Rising. For six days during Easter of 1916, Irish republicans launched a rebellion in Dublin. The purpose of this insurrection was to end British rule in Ireland and to establish an independent Irish Republic. Over the next 82 years, following the partition of the 32 Irish counties, whereby six counties in the north remained under British rule, ongoing hostility between the different Irish factions persisted. In the Easter of 1998, 'The Good Friday Agreement' was signed between the British and Irish governments, formerly bringing hostilities of these troubled years to an end.
My mind then reflected upon the very first Easter I knew Sheila. During the early morning of Easter Sunday of 2011, I rose early from my bed, (very much like this morning), deep in thought. I wanted to give Sheila a present of love on Easter Sunday morning; a gift that would never be spent, broken or perish. I knew she played the church organ most Sundays, so I wrote and arranged her very own hymn entitled, 'Be my life,' believing such a gift to be appropriate to give to the woman I wanted to marry. We had the hymn sung at our wedding in November 2012. When Sheila plays the organ at Mass on a Sunday, she will frequently play her hymn during the quieter part of the service.
Please excuse the quality of this recording of the hymn that was taken on our wedding day, but it will enable you to hear it. There is also a backing track that Sheila has recorded on the organ for anyone to sing along with. For the more musically talented among you, Sheila has fitted the words to the musical score, to be played on any keyboard or stringed instrument. Happy Easter all." William Forde: March 27th, 2016.
http://www.fordefables.co.uk/be-my-life.html