We have an Australian restaurant in our local city. It's the only one of its kind on the whole island and last year when our Irish friend from down under came to stay, we had the opportunity to sample kangaroo and the like in the only slice of his new home that exists here. It shares its name with that giant hill that stands near the centre of that great country of extremes and not far from a Town called Alice that forms the basis of my class reader every year. It is one of the places in the world that, some day, I hope to visit. Apart form its odd shape, the magic of Uluru or Ayer's Rock as it was more commonly known, would be to see its changing colour as the day passes and the light reflects from different angles. Also to understand from the native people just why it is such a sacred aboriginal site and probably to have the opportunity to climb it without the aid of mountaineering gear and breathing apparatus. Yes, Uluru has to be on the list of 'must see' places. But what other sights would make the top ten of such a list? Recently on a big birthday, a friend bought for me a book listing the fifty places one should see, though a recent calculation on a particular website has worked out that if I wish to see all the most popular fifty places on earth at my present rate, I will have to reach the grand young age of four hundred and thirty four years! I may have to bypass one or two! Anyway I had a little look through the pages, tried to narrow it down to ten and came up with this lot - Uluru, Grand Canyon, Venice, Taj Mahal, Niagara Falls, Galapagos Islands, Pyramids, Great Barrier Reef, Machu Picchu and Rio de Janeiro.
Sometimes when we do get to see our dream places, the impression they leave is one that stays with us for ever and may be totally different to that experienced by another individual. I'm reminded of the opulence of Cannes, the oppressiveness of Manhattan, the serenity of Lake Garda, the poverty of Barbados, the simplicity yet sumptuous living of St Tropez, the sleepiness of Kinsale harbour, the grandeur of Rome, the pride of Washington DC, the hidden history of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and the friendliness of Armagh, my local city that brings me back neatly to Uluru and that fine restaurant.
But there is one place I want to see more than any other. John describes it in Revelation in this way. 'It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.' He goes further to describe it by saying 'The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. ' A great city where there will be no more night, no more suffering, where the river of the water of life will flow through its great street and where God Himself will dwell with His people. That's heaven, greater than any of the wonderful creations we see on earth. But one word of warning and that I leave to John when he writes 'Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.' Now that really is a sacred place.
