INTERVIEW: Eddie Gilmore

Eddie Gilmore, CEO of the Irish Chaplaincy, discusses his new book The Universe Provides, which collects stories of hope, miracles and uplifting personal encounters from his travels around a global community rediscovering itself following the coronavirus pandemic …

The book emerges out of the wake of the coronavirus pandemic: what did you miss most during lockdown that you are now able to do?

Meeting people in the flesh; travelling; singing with my choir; cycling with my club; concerts and other live events; physical touch.

Your work for the Irish Chaplaincy takes you into prisons regularly; how were the prisoners you came across affected by the coronavirus pandemic?         

Prisoners were disproportionately affected by the pandemic, with many being banged-up (locked in their cells) for up to 23 ½ hours per day, and with activities and education cancelled. Most work too had been suspended, and with it the chance to earn a little bit of money with which to purchase basic necessities or make a phone call. One of the letters we received at the Irish Chaplaincy in those first months of Covid showed the unenviable choice about how to spend the daily half an hour of ‘freedom’: to take a shower; to join the queue for the phone (assuming you had the means to make a call); or to go into the exercise yard, where there may have been a distinct lack of social distancing. Travellers were perhaps particularly affected by this confinement in a tiny space for long periods of time.

What dilemmas do you feel the coronavirus pandemic has thrown up in people that perhaps weren’t so obvious before?           

I lost count of the number of people I spoke to who had begun to re-evaluate their life and what was truly important. Many welcomed the extra time they had for themselves and for enjoying simple pleasures like going for a walk and listening to the birds. There was often a reluctance to return to old ways of doing things, whether that was commuting five days a week or going back to services in a church building when it was now so easy to access work, leisure or worship via zoom.

American writer Henry Thoreau claimed that we should not judge our wealth by the things we possess but by the amount of free time that we have. In our fast-paced working lives, how can we allow ourselves a little more free time and why is it important to do so?            

I suppose that we can avoid the temptation to be looking at our phones every five minutes and maybe even switch them off once in a while! And I still take some days each week when I work from home, therefore saving time and energy for other pursuits. The concept of ‘Holy Leisure’ is an ancient one and is, I’m convinced, crucial for our physical, mental and spiritual health. I’m convinced as well that we are actually more productive and creative when we allow time each day for our brain to go into ‘screen-saver’ mode! We also need time and space to simply enjoy God’s wonderful creation.

Where can we look for hope and positivity today in the post-pandemic context of the cost-of-living crisis, political mismanagement, and war in the Ukraine?               

We simply have to look out of our windows and see that the sun still rises in the morning and sets in the evening, and that the birds still sing their beautiful songs, and the flowers still grow in the garden. And there is great kindness everywhere, if only our hearts are open to both receiving and to giving. And I just received the first photos of my first great-niece, born on May 17^th. How wonderful; how hopeful.

The subtitle of the book is ‘finding miracles and inspiration in unexpected places’: Where do you find inspiration in your daily life?        

I wake up each morning to the sound of the birds, and I go straight out for a walk. I marvel in another new day and in the new buds bursting on the trees, and the freshness in the air and in the sun rising. And I’m blessed to be married to a wonderful woman and to have three lovely children and some great friends; and to be able to do good work with good people; and to pray regularly through the day; and to give thanks; and to sing and write and cycle and run; and to listen to the chants of Taizé when I eat breakfast; and to read inspiring and nourishing books and to meet inspiring and nourishing people.

Eddie Gilmore has been CEO of the Irish Chaplaincy since 2017, before which he was a member of L’Arche for 28 years. He writes regularly for a number of publications including The Tablet, Intercom (the journal of the Irish Catholic Bishops), and Independent Catholic News. Eddie also contributes to BBC Radio's 'Pause For Thought'. He is also the author of Looking Ahead With Hope (DLT: 2021).

The Universe Provides: Finding Miracles and Inspiration by Eddie Gilmore is available now in paperback and as an eBook from dltbooks.com and all good bookstores.