Everyday Encounter...
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Now this is something I wrestle with a lot as I do assemblies in schools and work with young people. I'm acutely aware of the world that I have inherited from my elders, the good, the bad and the ugly of it. And I'm increasingly deliberate in not wanting to just pass the buck of responsibility for changing it to those I work with.
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I was on my way to a meeting somewhere new. The sat nav suggested I could either turn left or go straight. I went left because that looked like the more fun option. As I happily drove down the road I came across a work-horse pick-up truck doing a three-point turn in the road to avoid going through the ford. I ignored the signs and kept going. It was fun, it was deeper than it could have been, and my car miraculously made it through (even managing to be cleaner!). It was a win-win really, but it could have been expensive... Especially if it had been deeper and faster flowing.
The better option would have been to have carried on straight along the other route, or to have turned around before I got there. A less dangerous option would have been a bridge, or to wait until the ford was lower. "I Do."
No caveat. No grudge. Not feeling like I have to, but because I want to and more than that, that I have the privilege to... I GET to... And I am free to! That is the feeling that I had when I got married. I didn't feel like I had to say I do, but I really wanted to. And I knew the potential and privilege of it. I wonder if that's the same thing when we are asked to say "I do" at things like church services, when we sign up to things in life? Do we see the opportunity and potential excitement, or are we just saying it because we have to? Because when we say it we open ourselves up to a whole lot more... What more could we get ourselves into? Part 2... I was reading Nadia Bolz-Weber's article in response to the Asbury Revival, and what she said resonated with me: "Rather than make big stroke proclamations about what the Asbury Revival is or is not, I’m trying to just pay attention to what longing inside of me is being drawn up in buckets each time I tune in. I long to sing with others; I long to be open-hearted; I long to trust something for once; I long to be un-self-conscious in my devotion to God; I long to witness something real." As I said about "Any Love", I found love. I met God and I cannot shake that.
But there's no doubt in me that it's different now. I'm not going to throw it away, but equally I can't deny the change. |
Every-Day EncounterIf you'd rather listen and come to your own conclusions about the eclectic mix of songs I worked through in Lent 2023, here's the Spotify Playlist! Archives
September 2023
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