Monday 27 February 2012

kaleidoscope

Through facebook I was aware that one of my 'friends' was going to be on BBC1's 'The Big Question' discussing the problem of alcohol.
Martin's Dad occasionally preached at the church where I spent my early adult life and we were enthralled at the amazing work that was being done in Kingston. There was always an open invitation to visit and have a meal in their cafe with its big red aga and expresso machine.
But Eric always emphasised that no-one should think that they could copy their work but that each church had to work out for themselves the work that God wanted them to do.
Over the years friendships were established and when I had my call to the ministry, it was suggested that the call should be tested by putting me on the reception desk to help dispense Methadone. Some of my shifts were during the day, sometimes in the evening but often I would start at 11pm by locking the gates, logging off the computer for the day and then clean the reception area which meant mopping down the floor and cleaning the loo! Eventually I would get my head down and be woken by my alarm in time to wash and dress, get the computer up and running for the day and unlock the gates ready to welcome the first clients of the day at 7am. These were often well dressed men and women who would then commute to London.
Very occasionally a client would get chatting asking me why I was there, and although I was rather wary of telling them, they were always delighted and would tell me about their faith. But sometimes they would let slip a little about their lives which left me thinking... what would I have done? how would I have coped? I learnt that very important lesson about never judging someone else, especially if it is very unlikely that one would ever have to walk a mile in their shoes.

Thursday 9 February 2012

I went to the doctor's and now I have a cold!

Each year I have a general check up for both my asthma and diabetes which fortunately and with a lot of will power, I manage to keep under control. But unfortunately a few days later I started sneezing and blowing my nose. By Tuesday I felt washed out and have spent most of the week taking it very easy.
Then this morning we saw the weather forecast predicting snow overnight and for most of tomorrow! and we thought we should do the weekly shop today before we are likely to get snowed in, although we do realise that the forecast could be wrong!
So this afternoon I'm back on the sofa with my feet up and a blanket over my legs but I have been reminded of my recent session at college where we have been looking at self awareness, concentrating on being aware of our bodies.
As other blogging friends know very well, it is when we are confronted with a serious illness that we take far more notice of our bodies, because if we are unaware or work through pain or stress our bodies can become quite unwell.
In Psalm 139 we are reminded that our bodies, all the delicate and inner parts were knitted together in our mother's womb by God. And so it is up to us to take great care of our bodies and not to abuse them.
And as someone who loves knitting, I love the idea that God picked up knitting needles and made me!