Reassuring

A very important wedding invitation.

We have a summer wedding to look forward to.  My elder son is tying the knot with his partner in June after spending the last 12-13 years as a single man.  The other day I went to the office in town to buy our travel tickets for the occasion from National Express.  (I like to be organised in good time)  I bought my senior coach card that allows me a discount and also the tickets for my other son and myself for a return journey.  The receptionist gave me the receipts and I left.  After I got home I looked for the tickets to put them in a safe place but could not find them.  I rummaged in my handbag - not there - and then in the shopping bag but to no avail.  Actually thinking about it, I didn't remember actually being given the tickets.  So I had to make another trip to the office to tell them that I have the receipts but couldn't find the tickets.  The person behind the desk checked and them handed me the tickets.  Apparently the person who served me had given me the receipts and my senior coach card but hadn't actually handed over the tickets.  Phew!  What a relief!  Partly to know that I hadn't mislaid them and would have to buy another set of tickets and partly to reassure me that I hadn't been so confused that I had forgotten where I had put them.  

A couple of weeks ago I took part in a set of tests for bowel cancer.  It's something I have done every couple of years for quite a long time now.  Still between doing the tests and getting the results, there is always that uncertain feeling, waiting for the results, even if you do feel absolutely fine.  This week I received the results and everything is normal.  Again what a relief.  It is reassuring to know that according to the test, I'm doing ok.  

The capped pipe.

This week also saw us having a visit from the gas man to have our annual service for our heating system.  I know the boiler is getting old but it serves us well and again it was reassuring to know that it passed with flying colours despite its age and so there is no extra expense at least for another year.  While he was here, the engineer noticed that we had taken the front off the gas fire as we never use it (I prefer to just use the radiators for all round warmth) He checked and suggested that he should actually cut the pipe leading to the fire and cap it to make sure that there is no gas escape.  He did exactly that and also taped the end of the open pipe so that no spiders or other small creatures could get in but wouldn't take any extra money (not even a tip to buy himself a pint) even though the extra work wasn't in his original remit.  He then did an extra check just to make sure that there was no escaping gas.  Again what reassurance to know that the expert had given his opinion and that there was nothing to worry about.

There are times in life when we get a little apprehensive about something that may or may not be life-changing but how good it is to receive that reassurance that actually we are doing ok.  Everything has been checked and there isn't a problem where we thought there might or could have been.  When we have doubts about things, especially spiritual matters, we can sometimes feel that we shouldn't talk about them or question what everyone else seems to take for granted.  Do you have any doubts or questions about what we're told we should believe or accept?  We would seldom mention anything to those who are considered to be 'experts' or 'professionals' in the matter in case we're criticized rather than listened to.  We would probably be considered a bit of a loose cannon or even heretic or having 'lost our faith'  So it's really good when someone else airs those same doubts.  It reassures us to know that we're not the only ones thinking that way and maybe we don't have a problem after all.  Many of the writers of the Bible, particularly of the Psalms, had no problem in questioning God and criticizing those considered to be leaders of their faith.  Jesus himself on many occasions disagreed with those in spiritual leadership in his day.  So maybe it's time for us all to stop keeping our doubts to ourselves. Who knows? We might discover that many others are on a similar wave length and actually we are doing ok and can reassure and encourage each other on our journey.