I must clarify from the start that this is not about living within the law or about sexuality. It's about the direction of a journey. When travelling, people usually prefer to go the quickest route possible. That's why we have spent millions in making motorways so we can get from one place to another more directly. We tunnel through mountains to save having to travel all the way around them. We build bridges as a quicker way over waterways in order to cut the time of a journey. And this is understandable. Time is of the essence. We just want to get to our destination without the hassle of actually travelling there.
When people refer to 'the scenic route' it implies a rather round about way of getting to the same place and taking much longer to arrive. The truth that we often miss is that it really is the scenic route. The motorways, tunnels and bridges are for the most part just mile after mile of the same. The scenic route however, possibly because of more twists and turns of the country roads, are usually more interesting. We go through small villages and are able to refresh ourselves at some quaint country pub instead of the motorway service station. There's usually less traffic also but as we know, this takes time and we don't always have the time to spare. And that can seem a shame.
In comparison, when God does something, he takes great delight in not using straight lines. Could you imagine a tree with straight branches and diamond-shaped leaves? The only tree with straight branches I have seen is a one humans make of their family tree. Or where is there a river that doesn't meander its way to the sea? When we want to make a waterway we tend to dig straight down and as directly as possible between two points, using locks to move up or down along the stretch of the canal. The twists and turns of nature is often breathtaking as we turn a corner and are confronted with some beauty of creation. What a shame to miss that because we are in a hurry to reach our destination. Many going on holiday try to think of the journey as part of the holiday and endeavour to find ways of enjoying it as such instead of getting over stressed by the actual travelling to get to the destination.
It's the same in life. When I was younger, I had my future all planned out. Then life happened! Looking back it seems that my plans went right out of the window. But if I'm honest I've had some wonderful experiences that I hadn't planned so I'm so glad that things didn't work out exactly as I thought they would or should. We like things to go ahead as we plan without any complications or setbacks. We have a goal and want to achieve it as soon as possible. By being so intense on doing so we run the risk of missing an awful lot of wonderful experiences. We are so focused on the end goal that we miss the 'now' moment. When life has its twists and turns, I guess we should really think of it as God's way of doing things. Doing things His way might mean living with the unexpected, having twists and turns, changing direction, travelling off the beaten track but so much more interesting and fulfilling.
I was interested a couple of weeks ago to learn of the Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis (1818 - 1865). He discovered that the washing and cleaning of hands greatly reduced the mortality rate of patients in his maternity ward compared to the wards supervised by other doctors. He published papers to this effect and insisted that it was the simple act of washing hands that was the key. His publications were rejected by the established scientific and medical opinions of the time. He was eventually committed to as asylum for his 'outrageous' claims where he died only 2 weeks after entering the institution, having been beaten by guards. His theories were proved correct by Lister and Pasteur years after his death. Today personal hygiene and cleanliness is so much a part of everyday life that it is hard to imagine that the medical world of the mid 19th century did not accept this.
The other day I watched (again!) the now old film The Jazz Singer. In case anyone is not familiar with the story, it is about a young Jewish man whose father was a cantor in the synagogue. It was a family tradition and the young man would be the fifth generation of cantors in his family, something that made his father very proud. However, the young man also lived another life by singing with non-Jewish friends in clubs. When he got the opportunity to go to California, he realised that singing to the general public was what he really wanted to do. The result of course was many problems within family relationships and heartache and struggles to come to terms with this idea on all sides. Eventually he followed his dream and 'made it' in the music world of California.
The first story is a sad one but the second had a happier ending. The thing is that deep inside we know what is right for us whether other people accept what we say or not. Truth is truth. It doesn't depend on how many people agree with us. It doesn't necessarily mean that the majority must be right. But it is very difficult to remain true to what we feel deep inside when all around seem to be going in the opposite direction. The old song that we often used to sing says, 'I'll fear not what men say'. But we do, don't we? How often have we heard people say, 'What will people think?' Today with social media someone can very quickly be made to appear like a saint or a villain. Whistle-blowers and reporters who tell it as it really is are criticised by established figures and often rubbished in the media when most times what they are saying is the truth that nobody in authority wants the world to know. It is more difficult when we go against family tradition and when those closest to us reject what we say. The last thing we want to do is hurt and upset those we love and so often we bury what is inside and carry on just going along with tradition without questioning, closing our minds to any personal or different ideas that we may have had. Our dreams remain only dreams as we feel unable to seek to make them reality.
I have to admit I have great respect for anyone who can stick to their guns when they really believe something regardless of who listens or accepts what they say. Throughout history we find people who have been ridiculed only to be proved right in later years. Galileo comes to mind when he insisted that the earth went round the sun and not the other way around. Sadly too often we conform simply to avoid 'rocking the boat'. We don't want to get a bad reputation as a trouble maker or being a bit wacky. Sadly this applies to many Christian congregations when those who question or don't fall into line end up outside of the group, excluded. We have seen it with prominent church leaders like Steve Chalke when he spoke of accepting gay people and Rob Bell and Jim Palmer for offering a different perspective on Christian beliefs. I find it sad that Christianity is becoming in many places, an exclusive 'club' where if you question, think for yourself, don't fit in and conform or rock the boat then you become excluded. As for me - I will continue to question and seek truth even if that means being part of a misunderstood minority. In the end it is only truth that will set us free, free from the fear of what others might think, free to be who we really are, free to be the person God made us to be.
Yesterday morning I awoke after having a strange dream. In the dream we still had our Christmas tree and decorations around the house, although in real life they are now safely boxed up and put back in the loft until next Christmas. The strange thing about it though was that the tree was without decorations - no baubles or tinsel, none of the extras. Other decorations and candles were also missing. It would seem that we had been burgled and so in my dream I began to look around the house to see what else had been taken. Not much, only things of not great importance. The things that were necessary to modern living - the computer, mobile phone, purse with some money - were all intact. It was as though whoever had been in our home didn't want those things. Then I woke up and was glad that it had been a dream. It wasn't a nice thought that we had been burgled even if the things that were taken were not things of great expense.
But it left me thinking! Whenever I have a strange dream about something quite out of the blue or something that had not been on my mind, then I begin wondering if it was actually God who was wanting to impart some truth or idea in my mind. He has been known to talk to us through stories, pictures and dreams. And so I began thinking that the things that had been taken were things of adornment, embellishments, not the important bits. The nativity scene was not taken but the glitter and baubles were. Although many of the baubles had personal significance and brought back memories from the past, they were not essential to celebrating the Christmas story and message. Other possessions were still intact and not even touched.
Is it that there are things in my life that are just extras with no real value in the long term? I don't think that it refers to material possessions. I'm not one to crave after the latest gadget or get impressed with the biggest or most expensive anything. If it does what it's supposed to and serves its purpose then an item is ok with me. Seeing and working amongst the poverty of the shanty towns of South America has helped me to get my priorities right as far as material possessions are concerned. So it would seem that the decorations are possibly to do with non-material matters. So was this about Christmas or about religion in general? Was it about things or my attitude to things? I don't make New Year's resolutions but it seems that God has done that for me this year. I feel that my challenge is to become more aware of where God is leading me and what are the things that need to be stripped away and done away with. What are the things that are essential and what are the decorations - even if they do have some emotional memories for me? And by the way I won't be getting rid of my actual Christmas decorations - I don't think that was the point of the dream. Or was it just a weird dream after all?
P.S. Any thoughts or comments are welcome.
