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Postscript - I am the Urban Spaceman……..
Walking through the Belfry the other day I was almost assaulted by a little urchin flying out of ‘Superdrug'. The urchin made a landing which if they had been an aircraft would have been described as a pancake. All flaps and no wheels. Result? One scratched cheek, two bleeding knees, and an outpouring of tears.
My initial instinct was to cuddle the little mite, my second was to remember my place and the Acts regarding children and my third the hope that at least one parent was near. They were not but that's another story.
My last missive posted for you now seems a little over the top, yes God is watching us but we knew that anyway didn't we? Whenever my relationship with God feels too one sided I think of the ones he has called in his service already. Some of these disciples and or prophets would be considered failures or even unsocial today. A street pastor would probably just ignore them.
The Disciples when looked at individually would never ever have passed a job interview by a modern human resources department. Anti social, poorly educated and living in a corner of an empire probably included in the greater Roman Empire purely by chance. Even when they travelled with Jesus, responses to situations or questions proved how little they actually understood or believed.
In my view this just shows how blinkered we can sometimes be. Our Lord chose these people to follow him, we know that at least one educated independent person was invited to follow him but declined, he couldn't even see the humour of the joke of trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle. Can you even imagine trying to work with such a mixed group of individuals yourself?
Does it matter, somehow these individuals became something even much greater than their parents could ever have imagined. They never earned huge bonuses or established charities or social institutions from their earnings or profits. However what they did establish was a priceless place on Earth within our religion and a reward not this life. It is possible to see your own attributes in one or more of the Disciples, always meaning so well but somehow failing to see the full picture.
They were, and still are, merely human. They did make mistakes along the way and sometimes we like to believe that we could have seen an obvious truth much earlier, bit like ‘Who wants to be a millionaire' or ‘Weakest link' really. The only difference between them and us was the opportunity presented to them which they all took and eventually paid the ultimate price.
What role models they make are there any like them today, to leave their career, countries, families, and homes to travel a thankless road on behalf of other people? We do not see them in our media or press. Today's role models are those who appear most times on television, or earn the maximum possible from some talent which they alone possess. Some of these stars even remain above criticism after attacking innocent parties on television in the name of a little fun!
We do not always know what God wants of us, we are to be honest fairly poor at even listening to what he tells us. For example, are we aware that the very woodwork in our church sings to us? Next time you go for a chat or a cup of coffee look at the carvings that are there to sing an instruction to us.
And the little mite?
Well I picked the mite up talked to it, applied a clean tissue to its knees and comforted it until it was able to become mobile again. Nobody appeared to challenge my action,
What should I have done?
Adrian Chase
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