Ethelbert (great name!) was a pagan King of Kent who converted to Christianity. Today, 25th February, is St Ethelbert’s day.
Unlike other Anglo-Saxon kings he never forced his people to follow his religion. He believed that faith must be a voluntary choice; change should never come by force or compulsion.
Cat made this choice. This week our friend wrote:
‘…13 years since I last took a drink or drug…13 years since my desire to live took over my desire to continue to die… The start of a new lifelong journey of healing and recovery. The start of a deeper understanding of myself and the world around me. 13 years of repairing the damage I created for myself and others, an ongoing journey.’
Johnny Cash describes a similar choice to change. After many destructive years, addicted to amphetamines and other drugs, he reached crisis point:
‘As we drove back towards Nashville I told my mother that God had saved me from killing myself. I told her that I was ready to commit to Him and do whatever it took to get off drugs… Eventually – slowly and with many setbacks – I regained my strength and sanity and I rebuilt my connection to God…’
Musing… This last year’s been tough – isolation, cancelled events, disruption, insecurity, stresses… Living in survival-mode life’s been put on hold.
With the Covid-vaccine and Boris’ roadmap there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We can relax…
Alternatively we can make a deliberate choice. With wisdom gained we can enter a new phase of life, seeing opportunities and deliberately planning the next stage of our journey.
Reading Numbers 34…
Moses and the Israelites had been wandering through the desert for years. No more wandering or desert would be good; alternatively they could enter their promised land…
Ethelbert, Cat, Johnny and Moses understood the importance of making that choice to deliberate change – which for them involved God and faith….
malcolmsmusings.org 