Control, Care, Commitment, Consequences…

Control… Yesterday at our ‘Singing for Health’ group we sung the old English folk ‘Dashing away with the smoothing iron’. I last sung it when I was at primary school.  It features a man admiring his wife as she carries out her linen chores. It starts:

’Twas on a Monday morning
That I beheld my darling,
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree.

On Monday she washes her linen, Tuesday she starches it, Wednesday she hangs it out… different versions have different activities… Eventually she wears it on Sunday. Here’s a woman who’s well organised… in total control…

Care… Yesterday my friend Des made the front page of the Lowestoft Journal: ‘Carnival organisers have ditched plans for a firework display due to Lowestoft’s kittiwake population…

‘…Des Reynolds, an organiser from the Seagull Theatre said: ‘After careful liaison with the Lowestoft Kittiwake Partnership we have decided not to move forward with a firework display.’’ I imagined Des sitting round a table with a couple of kittiwakes. They explain the aversion of kittiwake chicks to fireworks, and Des expresses his care and concern…

Commitment… Bear Grylls’ thought for today is ‘The Danger of Half Heartedness’. He relates it to handling dangerous snakes:

‘The one thing no to do is to pick up a snake half-heartedly by the body, or it will bend back on it self and bite you faster than you can let it go. In a similar way, if you’re tackling anything dangerous, commitment is an essential ingredient to success.’

Consequences… Smoothing-iron woman’s control resulted in her husband’s heart being ‘stolen away’… Des’s care will result in kittiwakes that aren’t scared by fireworks… Bear’s commitment results in his safety…

…This afternoon we shall go to Norwich to watch the football. Twenty-six thousand critical supporters will watch our players’ care, control, commitment… and the eventual consequences.

…Tomorrow morning Lou will preach on Mark 8… on Jesus’ care, control and commitment to the people he met… the consequences then, and the consequences for his followers today.