Over the weekend there have been auditions for our junior Seagull Christmas production of ‘Annie’. Today thirty-two children and young people will have received the good news that they’re in it… but they’ve had to audition, and auditions are tough.
Annie is the story of an optimistic young orphan girl who sings:
‘The sun will come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There’ll be sun…’
She eventually lives ‘happily ever after’, but it’s after going through difficult times.
Yesterday my friend Jacquie told me about her trip to Ireland. She flew to Dublin, hired a car, then drove south to stay with her son, Sam, his heavily pregnant partner Becky, and Jacquie’s seven year old granddaughter.
When Becky felt that baby’s arrival was imminent Jacquie took them to hospital. They didn’t make it. With Jacquie’s help baby Florence was born in the back of the hired car! An ambulance arrived later… Challenging times – but all is good – mother and baby are doing well.
Having been a GP for many years, Amanda Brown became ‘The Prison Doctor’ in Wormwood Scrubs, a huge Victorian prison in West London.
Amanda attended a garden party, invited by an ex-colleague, a very successful orthopaedic surgeon. She loved her job and was good at it, but ‘…my job was not as glamorous, nor as prestigious, as those of most of the other guests. A lot of people couldn’t understand why I would want to surround myself with criminals… They struggled to see the value in what I was doing…’
This morning I was reminded of Jesus’ words:
‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… and you will find rest for your souls…’
Jesus promises to provide rest – that’s good news – but it’s for weary burden-carriers – that’s tough. He promises to share the load – more good news – but we must take our share too.
Good news often comes as a cost.
malcolmsmusings.org 