Yesterday…
…We watched the latest episode of Celebrity Traitors. There was the usual team challenge – this one in a haunted hut. There were whispered discussions as they tried to work out the identities of the traitors. There were clues and theories; at the round table there were accusations and defensive assurances of being ‘a faithful’.
In the end, despite their best efforts to discover truth, they got it wrong. Another ‘faithful’ was voted out of the house.
…‘Singing for Health’ included ‘The Water is Wide’. We sung:
The water is wide, I can’t cross over
Nor do I have light wings to fly
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
It’s about the complexity of love. Subsequent lines, ‘Love grows old and waxes cold and fades away like Summer dew,’ suggests that love changes and sometimes disappears. Despite our best efforts love is sometimes difficult or even impossible.
…‘Singing for Health’ included ‘The Water is Wide’. We sung:
The water is wide, I can’t cross over
Nor do I have light wings to fly
Build me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
It’s about the complexity of love. Subsequent lines, ‘Love grows old and waxes cold and fades away like Summer dew,’ suggests that love changes and sometimes disappears. Despite our best efforts love is sometimes difficult or even impossible.
…I read Pamela Brown-Peterside reflecting on the death of her Ugandan friend Jesika:
‘Contemplating Jesika’s tragic journey with HIV, I’m tempted to conclude that no matter how much we care, however much we give ourselves here hoping to have an impact, our work feels inadequate and insufficient. Despite our best efforts, death and loss persist. Yet I have to cling to the bigger reality that death doesn’t have the final say…’
This morning I read a familiar story. The disciples, seasoned fishermen, are in a boat. The storm comes. The disciples are scared that they will drown; Jesus is with them but asleep. Despite the familiarity of the situation, despite their experience, despite their best efforts, they panic and wake Jesus… And Jesus shows that when they come to the end of their familiarity, experience and best efforts, he can bring peace.
And somewhere, beyond my best efforts to discover truth, give and receive love, cope with sickness and death, I too can discover the Jesus who brings peace to the stormy forces out of my control.
