Moments

A green, unkempt, empty, large grassy area. No trees, flowers or shrubs. Nothing. Simply grass as far as the eye can see. Here lie graves full of dead bodies. Six in a plot. The sad end to lives destroyed by the common factors of homelessness and alcoholism. Who were those men? No one knows. No one cares. An image shown to one of the celebrities in the documentary "Rich, Famous and Homeless"

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you……love each other" John 15 : 9, 12

A man worn, dishevelled and thin sitting on a bench outside Byker Pool, clutching a bottle. I shook his hand it felt sticky. Andy sat next to him, put a hand on his shoulder and prayed he’d know Jesus as a friend. "That’s sweet" said Peter. I looked in his eyes there were tears. He was touched by the love of God. We walked away.

Martyn Joseph sings a song with the line "sweet tender moments with life in between." Moments. Moments of joy. Moments of peace. Moments of healing. Moments of clarity. Moments when heaven touches earth. Moments. A conference on pastoral care for people with dementia, I begun to catch hold afresh onto this idea of moments. Bart Campolo at the Incarnate conference described it differently and yet spoke of moments. In his ministry in the ghettos of America with poor broken people he said he had no miraculous stories to tell, but he told us of moments. Moments such as when he’s helping a young girl who’s been raped and the mother treats her daughter with hate and contempt. Bart he loses it. He has righteous anger on behalf of the daughter. Later the mother confesses, that she’d been raped as a child, never told anyone. Then he has a moment with her.

I’ve worked with people who were at the end of the line, twenty or thirty years or maybe more of mental illness, institutionalisation, drugs and numerous interventions. For about 4 years I worked with some. My stories night not sound very miraculous at all but to me there were moments. Many moments and those moments built upon each other and then I saw breakthroughs. A defensive, isolated institutionalised man with schizophrenia becomes a friend to another man. They would catch the bus together, cook together, make music together, go to a café together. He trusted me and shared his story with me. They were all wonderful breakthroughs.

In the mundane of life and the unglamorous where there are no big awards do we love each other? When no one is looking, or appreciative and the matter seems small or irrelevant do we obey our Father’s command?

Andy Carlisle in a piece in the JAM blog quotes Deuteronomy 23: 12 -14 saying " In case we get too heavenly minded. God reminds us that he is interested in people, all of life and that he cares about justice. Justice for those deprived of basic needs like water and toilets." Campaigning on this is one way we can love each other.

We can love each other by choosing a lifestyle that is respectful of the environment and is selfless. Changing my lifestyle from one that was ignorant, unloving and environmentally destructive began with simple choices. One day in a shop I decided to spend more money and buy energy saving light bulbs. I had a moment. Each moment then led to another until a few years later and my lifestyle is more in tune with the environment and the positive impact I can have in loving others though my lifestyle choices. It’s a similar story with buying fair trade, in a moment in a shop I chose to buy fair trade tea. Another moment where I let go of my money, opened my hands and loved others. The more moments like this, the less of a battle it is and the more open I find my hands becoming.

Slowly I’m starting to understand that my Faith, loving others, living by the spirit is not about any great amazing spiritual act although it can be but it is equally about making everyday choices to love whether that be people at home, church, work, school, my street, town or the other side of the World. It is very simple and it starts with the smallest moments. Shaking a homeless man’s hand, wiping my daughter’s bottom, kissing my husband, getting on the metro, phoning a friend and countless other ways we can obey our Father’s command to love each other depending on our own individual make up. God’s love is desperately needed in this World.

" As the Father has loved me so have I loved you… love each other" John 15: 9, 12