Friday, July 26, 2013

Thought for the Day 26th July 2013



Good morning,
 
I don't like people very much.
 
Well that could get a vicar into trouble. But, as with a lot of folk, I have a preference for the inner world over the outer. I am an introvert.
 
So let me explain my opening. I don't like people very much (beat) as a way of re-charging my batteries. I don't do that in company. I need to be alone with a book, a piece of writing paper or a film. I am the one you see happily by himself in the cinema, on a Friday afternoon.
 
The Bible has no concept of a church where people don't meet. There are at least four places where team-work is applauded. Suggestions are made of different gifts and skills that make up an effective working group. Jesus had a bunch of followers.
 
But note this. He had to get away from them, and is described as getting up early in the morning to pray alone in the hills.
 
Mark's gospel tells a story of Jesus coming back from such a quiet time to see huge crowds waiting for healing. In one of his more shocking statements, and he made many, he said 'Let's go somewhere else.'
 
Festivals are great. Be it Olympic crowds or all the Harbour-side stuff this weekend in Bristol. Great entertainment and the buzz of the masses. If we meet there I'm sure I'll like you. But after a while I'll need to escape.
 
So that's enough inter-action for a Friday morning. I'm off for a quiet coffee somewhere to get some energy back before I have to meet people again. How do you re-charge?




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