Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Thought for the Day

After a brief chat about facial hair, as you do, and insults from Steve le Fevre about my salt and pepper stubble, here is the script for today's Thought for the Day from BBC Radio Bristol this morning:

Hey Steve. Looking for a thrill? Or for you is it a quiet life you seek? Ready for anything or quietly complacent?

Some people seem to live their lives looking for the next rush caused by excitement. Surfing on the Severn Bore. Water-sliding down Park Street. Getting into roller derbies as we heard on the show yesterday. Or sneaking around by night doing street art.

There are clearly some, but is the BBC Radio Bristol area full of adrenaline junkies?

In my day job as a parish priest I meet a lot of people who have worked to make their lives less exciting. They now know what is coming towards them and are glad to have security about it. They have eliminated uncertainty from their future, or so they think. I'm not so sure.

What about you? Risk averse or seeker of kicks?

In Holy Week we remember a journey taken by a man on a donkey straight into the power-structures of old Jerusalem. It wasn't thrill-seeking although tables were tipped and crowds were shouting. Maundy Thursday tomorrow is the story of how Jesus struggled with the inevitability of talking his way to his death. And the decision he eventually made to accept it. Jesus didn't dice with death. He died.

How about us? Crowd surfers or comfortable sitters; we have no idea what is round the next corner. We either don't want to be excited at all or we want to be just shocked enough to get a buzz. We love surviving a thrill, a scare, a ride, a bungee jump. But we don't want to die. Just flirt with death a bit.

But for what, or who, would you lay down your life?

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