Epiphany!

DISCLAIMER: I’ve had a sort of road-to-Damascus/Homer-Simpson epiphany recently and as a result this post seems to mainly be an abstract string of thoughts. Sorry about that. I’ll get back to writing sensible (more sensible) stuff next week.

P.S. I also thought it might be nice to display some art by someone else. So here’s a masterpiece painted by my lovely sister, it was so much fun to see her for the weekend, not to mention hanging out with Beth and Hattie for the evening, although obviously not the same without the oldest Basson sister (Abby we missed you!).

Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of Bekah Brain and Ben Allen. It was a great wedding, for all sorts of reasons, but what really stood out was that Bekah and Ben not only loved one another tonnes, but they also loved their friends and family (which I suppose is why they invited them to see their marriage).

In his speech, Steve (Bekah’s dad) said that Bekah had a real love for life and I interpreted that to mean that she loves the people around her, the world we live in and the opportunities and situations that she encounters. And as I sat there, mostly listening but also thinking that the cauliflower cheese I had just eaten hadn’t been seasoned properly, I began to wonder whether I had a love for life. As you can probably the guess, my answer was not a resounding yes.

At a wedding the bride and groom, not to mention their closest friends and family, publicly tell each other how much they love one another. And at a wedding like Ben and Bekah’s where there is so much love to tell about, this can be a very moving experience. It moved me anyway and I got thinking about who I really loved, and it dawned on me that I didn’t rate that love very highly. In my usual boring week love wasn’t something that got me out of bed in the morning.

So what was I living for? What did get me out of bed? Breakfast, mostly. But also the continual hope that the future would be better than the present, with better relationships and better ways to fill my time. I was like the travellers in my story the other week who were always searching for the better place which did not exist.

I’m sure we all take the good stuff that we have right now for granted once in a while. And despite all those Christmas films (the ones where the parent puts work before family then learns the true meaning of Christmas) which preach all those great messages, it usually takes something a lot more personal and closer to home to make us realise that we’ve got something wrong.

It is so easy to start living entirely for ourselves. Well, I’ve found it very easy anyway, and I didn’t even know it was happening. So I’ve had to start asking myself how much I’m doing for me, and how much is for other people, do I need to spend as much time as I do doing what I enjoy, or can I donate some time to someone else?

So, if you don’t already, have a careful examination of your life – and try to do it honestly. Luckily for me, God showed me what was really important before it was too late (although I suspect that it’s never too late), but not until after I’d wasted quite a lot of time. We need to make sure we don’t take anything/anyone valuable for granted, and did you know that you can ask God for a bit of zest for life if you don’t think you have any? Because I’m guessing he gives Bekah her love of life, and there’s plenty more to go round for anyone that wants it.

“I [Jesus] came that you might have life – life in all its fullness.” John 10:10

Apologies again for talking about myself so much. I wouldn't bother if I didn't think that there might be something you can learn from it! I'll be back to ordinary posts soon. Hopefully.