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The Other Half The Other Half
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As we drove down to Brighton last Sunday we travelled through quite a lot of rain but, after the showers, we were treated to the sight of a beautiful rainbow suspended over the Downs. It is an amazing sight and I started thinking about people in ancient times who would have looked at rainbows in the sky but would have had no idea how they appeared! It is no wonder that they believed them to be a sign from the gods who lived “somewhere up there” Since the Age of Enlightenment, people have not been content to see and accept without understanding. We are constantly trying to explain everything that happens; everything that exists. This is a good thing, in many ways, but maybe we have lost the awe of mystery, the acceptance of unexplained happenings as being beyond our comprehension. I must confess that when I was reading Science at University I truly believed that, one day, We would explain everything so who needed a God! I am so grateful that even in my ignorance and pride our God never abandoned me. He waited for that time when I became curious to know the truth about Him – and my life changed from the moment I turned back to Him. I went from demanding to understand to accepting His existence and consequently, His ability and right to do anything He wanted. And everything fell into place and life made sense. As I look around me I see many people who as yet, have not recognised Jesus as their Saviour. Some of them seem quite happy about it but most recognise a “hole within” themselves which seems impossible to fill. We know it is a God-shaped hole - and our God waits patiently for everyone to turn and meet Him!. Can we help? Obviously the answer is yes. But just as it would have been impossible to explain the reason why rainbows appear to people who had no inkling about refraction or of white light being made up of many colours (apologies to all of you who shout – that’s not how it works!), so we have to meet people where they are on their spiritual journeys – because everyone IS on a spiritual journey even if they don’t know it! It is so easy to forget that some people have no idea what we mean when we use religious “buzz words” We forget that exuberant praise and enthusiasm can be very disconcerting. And we so often expect people to have knowledge that WE take for granted but they have not yet learnt. Last night I was trying to download an e-mail attachment from a friend and it was not in the format I was used to. After several attempts I acknowledged defeat and asked him to send it in a basic form which I could open. Instead of giving me a lecture and brief seminar on downloading suitable software he graciously met me where I was and produced a Word document – NO PROBLEM! That’s what I mean – meet people where they are without making them feel inadequate or wrong. If we can walk alongside folk, just being witnesses for our God – He’ll do the rest! He already knows the time and place when they too will say “I see!” and “Thank you”. © Sue Whitehead
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