 Enjoy the Ride! I’m not a great fan of fast rollercoasters but I’ve been on enough to know why they’re called white knuckle rides. You’re gripping the safety bar tightly – clinging on as things feel very out of control; clinging on as the world flies at you from all directions; clinging on and waiting for that moment you can get off. For some of us, having a church role at the present time can sometimes feel like that. It can feel like there’s so much coming at you that all you can focus on is keeping your grip until, hopefully, the ride slows down and stops. And then, when it does, you realise that, despite all that activity, you’re back where you started and there’s no-one waiting to take your place. So you have to stay on. Sound familiar? Last week, I used an Ascension Day meditation by Nick Fawcett. He reflected, through the mouthpiece of Philip, how the disciples might have felt to lose Jesus for a second time. How would they cope with the ride ahead? How would they be able to hold on without Jesus? The answer looked ahead to this coming Sunday – Pentecost Sunday. “ … he was gone nonetheless, snatched away from us once more. Only he wasn’t. He was with us much more meaningfully, not in the flesh but in Spirit – around us, beside us, beyond us, within us, touching our lives in every part. … No wonder he blessed us when he took his leave, for though he’s far away now at the Father’s side, through his Spirit he couldn’t be more near.” Pentecost was where God gave the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Church was born. Jesus was gone and yet he wasn’t. What happened next took our rollercoaster image into Snowman or Polar Express territory. Under the Holy Spirit, the Church took off both literally and metaphorically. Far from holding on for dear life, those daunted disciples were transformed. That’s what always happens when you realise that Jesus is with you. Never forget that Jesus is with us too. Never forget that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, wants to lead us. Loosen your knuckles and put your hand into his. Let’s enjoy the ride! The storm may roar without me, my heart may low be laid; but God is round about me, and can I be dismayed? With Love Steve |