Lent: Day Sixteen-S

It is Sunday. Sunday’s are breaks from the observance of Lent. They are a day of rest to get ready for the intensity of the next six. We went to services this morning, and then out to lunch with a couple who leads the Alpha group my wife is in. They wanted to meet me, since my wife brings up what I think about things a lot during their Wednesday night discussions.

Alpha has been good for my wife. It is the first thing of its type that she has done completely on her own, without me. It is allowing her to define her own Christianity apart from me for the first time, which is both necessary and good. We all have to move from listening to others to expressing our own understanding of our faith. It has taken my wife a long time to arrive at this point, but she got there on her own, and she is doing this on her own initiative, which is very important. The next step will be for her to express her own opinions in these spiritual discussions, not just what she thinks about what I have said in the past. It will come and I am excited for her.

We all grow at different rates. Some of us grow quickly, shooting up to great heights in a short time. Others grow slowly and it is only by looking at things over many years that you notice the inexorable change. I tend to be a hare, my wife the tortoise. She anchors my flightiness; I spur her reluctance into action. When we work at it, we balance well.

It is important to remember those distinctions and realize it is natural for us to be different and to appreciate our uniqueness for what it is, necessary parts of the larger body of Christ. We need trailblazers, people who will go through barely cracked doors or are even willing to try every handle in the corridor on the off chance one may be unlocked. We also need the steady people who come behind, who give the point men a place to come back to, a sure foundation in which to find their rest. We also need all of those who fit in between, the connecting rods of the engine of faith.

God has placed each us where we need to be. As Paul reminds us, in 1 Corinthians 12:21 “And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” We all need each other, just as I need my wife and my wife needs me.

Grace and peace to your day.