A REFLECTION ON KNEES - April 2008
I might as well try and earn some sympathy. I have a bad right knee at the moment and it is profoundly affecting my way of life. I am continually contriving ways to shorten the walks that I do, or, ideally, exclude them altogether. Woe is me! When I tell you that the problem results from a sports injury I will probably lose all your sympathy, but it was nice while it lasted!
The interesting thing to me is that the knee problem has caused me to look at life with very different eyes. Suddenly the whole shape of my life is different. I would love to take the dog for a walk, or have a game of tennis – but I can’t. It’s as simple as that. The experience has certainly been a good reminder to me that I take a great deal for granted, but it has also been good to see life from a very different perspective. I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on those people who always have mobility problems. All being well my problems will disappear with surgery at the end of the month – but there are many for whom such relief is not available.
The New Testament makes clear that the church is a community of people who, because of our common commitment to Christ, care for one another so deeply that we seek to see life through one another’s eyes. As a result “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12.26) Christian fellowship is about seeing life from the perspective of our Christian brothers and sisters. The writer to the Hebrews describes this dramatically when he writes, “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.” (Hebrews 13.3)
This is deeply challenging for all of us. We are continually tempted to live our lives in our own little bubbles. But Christ calls us to a different life in which the sadness, the disabilities, the joys and the opportunities of others become our own. This demands imagination and understanding but, above everything else, love.
As a Baptist Union, we are spending a great deal of energy at the moment reflecting on the way in which people of different ethnic backgrounds live and work together. We have tried to face up to the agonizing fact that racism still riddles our society. We are also reflecting hard on the way in which we embrace the ministry of women within the denomination, acknowledging the pain and rejection that our women ministers have often experienced. Over the past few days I have been doing some research into the provision for deaf people in our churches. While these issues are remote from us – “someone else’s problem” – we will get nowhere. We need to love one another so deeply that we feel the pain, the isolation, the joy and the misunderstanding that others know.
This is tough stuff … but this is the language of love.
Previous articles...
Telling our stories (March 2008)
The Power of Invitation (February 2008)
Seeing with new eyes (Janaury 2008)
Deep Listening (December 2007)
On Our Knees Again...and again (November 2007)
Living With Danger (October 2007)
Summer Reflections (September 2007)
Moving On (August 2007)
Looking at old age with new eyes! (July 2007)
To assemble or not to assemble?! (June 2007)
Freedom - The Search Goes On! (May 2007)