Neat gesture....

This morning I felt like a square peg in a round hole again. I talked about the scripture passage, but knew that most of my listeners would not understand.. they have been "Christians" for years, but I was talking about "following Jesus". At lunch my wife and I were talking about two friends we have through Habitat for Humanity. Both volunteer in the community, (Hospice, Habitat etc.) both are really loving people but both have given up attending church. As far as the "movement" and "spirit" of Jesus, both have latched on to it, but they do fit in church. In my view many of my church people on the other hand, have no idea of the "movement" or "spirit" even though (or maybe "because") they have attended church for years. Never mind, enough negativity.  I know I am a bit eccentric, but it is a very lonely journey at the moment with few people who understand where I bounce from.

At the Habitat site yesterday something really neat happened. Christine, is Maori, a mother of ten children, in a long term relationship with her partner. We are building the house with her and her family. She has been a smoker and has been talking about giving it up. On Saturday morning she announced that she was now a non-smoker. She had not had a smoke for 3 days. 

Don is a christian retired carpenter now in his eighties but very fit. He was working on site and heard of this change in Christine's life. He is relatively quiet, but loves a bit of joking from time to time. At 12 midday each Saturday he knocks off and goes home to have lunch with his wife. When he returned yesterday the rest of us were still sitting around finishing our lunchtime cup of tea. He came into the group with a beautifully prepared bunch of flowers and presented them to Christine, saying "This is just to congratulate the new non-smoker in our midst." It was sooo neat. I was thinking too that probably Don would not have had much to do with the Christine's of this world. He is a different generation, white and middle class. But because of Habitat they get to know each other, appreciate each other and enjoy their time together. It is really so good for them, for the community and for the climate of our society.