I have survived another very full and busy week of ministry and workplace chaplaincy. One of the aspects of life I have found powerful is the human interactions and I'll tell you about some of them.
* On Tuesday I was visiting a chaplaincy and not long before I was to leave the lunch room, one of the bosses came in. He sat down opposite me and we talked about his life and recent changes. We are both in our sixties so we shared health stories and our experiences with doctors and various ailments. He then took the opportunity to catch me up on all the people in the job who were off sick, had ailments or were on light duties. We speculated about what retirement would mean for each of us. We had known each other for 17 years, and it was good to spend the time together.
* On another day I visited another place and talked with a number of people, and was pleased with the warmth of the reception I got. I was talking to one guy catching up on his work and his life when I felt this dig in my ribs. A fire crew was visiting the site and these guys could not walk past me without giving me cheek.
* I walk between the church and a couple of my chaplaincies and am always intrigued by the number of people that I meet and talk with on the journey. Every time I make the trip I end up talking to some body. The other day I came across a man who used to come to our drop-in centre. He is a man I respect who is a published poet and writer. I crossed the road and realised he was crossing just down from me. We stopped and talked. I love how whenever we meet we slide into significant and thoughtful stuff quickly and comfortably. He had recently had a friend suicide and we talked about that.
* On Friday night I had a great night of warmth, acceptance and friendship at the drop-in centre. Even though it is a very long day, I felt it was a very special night, and after 16 years of running the drop-in centre I still feel it is well worth doing.
* On Saturday night we had a "family night" linked to Space2B. We have these evenings, with a "pot luck" meal, when particularly new immigrants come with their ethnic food to share. Before we eat we go around the room and share where we have come from. Here is the list; New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Israel, Philippines, Iraq, Malaysia, India, Pakistan... that's all that I can remember. All I know is that it was a great experience wandering around eating the great variety of foods talking to the great variety of people. You had a sense of diversity, variety and difference, but ironically a much deeper sense of essential unity, of being brothers and sisters on the journey of life together. I felt quite privileged.
Many years ago I read a book by J A T Robinson called "Honest to God". Many considered it heretical then (written in 1963) and I guess many would still think that way. I have been looking through it again since my experiences reminded me of truths expounded in that book. I remembered that he mentions in the book that God is found in relationships. That where Jesus speaks of "wherever two or three are gathered ... there I am in their midst" points to this experience. (somewhere in the book) It is a long time since I read the book but that has stuck with me all these years. I pulled the book out of my bookshelves (yes I do sometimes find the book I want!) and thumbed through it. He points out that God is not so much the "God up there" but more "a depth at the centre of life". I share some quotes;
But for the Bible 'the deep things of God' cannot be plumbed, the transcendence of God cannot be understood, simply by searching the depths of the individual soul. God, since he is Love, is encountered in his fullness only 'between man and man'. (That sexist language was OK in 1963)
God, the unconditional, is to be found only in, with and under the conditioned relationships of this life: for he is their depth and ultimate significance.
Whether one has 'known' God is tested by one question only, 'How deeply have you loved?' - for 'He who does not love does not know God; for God is love'.
That is enough to make my point. I believe that God is a reality wherever people meet each other with openness, a sense of fraternity and love. It is my experience that somehow the transcendence of God can be experienced as people meet with people. It is also my experience that in the meeting and sharing together personal growth can happen and wholeness is discovered. That is why I run a drop-in centre, Space2B, sit and chat in chaplaincies and meet people on a regular basis. While I am basically a shy guy who likes his own company, again and again if I forget myself, get out of my comfort zone a bit and reach out to others with an open spirit, I experience "the sacred" in the midst of ordinary life amongst ordinary people who I come to love.
This week I met God.... again and again! And for that I am deeply grateful.
Photos:
* My copy of "Honest to God" by Bishop John Robinson. Unfortunately Bishop Robinson died at a relatively young age.
* The "Phantom" book given to me by one of my blog readers. I include this photo just to make my friend in Australia jealous. He is a "Ghost who walks" fan.
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