Confessions of a Salivator: Countdown...
This is good. (Not the picture, the blog, the picture, I just like...But the above blog, and hopefully below is about temporariness, so think.) Deep profound and good. It made me think. Peter Ustinov once said "It is our responsibilities, not ourselves, that we should take seriously." and I believe to a point he is right. Some people do take themselves far too seriously, and you can see that in such a blog as the one above, he is definitely taking the responsibilities of living in Burley (which I happen to also have - although I am one of the dreaded constantly moving students of which Mark speaks) seriously. Giving up the time to truly comprehend everything he has had over the past five years. If it was himself he would not be upset to see Burley go, or in fact bothered that he's leaving one reality behind to find a new one.
I get annoyed, in a similar way, how students refuse to get attached to a place they have lived for 3 or 4 years, and don't realise the community around them. I believe this is noticed far more by church goers than the lesser beings who like to keep Sundays free, where the church truly values community. Therefore, even the students who make a decision to go back home, or travel, or go elsewhere at least, do feel that the short time in that church was good, and right, and it is hard to let it go. Those uninvolved in a church yet still a church goer will not get the same inclusiveness that the church makes available. As such I am so confused as to the amount of Christian brother and sisters I have met over the past year who are not attached to their house. That's all it is. Not a home, but a temporary living space, that gives storage space while the qualification they have been called to acquire is nothing more than a certificate.
I suppose the one thing I take comfort in is, even though there is so much movement amongst the early twenties, there is not one student who needs to feel at home in their place. Because we are not of this world. We do not belong anywhere. We should only feel attached to the lost who cannot comprehend more than their short 80 years on this fallen planet. What is after this? Judgment. All will have to answer for every decision they make, and if they have the support offered they will be with their church as they once were, whereas those who reject that support will be refused the glory. Sent to a place without the presence that even this earth experiences so regularly.
Where do we go from here? Out into the world. Showing people the truth and attractiveness that this amazing walk has taken me so far. Most will not accept it, because they have the hearts that cannot accept it. No matter what is said they will be hardened to the truth and God know who they are. But that doesn't mean that we should give up at the first hurdle. We are called to persevere in our calling, and one thing I should say is there is always hope. You may have missed or you may have planted a seed that you never see grow. But don't think that an "No" now is always that. People are fickle. People change. And there is always hope in the message that saved me, and that can or has saved you.
So I say to take your responsibilities seriously...But be ready to laugh at yourself, and your situation. As Mark did, does and I do.
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