Wednesday 17th March 2021: Nothing to talk about?

 Whilst listening to the radio the other evening, as I cooked supper, I was struck by a phrase used by one of the programme contributors who reflected, with some sense of both frustration and sadness that as the pandemic rolls on: we are all running out of things to talk about!  I thought it contained a grain of truth, especially on wider family weekend Zoom calls when we are asked the question: How’s your week been?  It is sometimes tempting to respond: Well, it’s been just like last week and the one before that!

Yet, the reality is that most of us keep talking, even when there’s not too much to say!  And that’s good, because keeping the lines of communication open in a family, church or community is always so important.

Sharing our ‘silence’ is not quite so easy on Zoom as we, quite naturally, are eager to fill the gaps.  And this, perhaps, is where Zoom isn’t a complete substitute for in person conversation.  The silences, alongside the ‘off camera’ looks punctuate and deepen our dialogue.

Maybe the greatest downside of Zoom is that often it feels a little ‘prescribed’ and lacks a certain spontaneity.  Sometimes, no often, the best in life is unplanned.

During Lent we, as it were, follow Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem and, along the way, the gospel writers chronicle one encounter after another.  None of it seems like a planned and sterile campaign but a chaotic and spontaneous journey full of challenges that brought both joy and despair.  W learn the most about Jesus in his responses to these unplanned moments.

I’ve never really subscribed to the spirituality that believes God has a ‘perfect’ plan for my life and all I must do is ‘discover’ it.  Instead, I think the greater challenge, and more honest understanding of life, is for us to recognise that we can never predict or plan life, all we can do is respond to these challenges with love, integrity, courage, and conviction.

If God does have a plan for our lives, surely it is this: that we reflect the grace of Jesus in all the ups and downs that come our way.  And maybe it will be in the gaps, those unplanned moments, that both our love and God’s strength, will become most apparent – and be something that’s really worth talking about.