A Morning Parable

 I got up ‘grumpy’ on Tuesday morning!  I had a dental appointment – a root filing – and I’m not the best when it comes to ‘the drill’!

So, rather dreading what was coming, I plodded to the dentist with my head down longing for the next hour to be over.  That was until I say a young lad on his way to school, he could have been no more than 14, and there he was in the middle of the street on his phone.  Nothing unusual about that, apart from the fact that he was taking a picture of the glorious sunrise, first facing one way and then the next; a sunrise that I had completely failed to register.

This boy’s face was transfixed by the stunning beauty of a sunny autumn morning, and he obviously wanted to capture it on his iPhone.

I confess I felt, at one at the same time, chastened and inspired.  Chastened that I was so consumed with my dread of the ‘drill’ that I had missed the beauty of an early October day, and inspired that a member of the younger generation had appreciated it so much that he wanted to capture it on his phone.

Well, I walked over the railway bridge into the centre of town and looked down on the commuters lining up for the 7.49am to Marylebone.  They had their phones out too, but not to take a photo of the sunrise!

I entered the dentist, and the next 30 mins were pain free – what a wimp I had been to let such anxiety take hold.

Later that day I chaired an EcoChurch committee at AFC and I couldn’t help but remember the wonder on the young lad’s face as he greeted the sunrise.  It gave me great encouragement and became a helpful morning parable.