They say the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain! I’ve never quite understood the meaning of this saying, but we have certainly had rain lately! I have actually clapped, saying to my friend Gerry in Ireland that he and those in the UK don’t usually clap when it rains, but I do. My olive trees have been desperate for water.
When the essentials of life are missing, we worry. Which reminds me of a Polo mint; when something is missing in the middle. If you like mints, but don’t want a hole in the middle, you buy mints without a hole. Simples! If you look on YouTube and type in chatsparkbench you will have seen our latest short video where Gerry and I talk briefly about the hole some people feel in the middle of their life. It’s called ‘Men and matters of the heart’. We guys seem to find difficulty in expressing our emotions and matters of the heart. We can talk about things like football and sport, but don’t feel comfortable when the conversation gets closer to home. Women seem to find such conversations easier. They understand and are more willing to engage, yet perhaps many men and women feel there is a hole in their life which they are never fully able to satisfy. Family and friends meet that need, but maybe there is a deeper longing; call it spirituality, which always seems to be allusive and just out of reach. Know what I mean; the eternal hole in the middle? Christian Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples of various religions tend to preach to the converted; they have a captive audience. Many are what they are brought up to follow.
I am always concerned about those who have not been taught about Faith, or have decided to reject the teaching, because that is where the hole appears and an inner struggle develops which no Faith can seem to fill. The answer is to reject and keep seeking, sometimes subconsciously. World events outside our control do not help, as we seem to spin endlessly from one crisis to another. It may be time to seriously examine the hole in the middle of our life and ask what we need to know and be as certain as we can with answers to our questions.
Always available if you want a chat.
Take care and God bless you
Rev Andrew