Jesus Is The Way

  Here’s a surprise. It turns out I’m not so great at forgiveness.   I find it much easier to cling onto the stuff that irritates me than I do to let it go. I need that niggling splinter wedged under the skin to keep me alert. Something stung and the little shard of unforgiveness lets me keep it in focus so that next time that rough edge draws near I know enough to give it a wide berth. But of course I don’t really avoid it. I push the splinter in deeper so that I remember and rage.   Unforgiveness also keeps me in control. It appeals to my sense of self. I’m wronged, and don’t you forget it. And in harbouring the darkness I kid myself that I’ve captured it, tamed it, or at least stored it till I can use it.   I could make a daily list of the wrongdoers – a roll call of the guilty; the driver who cut me up, in fact anyone who jumps a queue ahead of me , the one who spreads stories about me , the neighbour who makes a noise that disturb...

  If you were to live your life as a follower of Jesus, what do you think it would be like?   Would you expect to be guaranteed health, wealth, happiness and a quiet life? You might get all of that, but I wouldn’t count on it.   Health and happiness? Yes please, even though everything in my experience of the world so far tells me both things can’t last. Wealth? A little more wouldn’t hurt, but you’ve got to be in it to win it, as they say, either by birth, by graft or just plain luck. And wealth can vanish in the breathing of a microscopic virus.   A quiet life? That might be your thing, but some of us prefer the unpredictable crash and clatter of a life lived with risk.   In my experience a life of faith can’t be restrained, cosy or materially secure to make it worth adopting as a way of being. Surely it has to be at least a little edgy, a little uncomfortable, a little challenging? Faith is going to make us step out of the boat if we want t...