Wearily upward

I was travelling in Central Asia a while ago, and, after returning to the regular fold of things, I reflected on my journey and experiences. I reflected on how wonderful, amazing, awesome and truly memorable it was as I rummaged through photos and some of my journal entries. The scenery was breathtaking. The people we met were beautiful, sincere and truly friendly. I was blessed with being part of a marvellous team, sharing stories, laughing together and making prescious memories. It was awesome. And yet, on reflection, if I were to single out one thing that made this trip super special, it would be not being needed for anything by anyone. I recognised that (for me at least, and probably for all people working with other human beings in some capacity) it is good to get away from being needed by others. Sometimes. For various reasons, I suppose. One being that we can easily fall into the trap of making others' need for us the defining part of our identity. Another being that it...

Fear can make us do funny things. I remember as a youngster how, after my evening bath, I would switch off the bathroom light, run through the living room (in darkness) and into the safety of our well lit kitchen. Then, at bedtime, I would jump onto my bed from a significant amount of feet away, just in case there were something with hands underneath it. "Were I the only one?" I think as I check for creepy fingers beneath my desk at work... Fear also makes us miss wonderful opportunities and experiences. On the other hand there is FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out); doing so much because you're afraid of missing out. The underlying driving force, however, is still fear. Whether it impels us into doing/attempting too much (FOMO), makes us freeze (not doing/attempting when we should), makes us fly (jumping onto our beds for no apparent reason), or makes us fight (putting up walls/defences with fists and guns raised), it is all driven by fear. John sees the Christian life in...