Rugs are mountains and caves
I was in a rug store once, it was sort posh for us.
We were doing the adult thing ruling the rugs in by style, size, colour and desire. Then ruling them out by price, we have found it a good efficient process. Perhaps Erin and I should keep this as one of our values of life. We were asking very practical question of each other and the staff. Rugs were in piles of perhaps twenty or more. So if you like the one at the bottom the staff would flip them back and pull out the one you were going to rule out by price. But in these situations I am easily distracted and my eyes began to wander to a young child perhaps 4 or 5 years old. This child knew nothing of rugs; hand tied, colours, size, durability or price. But then that is not what the child saw. He saw mountains ranges. He struggled to the top of the mountain and expressed to the whole of the rug department he had conquered the mountain. With his newly discovered confidence in his mountaineering ability without any support team make his way to another mountain. Not fully fulfilled offered by height the mountains he turned to caving. The boy discovered that if he flipped the rugs over you get a cave to climb through, this he achieved without the aid of ropes or wet gear. This boy had been taken with his parents shopping for rugs they had gone to the same place but saw and experienced something very different. Soon it was time for us to make a compromise on a rug between desire and budget and the parents to take their explorer of for his afternoon nap.
Often in life we adults see rugs and children see something much more exciting, Jesus knew this. Unless you see or approach the Kingdom of God like a child he said. Not childishly but with energy, not childishly but with fresh imagination, not cynically but with a new way of seeing. The next time we see a pile rugs maybe we need to rethink what is before us.
I was in a rug store once, it was sort posh for us.
We were doing the adult thing ruling the rugs in by style, size, colour and desire. Then ruling them out by price, we have found it a good efficient process. Perhaps Erin and I should keep this as one of our values of life. We were asking very practical question of each other and the staff. Rugs were in piles of perhaps twenty or more. So if you like the one at the bottom the staff would flip them back and pull out the one you were going to rule out by price. But in these situations I am easily distracted and my eyes began to wander to a young child perhaps 4 or 5 years old. This child knew nothing of rugs; hand tied, colours, size, durability or price. But then that is not what the child saw. He saw mountains ranges. He struggled to the top of the mountain and expressed to the whole of the rug department he had conquered the mountain. With his newly discovered confidence in his mountaineering ability without any support team make his way to another mountain. Not fully fulfilled offered by height the mountains he turned to caving. The boy discovered that if he flipped the rugs over you get a cave to climb through, this he achieved without the aid of ropes or wet gear. This boy had been taken with his parents shopping for rugs they had gone to the same place but saw and experienced something very different. Soon it was time for us to make a compromise on a rug between desire and budget and the parents to take their explorer of for his afternoon nap.
Often in life we adults see rugs and children see something much more exciting, Jesus knew this. Unless you see or approach the Kingdom of God like a child he said. Not childishly but with energy, not childishly but with fresh imagination, not cynically but with a new way of seeing. The next time we see a pile rugs maybe we need to rethink what is before us.
Shalom Nigel.
ReplyDeleteYou have a great Blog here it's interesting,informative and very provocative in places, you have a real gift so keep up the good work we look forward to the next episode and don't forget to have a great time.So as the late great Duke Ellington would say "We love you madly" Mike and Mandy.
This is so inspiring to read - engages your imagination - the way you write takes you to places....and therefore the point you draw out sticks with you and challenges...
ReplyDeleteJust brilliant ...and thank you...
Am eagerly turning on my computer each day now !