Thursday 19 July 2012

I want it now society.

We live in such an incredibly fast world now. My children will never have to wait to save up money then wait until Saturday to go & buy the latest record (on vinyl) because they will just download it from the iTunes credit they already have from Christmas or birthdays etc. The gap from wanting it to owning it is virtually non existent. Where's the fun in that? Then we have the need for answers. Answers to almost anything you want to know are just a search engine away. No need for libraries or finding the peron you hope will know. Simply tap it into your computer, phone, or iPad & away you go. We don't even have to wait to fire up a computer anymore, listening to the whirs, clicks & singing of a dial-up connection. It got me thinking that this could be the root of why some people become disillusioned with God. When we go to God with a problem we are not going to get a list of possible answers to our prayer up. There's usually (although not always) a wait, sometimes years. But when the answer comes there will only be one & it will be the right one. Our options then only extend to whether we go with that answer or ignore it. Perhaps this is also why Christianity is on the up in less privilaged nations. They are not conditioned to having it all right now. Their lives are more focused on waiting as nothing comes to them easily. They don't even have the luxury of instant water out of a tap, even the bare necessities take patience to achieve. So it leads me to conclude that waiting leaves time for spiritual growth. When everything else is stripped back it leaves Him & all the 'stuff' represents The Enemy whispering in our ears telling us we won't be happy until we have a new car, bigger house, lose those extra pounds, go on that big holiday or whatever it may be. Let's be still, let's wait & try & ignore the urge to rush out & buy the next thing. Whilst we are still we may just hear God's voice telling us what we really need to hear. Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." (Luke 12:15 NIV) Esther xx

Thursday 5 July 2012

The lost art of conversation

My Mum has often told me stories of what food shopping was like when she was a little girl. She said my Grandmother would give her a shopping list and the shopkeeper would get her items. This could obviously not take place in silence.

Clothes shops would have counters too & endless little wooden drawers crammed with items to sell but the assistant would know exactly which little drawer contained the item you asked for. Again,  lots of chatting would take place and you would need to engage with the assistant to get your items. Then would come payment, in cash no doubt and despite it not being worked out by the till the correct change would be given.

I know we're all in a hurry and believe you me I want to get out of Tesco (other supermarkets are available) as fast as humanly possible but at what price?  It's all super fast, pre-packaged & sterile. There are lots of supermarket checkout staff who like a bit of a chin wag and I'll gladly oblige, especially as I don't always see that many 'grown ups' on a day to day basis.

Now we also have self service check outs where you don't have to speak to a soul. I was self serving it the other day to buy a bottle of wine which needed to be authorised and the assistant came over and without so much as a side ways glance pressed the 'customer looks over 25' button.  Rude.  The quick assumption about my age I mean, not the silence.

My mission is to try to get everybody to say at least a couple of words during an everyday transaction, we don't need life stories but let's just re-connect with people.

Esther xx