Dear Village,
Well, this week was a mixed bad. First off I got a really nice birthday card and gift from you all. Thank you! I was absolutely thrilled. I shall have lots of fun spending the gift cards, they’re a real treat.
Then there was the birthday cake, (and I’ve never eaten a cake with my face on it – I may need therapy now lol!), and I got to hang out with all of you after church.
Chris and I had planned to go paragliding for my birthday but I’d hurt my back again during the week and was having difficulty walking never mind trying to run to get off the ground. Thankfully they have allowed us to reschedule and instead we went to see San Andreas at the cinema.I might not have been soaring the skies under a paraglider but the movie was equally exciting. Lots of mayhem and disaster, which I suppose is why they’re called disaster movies. Poor San Francisco bit the dust big time with a couple of earthquakes and a tsunami. Hopefully I’m not giving anything away that’s not in the trailer.
For a change the English guy wasn’t a baddie but the hero – yeah!!! – even though I haven’t heard such a dodgy English accent since Dick Van Dyke played a wannabe Cockney in Mary Poppins. I suppose you can’t have it all.
Isn’t it funny that what moved me in the movie wasn’t the thousands of unseen people who were dying in the earthquake, but the hand full of main characters that I’d gotten to know? Even in real life it’s not unusual to care more for a few people know rather than thousands that we don’t. How come?
I suppose it’s human nature. We fear loss, and losing people we have no connection with, have never met, is much less of an emotional upheaval than losing someone that we care about, depend upon, have a relationship with. Even in a movie.
But when we can relate to someone in some way it’s then that we start to connect and care. Even if we have never met them we relate to the LGBTQ person that is suffering prejudice or hate because we, or someone that we care about, has suffered likewise. The common experience draws us into relationship – even if we’ve never met the person. It’s why we support those LGBTQ folks struggling in countries that don’t enjoy the freedoms we enjoy, and closer to home we support those who find themselves out in the cold, be it spiritually, emotionally, or physically, because of their sexuality or gender expression.
Another year older and I feel very blessed to know all of you. I feel blessed that we are able to meet as a church and journey together. I feel blessed to be a part of a community of people who care for each other. Thank you.
I pray you have a blessed week.
Love
Michael.