Now that winter has gone...

Hello World!

I’m using my daily thoughts and encounters to discover as many things as possible which bring together, rather than divide, our various belief systems and cultures.

It has unfortunately been a while since my last update, as many of you will notice.  The only real reason for this is due to having been ‘under the weather’ – an interesting turn of phrase given the weather we have been having here in the UK.

It is fair to say that the winter has been unusually long – there were snowflakes falling over the Easter weekend – but what do we all think about the most during an unexpectedly long cold snap?  Most of us maybe complain about the temperature a bit and then just get on with the day.  Others grumble about the inaccuracy of the greenhouse effect and then just get on with the day.  Some just get on with the day.

I imagine though there are many who have relatives, friends or neighbours they are genuinely worried about.  Perhaps they cannot afford much heating, or suffer from illnesses or conditions exacerbated by cold weather.  Or maybe you know someone who has no fixed abode, and could be sleeping rough.  It is this latter category to which my thoughts turned this past winter.

I was asked an interesting yet not uncommon theoretical question several months ago: what would you do if you won 190 million pounds on the Euromillions?  This is of course the classic ‘desires versus responsibilities’ question.  I could think of a few things – start a trust fund for my niece and nephew, buy a nice house ready for when I start my own family, travel the world and witness where the good causes really are, etc.  But, I was asked, what would I do with my flat?  I said I would keep it, and employ someone to manage it to be used as a place for a homeless person to stay whilst getting back on their feet.

Of course, winning all that money probably won’t ever happen.  But just a few days after that conversation, the opportunity arose to volunteer at Reigate & Banstead’s winter night shelter, and I realised that one doesn’t need to give millions of pounds to help the needy – just a little time, patience, and any unique skills you feel you can bring.

What was special about the shelter was that the volunteers and the guests all came from various backgrounds.  And it was not just a religious thing – whilst many of us were regular attendees in local churches, I met people from 4 or 5 different ones, including Baptist and Roman Catholic, plus several volunteers with no religious belief at all, just the courage and conviction that they wished to help those less fortunate.

The guests themselves had widely varying histories, from harassment by the very ex-partner who threw them out in the first place, to rabbit-catching in the forest over the summer to get food, to an old familiar face in the shape of a former work colleague of mine.  But they all had one thing in common.  Whether they were in the situation they were in due to wrong decisions, addiction, crime or downright bad luck, all could in my mind have had more help to get their lives back on track.  It seems far too much time is spent judging instead of helping.  If you saw your friend sinking in quicksand, would you offer your hand to drag them out, or would you stand there chastising them for stepping into it in the first place?

As Christians we can quote James 2:14-17, “What good is it…if a man claims to have faith but no deeds?  Can such faith save him?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or food.  If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well-fed”, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.”

However, one does not have to believe in any God to acknowledge that the philosophy of the above passage rings true.  Wishing no ill on other is all very well, but what should we do?  I am not saying we should spoon-feed or take full responsibility for someone else.  But sometimes just a little helping hand, a small push in the right direction, can give someone immense encouragement, and be the catalyst to turn their life around – often unbeknownst to the original helper.

Let us all be that person.  And we may find an unexpected helping hand comes our way when we most need it, too.

Enjoy the warmer weather, thanks for listening, and take care.