CHURCH CHAT CS Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia once wrote… “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” The problem with this is that whilst I know that CS Lewis is right to truly love IS to be truly vulnerable – I just don’t enjoy being vulnerable. If I’m honest I don’t want to go there too often. It’s safer to stay, for the most part, in the other place, the safer place.
I also know that the longer I stay in the safe place, the slower I will grow. There, I won’t discover who I was really made to be. In order to discover that, I need to spend more time in the risky place, for that is the place of transformation. As a Christian, I believe that we were all made in the image of God and made with a far greater potential than we know. A potential to love and to be loved in a way that is utterly transformational. Jesus’ life shows us this. The New Testament is full of stories about ordinary people (just like you and I) who encountered the love of Jesus and, once they did, their life was never the same. It was far better than they ever thought possible because they became more fully the person they were always meant to be. That’s what being a Christian should be! The trouble is, it often isn’t and that’s because, for the most part, we cling to the safe places and, as CS Lewis said, there our hearts become hard.
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The thing all these people in the Bible had in common was that their journey of being transformed always started with vulnerability. They were willing for their hearts to be softened, they took a risk, and in so doing they experienced something remarkable – the overwhelming, never-ending, wreckless love of God. And nothing was ever the same for them again. That’s why I became a Vicar. For I believe we all have a potential far greater than we know and that when we risk everything and allow ourselves to be fully loved, just as we are – then we discover that the risky place is actually the safest place there is. Are you willing to go there? I’m still working this out and trying to spend more time taking risks, asking questions and exploring life. I’m thinking about out how we might start a new church in North Weald, a church for people who don’t do church! Where we can ask these questions and work things out together. If you’re interested, or just want to chat more, please let me know on the contact details below.
With love and prayers, Rev Tom x tomwarmit@gmail.com
Email: june@northwealdvillagelife.co.uk
www.northwealdvillagelife.co.uk
