Salvation
37th Day of Lent
6th April 2017
Salvation happened today. Unexpected. Surprising. In Bleakhouse Road. At the library.
It came in the shape of an art class. And it came to a person in need of small steps through grief.
Today, we headed out into the community to find something useful to do on a Thursday morning. Libraries in our community - both Thimblemill and Bleakhouse - are real hubs of relationship and purpose. They offer space for curiosity and inquiry. They offer space for friendships and relationships. They offer space for people to pursue passions. And they offer space to connect, especially for the isolated and the lonely, the bereaved and those lacking in confidence.
Today, we visited Thimblemill, first. There we were welcomed and given freedom to roam around, pick up leaflets and find out what was going on. Then, we drove the mile up Norman Road and The Broadway to Bleakhouse Library. Not expecting much more than another furtle around for leaflets, we stumbled upon an art group in the community room.
The door was open and tentatively stuck our heads round the corner. We were immediately invited in and greeted warmly. What made it all so welcoming? Well, all the artists chatted to us freely. None was pompous or precious. All were willing to share their stories. And they were willing to include us. There were no barriers. And, when my companion said they were interested, perhaps, in coming back, immediately, the group members asked if he had any experience in drawing or painting. None, he said. Well, they all said, come next week and we will share with you our brushes and our paper and our paints. Just come. We will help you. Come and just sit with us and watch. Just come.
Here was salvation in a place which was far from bleak and with people who reached out and included. A lesson for all in the salvation business.
It came in the shape of an art class. And it came to a person in need of small steps through grief.
Today, we headed out into the community to find something useful to do on a Thursday morning. Libraries in our community - both Thimblemill and Bleakhouse - are real hubs of relationship and purpose. They offer space for curiosity and inquiry. They offer space for friendships and relationships. They offer space for people to pursue passions. And they offer space to connect, especially for the isolated and the lonely, the bereaved and those lacking in confidence.
Today, we visited Thimblemill, first. There we were welcomed and given freedom to roam around, pick up leaflets and find out what was going on. Then, we drove the mile up Norman Road and The Broadway to Bleakhouse Library. Not expecting much more than another furtle around for leaflets, we stumbled upon an art group in the community room.
The door was open and tentatively stuck our heads round the corner. We were immediately invited in and greeted warmly. What made it all so welcoming? Well, all the artists chatted to us freely. None was pompous or precious. All were willing to share their stories. And they were willing to include us. There were no barriers. And, when my companion said they were interested, perhaps, in coming back, immediately, the group members asked if he had any experience in drawing or painting. None, he said. Well, they all said, come next week and we will share with you our brushes and our paper and our paints. Just come. We will help you. Come and just sit with us and watch. Just come.
Here was salvation in a place which was far from bleak and with people who reached out and included. A lesson for all in the salvation business.
Libraries are great! Such important centres of community, where all are welcome. I do hope the grieving man continues to go to the art class.
ReplyDeleteThis heart warming story teaches me that:
Salvation is a blessing to receive, a gift without demands, a renewing of life.
Salvation is a joy to share, an invitation to offer, an experience to live out in community.
As we hear again the story of our salvation during Hoy Week and Easter I pray we can receive Christ's gift of new life with joy and so be inspired to share it with others, freely and naturally.
How true it is that libraries are places of salvation.
ReplyDeleteThe "library" in the school I attended, in a previous post, was stocked with books that had been donated by generous strangers in England and Ireland. The school had been set up by Irish Passionists. We had no proper library. Each class had a set of books that was referred to as "The Library". The one in my class, at the time, was just a little table with a stack of old books. I loved the books with their discoloured, aged pages and their musty smell. As I turned the pages, I wondered who had been generous enough to donate these books. I poured over the names and places that were sometimes written on the inside of the book, and tried to imagine what the owner had looked like. I wondered how many more books they might have had. The stories transported me from my lonely wilderness to far flung places. The books ranged from, "The Famous Five" and "Pollyanna's Door to Happiness" to " Nineteen Eighty Four" and "Animal Farm".
Now that I have a chance, let me thank you, Oh People of England, for your generosity to me, for the books you donated, for the escape they provided, and the salvation they gave me.
And I thank you, Lord, that your Word provided an unending library and source of wisdom for me in the later years of school and now. Thank you for the priceless gift of salvation that you have given us.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Sorry, the first sentence should read
ReplyDelete"...the school I mentioned in a previous post..."