DAY 20

Are you confused by the Terms and Conditions


There was a funny advert that used to be on TV and it showed a young girl hastily dropped off at a childminder’s house and upon entering, she is grilled about and her insurance cover by the childminder.

It was obviously funny because of the inappropriateness of the questions and the look of bafflement on the child’s face, utterly confused by the complicated adult!

Here’s a prayer taken from ‘A Comedian’s Prayer Book’ by Frank Skinner.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever told you this, but I genuinely find the Bible to be a rattlingly good read.
It’s not complicated, is it, Christianity? It’s just about being good. I know that sounds like a thing a child might say, but we’re told in the Bible, if you don’t mind me quoting it back to you, that being somehow like a little child is an important requisite of faith. I guess that means holding on to a purity of belief that’s never arch, ironic or over-complicated by terms and conditions. Some crystal-clear oasis that still gently sparkles amid an otherwise grubbily mature mindset. I like holding on to that child-heart. William Wordsworth suggested we come into this material world still smelling of eternity, but gradually grow further and further away from that core of truth. But we must, it seems to me keep a secret relic of our child selves, still slightly glowing, wrapped in a cloth with a moon and stars motif; something of the source we can return to when we need replenishing.”

In the nativity, the Shepherds seem to have kept their gently ‘sparkling oasis’, as they headed off over the fields to Bethlehem; Zechariah on the other hand got a little bit of a ticking off from Angel Gabriel (although Gabriel seemed to have a lot of jobs on at that point). Was Zechariah about to quiz him about the terms and conditions – was his oasis a little more grub than sparkle…. You can read about Zechariah in Luke Chapter 1 v 5-25 Further on in Luke (1:67-80) you will also find a beautiful song of praise from Zechariah. Perhaps a time of quiet can bring back a sparkling oasis, or even the smell of eternity!