We had a rummage sale here on Sunday afternoon - well, less a sale and more a rummage and take away, of clothes that might be better used by people, particularly those with few resources, than taking up space elsewhere. They actually came from a charity called Sleeping on the Streets, based on Covent Garden. We came into contact with the man running it through the involvements we are exploring as a result of the new building and the various meetings that are taking place to consider the impact and the use of resources that the development is bringing into the community. He had the clothes and was short of space to display and disperse them - we have the clientele and little in the way of resources. It worked well!
And it is a sign of something we hope we might develop further. The building behind us is going to be huge, and it feels like it dominates and overshadows us. There are days when I almost fear it - will we survive it, will it take us over to such an extent that we might as well not be here? Is it a sign of our disappearance and our irrelevance?
But on the good days, the contacts we are making as a result and the possibilities that are emerging remind me that resurrection is truth. What looks like threat, overwhelming, even death, is the place where God brings life, hope, and new possibilities.
I am grateful to all those within the church who are working to create and build links with the various groups around us - and to understand and work with access to the finances that become available for work in the community. I am learning to look at the high towers and not see an impersonal threat, but as yet unknown possibilities. If the success of our rummage on Sunday is anything to go by, then the links we make, the possibilities to join in with kingdom activities in our community, and the chances to be and embody the love of God here and now - all of these are exciting