As the new year begins with the same uncertainties as the last, Tina English, the founder of Embracing Age and author of the forthcoming book A Great Place to Grow Old, looks ahead to 2021 …
As I reflected on my journal entries for 2020, two words had prominence – sadness and uncertainty. What a year it has been. I lead a Christian charity for older people, and one of our primary activities is mobilising trained volunteers to befriend care home residents. The carpet was pulled from under our feet in the last 12 months, as I am sure it has been for so many people in lots of different ways. And yet, as I looked ahead to 2021 I could see only more uncertainty, more cause for gloom and despondency. How do we navigate these waters? How do we walk forward when it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel?
As I pondered these questions a memory came to mind. In 2010 I had the immense privilege of walking the Great Wall of China, with a group of intrepid ladies. Perhaps it’s stretching things a little to describe us as intrepid. For most of those 10 days we had very little idea of where we were, or where we were heading, but it didn’t bother us at all. The reality is that we had two local guides, and we simply let them show us the way, whilst we enjoyed the breath-taking scenery as we walked. That’s not to say it wasn’t challenging, tiring and a little bit scary at times. There were hundreds of uphill steps to climb and long walks that left my feet aching. At one point we had to climb around a section of the wall that had a steep drop on one side. The guides had to show us one by one exactly where to put our feet, so that we could safely pass.
As we journey forward through this season of uncertainty, we may not recognise where we are, or know where we are heading, but we have the ultimate guide. The Good Shepherd knows the path ahead and He knows the way through. We can relax a little, enjoy the scenery (because there are things to enjoy, even in lockdown) and simply trust. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be difficulties, it doesn’t mean it won’t get strenuous, but we can keep putting one foot in front of the other, because the Guide knows the best rest points and places of refreshing along the way. He can also lead us step by step through the tricky bits, telling us where to put our feet so that we don’t stumble or fall.
In practice this means sticking close to our guide. When we are feeling overwhelmed by the unfamiliar and tempted to despair of what seems like ever changing goal posts, we have to lean into to Jesus, and keep looking to Him for our next steps. When we are feeling weary from the journey, and we want to repeatedly ask, “Are we nearly there yet?”, we have to trust that He will lead us to places of rest and refreshing. That, of course, does not abdicate us from our own responsibility of taking regular time out to rest and be sustained. But even with regular sustainable practices in our lives we can feel depleted from tiring seasons that cause us to thirst more for those deeper streams of refreshing.
And so, as I look towards 2021, I am moving from gloom and despondency to a place of hope. I still can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m still walking in the unfamiliar, but I am taking hold of the hand of Jesus and learning to trust that He is a dependable guide. More than that, He doesn’t just know the way, He shapes the way where things seem impossible; He lights up the darkness; and He works on my behalf when my hands are tied. He is my certainty in the midst of uncertainty.
Tina English is the founder of Embracing Age, a faith-inspired charity dedicated to improving the lives of older people, which aims to link every one of the 17.500 care homes in the UK with a local church. A Great Place to Grow Old: Fresh Perspectives on Ministry Among Older People, Tina's new book, is out in paperback in September.
No comments:
Post a Comment