confessions of an arsonist

Talk about fighting fires (well, I was on Monday!) - I've ended up causing fires myself!

That'll teach me.

A fire needs both fuel and flame. Forgetfulness on my part created the flame: a church of rules and regulations created the fuel. It doesn't take much to start a fire - I can vouch for that!

We have a couple who worship with us these days and share in our life as a people here, but whose names are on the roll of another congregation elsewhere in the city.

(In fact, I think we have quite a lot of people like that, but since we're never that bothered ourselves about formal things like 'rolls' of members, since that suggests that some are 'in' and the rest are 'out', we never really think about it much at all).

This couple have been with us now for a good long while - and there are good and obvious reasons why they've made that choice. But, as I say, their names are on a roll elsewhere, so technically, yes, they're members not where they are at present but where they used to be.

Which must seem odd to God, I think. But then probably a lot about the way we go about our life seems pretty odd to him!

Odd or not, that's their situation. And that sort of thing is just like so much dried out tinderwood. Fuel. Waiting for a spark of flame.

I obliged. Not intentionally at all, but through a trait I share in common with quite a lot of folk. It's called forgetfulness.

I'd forgotten to do what I'd said I'd do and I'd thereby failed to 'clear' a pastoral matter relating to this couple (who are now, in terms of their relationships, with us), with this other congregation (where they used to be and where, at least in terms of rules and rolls, their names still are).

Forgetfulness like that becomes a flame when there's fuel around: and, as I say, a fire is easily started! I just did it!

Who said 'church' wasn't complicated?!

So the day began with a fair old bit of calling different folk and sending off an e-mail here and there and writing most apologetic letters to the persons most affected by it all.

And most of the time, I have to confess, not really knowing whether to laugh or cry. Is this the way it's really meant to be?

Anyway, my time along at the school was a welcome relief! And not that complicated either, this week. I had them doing an exercise which I think they quite enjoyed: pretending to be librarians and trying to figure out where different books in the library called the bible each belonged.

At the end they were asking if I spoke Greek. So I told them I could, at least to get by in reading the Book - and I could also get by in Greece itself today. The first words you had to learn, I was telling them all, whatever the language you're aiming to speak - those words are simply I come from Scotland.

(Especially today when at night we'd go and beat France in Paris at football! Yesss!)

So they learned how to say I come from Scotland in modern Greek: and a wee boy came up and said that the first words that his Dad had learned in Spanish were ... all the swear words!

It's fun being there (the school, I mean - though I guess Spain's probaly quite fun as well)! And entirely unpredictable.

But by doing the course like this I can pop in to the school and see the teachers again - give them a sheet to let them know the answers to the exercise, for one thing (since I don't think they had much of a clue). But, more importantly, retain the contact, build the relationships. That sort of thing.

Lighting fires of a rather different sort, I suppose! Warming hearts with friendship, enthusing folk to see there's something worth exploring here.

Those sorts of fires were being lit at night as well. The climate change chat room gives the chance to get back to the bible once again and see how it applies to how we live today.

We had some fairly radical thoughts again! And who knows what may well result?!

The bible itself is surely like a flame: the Spirit of God, too. A blazing flame. And hungry hearts like ours are just the sort of fuel that flames like that embrace and turn to fire.

Later on, I called by on the couple at the heart of all the heat I'd caused by my forgetfulness (the ones that are actually here but nominally elsewhere): it was good to chat things through - and kind of striking, too, to see how fired up they themselves can be.

I'm not sure what I've set ablaze today! I'm maybe, almost accidentally, a kind of arsonist!

Perhaps I should take that line when I'm at the barber's next. What do you do? I'm an arsonist: I go around lighting fires!