scrummaging

There are all sorts of people I get to meet. In all sorts of situations.

And in all sorts of different locations as well.

Today it was Starbucks.

Up town. We don't (for obvious reasons) have one here.

By appointment.

It was the first time I've ever sat down with the man, though we've spoken before on the phone. He'd contacted me a few months back about a difficult, delicate situation that he faced, and sought my advice. We've kept in touch.

He had to appear before his bosses today. And he wanted me there.

As a 'friend', I suppose. Support.

Not that he really needed me, I have to say. He's a gracious and wise young man, with a lot of experience packed into all of his life. And he's sought in all things to be always honouring Christ.

And he did himself proud, the way that he handled it all today. Clear and consistent, while ready to acknowledge mistakes.

As I say, he didn't really need me there as such.

I mean, I spoke, certainly, really to highlight as much as anything else how awkward it was, the situation he'd found himself in.

As he said to me later, he once knew a man who used to say - "Don't tell me that I've done it wrong unless you've told me how to do it right". He was put in a situation where there hadn't ever been those helpful guidelines to keep him right.

But, as I say, he didn't really need me there at all. He'd have managed fine on his own.

It's what gets called the moral support, I suppose, that always counts. Knowing we're not alone.

Same as the person yesterday, in an entirely different connection. Just having someone there, and knowing you're not alone.

It took up the whole afternoon. But I was glad to have given the time.

Being a 'friend' to a man I've not really met before at all. But one who's a brother in Christ. And therefore, as such, my friend.

It's that 'partnership' thing again. Standing or falling together. Rooting for one another.

It matters. This 'fellowship in the gospel' really does matter.

The scrum. Where the binding is always important. And where matches are won and lost.