detox

Thursday again this year is the day I'm along at the primary school.

Two morning assemblies today. The Upper School first and then, later on, Primary 1-3s.

The Head is back to his 'values' again. And this month's 'value' is good health. It was good stuff, as always.

Physical, emotional and every other sort of good health as well. Including the things they're careful to remove from their lives. Like removing some food from their diet. And being careful about what they are watching on their television screens.

A sort of across-the-spectrum de-tox type of thing. Getting rid of the poisonous stuff in their lives. Pretty practical stuff. And a challenge to pupils and teachers alike. And to the chaplain as well!

It's been in some ways a de-tox sort of day, I guess.

I was along at another school later on with a load of sports equipment I've been storing in our garage for some while. It's simply been lying there, slowly gathering dust. And taking up volumes of space.

When it could be well used by the school.

So I took it along and the garage was given some de-tox. Well, a little bit more of the de-tox, since I've been working away now for weeks on removing the mountains of 'stuff' that's been piling up there.

Creating a bit of breathing space. De-tox.

We're trying to do just the same with our life as the people of God.

Jesus once said to a friend whom he'd called on to see, "Martha, it's time for de-tox!"

Well, those weren't exactly the words that he used. But they give you the drift. There were too many things in the woman's life which left her worried, upset and a cauldron of seething resentment.

De-tox time, said Jesus. Too many things. Most of them really not needed. Remove them.

We're taking those words to heart. There are too many things that we're doing too. And they've been starting to have a sort of suffocating effect.

We've needed a bit of breathing space. We've needed to bin the 'clutter'.

De-tox.

I've been doing that myself in the office I have. The 'good health' sort of thing.

Creating space and removing a whole load of stuff. I mean masses and masses of stuff!

It's a symbolic sort of action as well. A statement of intent in terms of our life as a people here.

These are days of a new beginning in lots of ways. It's time for a good 'spring clean' (even though it's autumn).

De-tox time. Creating some space to breathe. Creating the space for the Spirit of God to bring the breath of God upon our life.

There's an awful lot of poison in the system. Far more than we've maybe thought.

God needs us in good health for all that coming days are going to bring.

And bit by bit we're getting there.