A Parable of our Times

 

A parable of our times.

A man sat with his laptop in the train station. People with purpose strode through the concourse, rushing to make a train or get home to dinner and bed. Threading through the people with purpose were the wanderers, those who had fled the war and were desperately seeking safety.

A young woman struggled past, two children in her care. She looked distraught, lost, hopeless. The man spoke to her, gave her his contact details, and she wandered off to the place allocated for refugees.

A couple of months passed. One night the man, back in Scotland, received a phone call from the distraught young woman. She had managed to get into the UK with her husband and two children, but they were housed in a hotel with other refugees, where they had been for two months. The children could not access school without a proper address; there were no possibilities locally. This couple, torn from successful careers by an invading army, were eager to find a place of security where they could resume careers and their children could progress with their education.

Help, please, she said to the man. We are stuck. Help us. Please.

And so they came north, hundreds of miles, hoping for help. The man worked for hours to find a way forward. It was so unclear. With their skills, where should they live? With school starting, time dictated the cadence. And so, down a labyrinth of possibilities that turned into cul-de-sacs, through tunnels of doubts, they sought the way forward. After a few days and many changes of direction, hopefully they have found their best next step.

Meanwhile, those scared young children who arrived so quiet, have found their voices. They have rediscovered the release of squeals of laughter. They have explored the toys set randomly out for visiting grandchildren. It is so poignantly wonderful to hear them racing round the garden in the sunshine, chattering, laughing, jumping and … and, being siblings, arguing.

My Bible study group set ourselves a challenge for tomorrow. That we would each look for the hand of God in our week, to share with each other tomorrow morning. So often we miss what God is doing in our lives, with things big, things small.

I haven’t had far to look.