Morning thought Monday 15th Jan 2018
Good morning . To be really honest countless
things went wrong , or at least not as planned, with
our aid trip last month taking the Mustard Seed Jersey Christmas shoeboxes to
Romania. We’d had the challenge of a change of paperwork requirements and then
a difficult delay caused by the stevedores strike in St Malo which meant the
shoeboxes were stuck in Jersey then at the docks at St Malo. As a result they
arrived in Romania so much later than expected that the first group of
volunteers from Jersey had already left Romania, and the second group never arrived
because their plane was cancelled due to snow in London.
Yes all in all there were a huge number of challenges with this trip.
But I have come back really encouraged and challenged by what I saw and
experienced. To some of the groups we’d planned to deliver shoeboxes, we went
with other small gifts the team generously bought, like teddies sweets &
fruit for children, and for adults fruit
and biscuits. Stuff people in Jersey would NOT be thrilled with. But the kids
were thrilled with the games we played at kindergartens and youth clubs and the
teddies and sweets we gave. They had very little and were delighted - really
delighted with a small cheap gift.
One of my strongest memories is of the reaction of the residents in an
old people’s home when we gave them an orange and banana each. I was in the
men’s ward at the time and their delight and happiness brought tears to my
eyes. Just a piece of fruit - but it brought such joy.
It makes me ask if our lives are too complicated and if we have - amid
our comparative luxury and technology - lost touch with the simple joys and
values of living.
That thought might be worth taking with you through your day today. What
are the essentials in my life? In your life?