‘Another day in the trenches!’ That was among my first thoughts the other day. I don’t know where it came from but I suspect it was one of the Home Alone movies where eight year old Kevin MacCallister pits himself against very persistent and very incompetent home invaders. Unlike Kevin we do not have an enemy we can see and our aim is to get through these days depending on the skills and expertise of others. Still, this does not mean that we should lack personal purpose and aspiration.
Terry Waite is back in the news. His experience as a hostage in Lebanon for almost five years mainly in solitary confinement means that he can speak to these times of social isolation. He puts things in perspective. Compared to his experience we are actually quite well off in the resources available to us that can keep us strong. What is needed, he says, is for us all to structure our day, be grateful for what we have, read and be creative.
It has occurred to me that in some ways I am way ahead of most people. I’ve had periods of lockdown over the past year not least since the transplant in early January. So to an extent nothing much as changed. Certainly there is new concern over family and friends and how they may be affected. And from time to time there is anxiety as to what might be the consequences if I with low immunity pick up the virus. But every day brings things to do: the blog, my books, cards and emails to write, phone calls to make and receive and a very light exercise programme specially designed for me by my pal and Personal Trainer Fraser Drake who runs the Kumafit gym in Milngavie. This is apart from the ever supportive companionship of Gabrielle and the blessings of Scripture and prayer. So it’s not really day after day ‘in the trenches’.
I do recognise, of course, that a constant routine can become burdensome. I was speaking to someone recently who is having to work from home and is a creative kind of guy but the monotony is beginning to get to him. I think this will probably be the biggest challenge for many of us. There are so many books you can read, DVDs you can watch, contacts you can make before you come to realise what you are missing.
It makes me think of Paul the Apostle as he neared the end of his life. He is in prison for the second time in Rome. Previously it was a kind of home arrest where he had comparative freedom but now he is in chains and stuck in what one scholar has described as some ‘dismal underground dungeon with a hole in the ceiling for light and air.’ However, visitors seem to be allowed to some extent and so he writes to his friend Timothy, a letter probably smuggled out, and urges him to come and bring some comforts with him:
‘When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.’ (2 Timothy 4: 13)
The picture is someone who is feeling the cold, often lonely and needs something to read, especially ‘the parchments’ which are probably the Scriptures. This has to be set alongside Paul’s declaration in Philippians 4: 11-13 during a previous imprisonment that he has found ‘the secret of being content in any and every situation . . . I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’ Has there been a wavering in Paul’s conviction that he now needs company and books? I don’t think so. Paul was like the rest of us. Sometimes the strength he needed came to him through fellowship with God’s people and the written Word of God. But even when these were inaccessible he knew the powerful presence of the Risen Lord. In 2 Timothy 4: 16-17 he recalls his appearance before the civil authorities in Rome when he was very much on his own. He refers to the desertion of those he thought were his friends. But then comes this extraordinary statement:
‘But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.’ (2 Timothy 4: 17)
Paul was strong within himself and able to use the present challenging circumstances for the advancement of the Gospel.
What I am taking from this is that in those days when I might feel as if I am ‘in the trenches’ or that the monotony of these strange days threatens to crush there is a Presence who touches my inner being and not just for my own benefit but for the benefit of others. I hope you all experience these great truths in the days ahead.
