This might not be a blog

It might be just a thought. Whatever it is I want to share it, see what you think….

We talk a lot about the spiritual gifts, wondering do we have this one or possibly that one …. and how best to discover what our gifts are and then how to use them in a way that pleases God and helps others, but it seems to me that there is one gift we all have. It’s something that doesn’t take a whole load of studying or skill and maybe that’s why we overlook it. Whether we are poets, musicians, teachers, managers, cooks, carpenters, whoever we are, there is one great and wonderful thing we can all be ….. AVAILABLE.

That’s something that’s within my reach and yours – unless, that is, you’re a hermit living in a cave on some inaccessible mountain slope under a heavy layer of snow. We can’t make ourselves perfect, or wise, and sometimes we may be a bit tetchy and difficult (moi?) but we can all be available.

Not all the time, of course not. There’s a balance to be struck. We need time alone, and families need family time, and couples need time with each other without house guests or visitors. Of course. But simply being available is valuable. It should surely be a part of life and an important one at that?

I have two great assets in my life – a front door that stays open all day, unlocked and inviting, and a table I can sit at with anyone who walks through that door. My door is pink and the table is chunky and weathered, and you could say the same for me – pink, chunky and weathered. A bit annoyingly, the paint on the door is beginning to peel, and there won’t be any great wisdom dispensed at the table, but there’s conversation and coffee or tea or Adam’s ale, and that’s better than nothing, eh?

Maybe that’s a gift, too. ‘To be better than nothing.’

When we strive for perfection we’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’, so I’m happy with the flaky door and someone sitting with their elbows on the table, and coffee brewing, and words floating up to the ceiling, and laughter and even, sometimes, a bit of 74 year old exasperation. I am always available but I’m like my door and my table, a bit flaky and a bit old so there’s no perfection here, just availability.