Many people get anxious in the weeks prior to Christmas because cards need to be written, presents bought, meals planned, invitations issued, and for many rural folk there is also the final preparation of the Christmas poultry. However, a recently received B&Q brochure suggests that whatever my problem, there is someone somewhere poised to resolve it.
In fact, I am amazed at how much help there is out there and it’s not just at Christmas. Earlier in the year, a letter from the Inland Revenue told me that I am, “a valued customer” and that they want to help me make sure that I do not pay too much tax. Then there is the web site called, confused dot com which compares insurance quotes. Their TV advert tells us, “There is just one form to fill in, we do all the leg work and all you have to do is choose the price that is right for you.”
It couldn’t be easier! Everywhere we turn there are bodies eager to help. Only the other day I answered the phone and a pre-recorded voice told me that I might qualify for an, “almost unbelievable but little known solution .……..” I rang off .
On reflection however, I wondered if I should have listened a little longer. I might, after all, have an unknown problem to which only the caller had the answer, and I wondered if my impatience had caused me to miss out on a cornucopia of free solutions. I shall probably never now know, but this got me thinking about other opportunities I have missed.
During the nineteen fifties, as a National Serviceman serving with the RAF in Aden, I was poorly paid but used to give a few pence each week to various beggars. One day on Maala Straight I was accosted by an extremely dirty scraggy man with thin legs. He was dressed in sackcloth and wore a turban, whilst carrying a small bundle on his shoulders. He peered into my face and asked for Alms.
I was taken aback by his approach and refused. A small crowd gathered but I persisted and he went away. As he did so, a Somali man spoke to me in English and said; “He is a holy man from the desert and it is a great honour to be approached and asked for alms by him.” I said that I usually gave to beggars but didn’t have much money. He replied, “We all know that, but you have still made a mistake.” His words made me realise that even my few pence to the beggars had been noted, and that I had been offered an honour which I had refused.
That refusal has meant a lifetime of regret. However, there have been times when I have taken opportunities and one such occurred during an Evensong at Upleadon. It was one of those quiet, warm balmy summer evenings with the merest air movement. The church was cool and the door was left open so that the gentle sounds of insects, birds and livestock could be heard inside the nave. The evening sun came though the colours of the west window and the colours and smells of the English summer permeated the church. There was a stillness and a peace. The church and the countryside around were together. Each was inseparable from the other.
I get similar feelings as one of the growing band of carollers who trudge the dark lanes at Christmas, and sometimes wonder if the Muslim Holy man forgave me my lost opportunity.
Talking about taking ones opportunities however, reminds me of the enthusiastic young curate who was looking forward to preaching his first Christmas sermon. His head was so full of ideas that he couldn’t decide what to leave out. As the great day approached and his excitement grew he asked his vicar, “What shall I preach about.”
The reply was immediate, “About ten minutes.”
View from the Pew 