Numb

I've become so numb, I can't feel you there

I've become so tired so much more aware

I'm becoming this all I want to do

Is be more like me and be less like you

[adj]., numb·er, numb·est.

1. Deprived of the power to feel or move normally; benumbed: toes numb with cold; too numb with fear to cry out.
2. Emotionally unresponsive; indifferent: numb to yet another appeal.

Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the reality of the situations which surround us. On occasion our lives seem to go by with out us, almost like we’re watching a DVD in fast forward. Could it be that our lives are numb? Or is it that, like the person in the song, we are searching for some shred of hope in our society, or more personally, in our own lives? Especially when we feel like we are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders.

Different people have different perceptions of the ideology behind the word Hope. Some would argue that, hope is grief’s best music. Many world religions believe that hope is faith in the future tense. Being a Christian I believe that both these definitions are quite accurate, but I also believe that we must have a hope for today, not just for when grief strikes or for when life ends. As a Christian I believe Jesus Christ is my hope for today. I would love you to take some time during the day to contemplate what it is that your definition of hope might be?

Beginnings

So I have been at Jordanhill Parish for just over three weeks now and I seem to be settling in as well as I could have expected. It has definitely come to my attention that Glasgow is a little bigger than the greater Donacloney-Waringstown area, but I am starting to get used with city life and the weegie intonation, though I’m quite fortunate to live in the west end of the city where the Glasgow burr isn’t just as hard to figure out. Church is going great and everyone is very friendly, including the young people or folk as they would be referred to. The style of worship on a Sunday morning is very different from what I am used to but I feel that it is where God wants me to be right now, and part of the learning process he wants me to go through.

On the youth work front most of my time is split three ways:

• Jordanhill School - where I take assemblies and work with Clubs/organisations.
• Church – concentrating on all things for the under 25’s, Junior Church, Sunday morning Worship and of course Timeout, which despite sounding like a biscuit and a punishment for being bad, regularly sees between 25-30 young people attend a bi-weekly event in their year group. Currently we have an S1 and S2 group, with the hope of next year starting a third group.
• Katharos - Finally I am involved in the planning of a new initiative, a monthly gathering of young people in the west end of Glasgow, meeting to grow in their relationship with Christ and explore what it means to live in community with one and other.