Smell the flowers!

I think it was in 1994 that I first applied to become a Baptist Minister. Anyone who knows me, or knew me then, will know I’m not a person who rushes into things. I do a lot of thinking and weighing and searching before I jump into something new. And especially when it will mean a big life change. I had the unanimous support of the church and close friends. It had been a long time in the coming. And then I went to the ministerial recognition committee, a group of people I didn’t know and who didn’t know me. They turned me down. They said no! They said I was rushing it! I was devastated. So much so in fact that I was never going to preach again. (Got that one right didn’t I?!!) A lady in the church sent me a card with a picture of flowers on the front. Who does that? Who sends a card with pictures of flowers on to a young man? And who then writes this in the card with flowers on: “Take time to smell the flowers!” What? Take time to smell the flowers! It would have been humiliating if it hadn’t been right! It was a hard lesson to learn. When I ride on the bike on the Worth Way I like to as fast as I can (in the pursuit of keeping healthy you understand). When Lisa and I go at the same time, I go slower (not all the time, but some of it). The other day she pointed out the gardens you can see through the trees on either side of the old railway line. I’d never noticed them before because I had been head down going fast! Turns out there’s a lot I hadn’t been able to see and appreciate. Until I slowed down. Began to think about what I might be missing through this lockdown because I’ve become so focused on figuring out how to do services differently, learning new technology or trying to work out how I do my job in these particular circumstances. Jesus was really focused on his task. But it does seem that even he took time to smell the flowers. He took time to slow down. The Bible doesn’t say it that way, but maybe taking himself off for quiet times away from the people and the disciples was the same thing. It’s a bit of a guess, but I think it helped him gain perspective, helped him to see all that was going on. And probably helped him to stay the course. All the way to the cross. In these challenging times, I’m trying to take time to smell the flowers. Never thought I’d say that. I’m still working out exactly what that looks like, but I have a sneaking suspicion that are things I will miss if I just go fast. And maybe there are tings you will miss too unless you take time to smell the flowers.