91热爆

I was climbing with my son Silas yesterday.听 We鈥檒l be doing that a lot this holiday. It鈥檚 brilliant fun 鈥� but it makes me anxious.

Although the wall is only around four metres high, there are no ropes or harnesses, so if you fall, you hit the ground.听 I鈥檓 not brave and some moves make me nervous.听 Silas is better than me though and he knows what to go for and what to leave. Even so, he鈥檚 small and he鈥檚 my son, so I fret. He鈥檚 smart, but I鈥檓 still anxious.听

Being anxious seems to infect the rest of my life too.听 My work is different every day depending on which students I鈥檓 teaching, which objects from the Museum I鈥檓 using and where; so every day I worry about the relevance of the class, the potential to damage the objects, and the possibility of having failed to book a study room.

At home, I worry about the damp patch on the ceiling of the back room and whether we should change our electricity supplier.听 I worry about the speeding ticket I got in Spain.听 I worry about how much of my salary goes directly into bread, eggs and milk.听 And when I turn on the news, I worry about interest rates and whether I鈥檒l have to cut out bread eggs and milk completely to pay the mortgage.

In the Bible, St Paul has a very simple message about anxiety.听Writing to his friends in the city of Philippi he tells them simply, 鈥榙o not be anxious鈥�.听 Instead, he suggests that they take their problems to God.听 The result, he says, is that 鈥榯he peace of God鈥�will guard your hearts and minds鈥�.

It鈥檚 an excellent trade off: we鈥檙e not alone in the dark, sweaty, wakeful hours of the night, and we get some rest from worrying at last.听I鈥檓 not saying it will end my many anxieties 鈥� I鈥檓 human, and they鈥檙e part of me 鈥� but it鈥檚 good to know that there鈥檚 a way of coping with them.

听

Well, I might as well announce it to the nation: my daughter has just had a baby. He's called Joseph and he's tiny and I love him. He's got a head of dark hair and he left me tongue-tied.I nearly cried when I held him. I did get teary when I saw my daughter and son-in-law in the hospital and felt the unstoppable love that gets behind the emotional defences that often protect us from hurt.听
No room for doubt here: love can be elusive, but it's impossible to forget and you can never get enough of it.Which bears thinking about when you watch the news and feel the misery. Yet, in the midnight of pain it's the daylight of wonderful love that keeps breaking through, catching us unawares and reminding us of our fragility and challenging our selfishness.
There are people who think that love is something merely romantic or soppy. I mean, it is great when it is romantic; but, love is much more than that. I would give my life for my kids and grandchildren (Joseph completes the hat-trick) because love goes deeper than anything else. When I did my daughter's wedding in Croydon some years ago, I remember looking at the gifts wrapped in paper covered in love hearts. I asked if this is really the best we can do as an icon of love. The icon of love I turn to is a man with his arms stretched out on a cross, embracing a world that couldn't handle him and demonstrating that love is never cheap. Christian faith is born of blood - costly love ... as, of course, is the love that leads to a painful labour and childbirth.
I guess my question to myself this morning is this: Is your love big enough? Or do I settle for an imitation that costs less or is more convenient? Anyone who has loved will also bear the scars - because love can sometimes hurt.Anyway, with a nod to the Beatles, "you can't buy me love"; but, with a nod to Josh Gad, our hearts do not need to be frozen. And that Gabby is the final score.