Coracle Trust E-Reflections
Identity and Expectations
Tuesday 10 August 2010
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognised as your own.
Image: St.Cuthbert, Holy Island.
Growth and disappointment
As possibilities open before us and we move forward into them, others close to us may protest that we have not fulfilled the expectations they have of us. We have gone a different way.
In Luke Chapter 2, Jesus, aged 12 years, is taken to celebrate the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Rather than return to his home town with his parents, he stays and spends time talking with teachers at the temple. His parents appear shocked and hurt. He is beginning to grow out of dependency on them and towards his vocation.
The choices we make, choices to be open to Life affect others. For some there is disappointment – they had hoped that we would be there for them in a particular way. Meanwhile, we may realise that we, perhaps unconsciously, held expectations of others which will not be fulfilled.
Our own path
‘We become holy in a way entirely unique to each one of us… Like the novice in the desert I must watch the elders and learn the shape and rhythm of being a Christian from those who have walked farther and worked harder; but then I have to take my own steps, and create a life that has never been lived before. At the day of judgement I will be asked why I wasn’t myself’. Rowan Williams
Am I being attentive to my unique call?
Jane Edwards