It\u2019s been quite a week just gone. It started with a visit to an ageing relative suffering with Dementia; I\u2019ll call him Winston, because that\u2019s close enough. Winston is 86, was widowed last year, has all his own teeth and physically is in pretty good shape. As is typical of someone with his condition, Winston is great when talking about anything that happened a long time ago, but not so good with recent stuff. Each time I visit we run through the same \u2018introductory\u2019 Q&A, but the one thing Winston always wants to talk about is \u201cthis God you believe in\u201d. He\u2019s not a Christian, although a man of great integrity. Winston can be quite cynical, but most of all I get the sense he really wants to believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then a couple of days later came the sad news we\u2019d been expecting; a great friend lost her long battle with cancer. She\u2019d fought the disease for nearly a decade, bringing up twins, loving and caring for her husband, tirelessly working for charities that supported others who suffered from the condition and always, literally always, with a smile on her face. She inspired, encouraged, loved and lived selflessly throughout all the time we had the great privilege to know her. I\u2019m not sure where our friend was with God, but she demonstrated so many Christ-like characteristics it always took my breath away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just the next day I went to visit Brian, that\u2019s his real name. Brian has stage 4 bowel cancer and is under the care of the local hospice. He\u2019s been discharged by his oncologist and is receiving palliative medication at home. I say at home; Brian immediately insisted I take him to the pub for some \u2018proper\u2019 medicine! Over a pint of one of Shepherd Neame\u2019s finest ales he explained how scared he was, how he prayed every night, how he had so much he wanted to do, to see, to experience and that this rotten (not the exact word he used) cancer was not going to stop those things happening. A local politician for most of his life, Brian is still consumed with a desire to help other people; during the short time we spent enjoying a pint (okay, maybe it was two) he spoke to three different people about issues he was helping them with. Like our friend, Brian may not have made a commitment to Jesus yet, but it\u2019s clear that in his creation he has inherited characteristics that can give us a glimpse of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m sure many of us could tell similar stories of people in our lives; people that we love, that we care about and most of all people that we long to come to know and love Jesus. Crucially people for whom time is particularly precious. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The week\u2019s events have led me to ask some questions. How do we respond as men? What can we\u00a0do\u00a0<\/em>in situations like these? Of course, there are no \u2018one size fits all\u2019 answers, no utopia we can create. Equally I\u2019ve learnt that we have to put aside our tendency, as blokes, to want to fix stuff, solve problems or find resolutions. In many cases there is very little we can\u00a0do\u00a0<\/em>but so much we can\u00a0be.\u00a0<\/em>We can\u00a0be\u00a0<\/strong>present, making the time we spend with people focussed and intentional; we can\u00a0be\u00a0<\/strong>prayerful, offering to pray with or for people; we can\u00a0be\u00a0<\/strong>a friend; one that journeys and yes, we can, in humility,\u00a0be\u00a0<\/strong>more like Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we encounter the nature of God, as I feel certain I have this week, we reflect that nature. By His grace we travel a path of transformation, we live as men impacted by the truth of the gospel (2 Cor 3:18). As hamstrung as we might feel in situations like those I experienced, it\u2019s worth remembering that God sometimes calls us simply to \u2018be\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Image Credit: Life.Church<\/p>\n