space the final frontier?

Today I am going to join with fellow Baptist Ministers from the East of England at our annual conference. It is an occasion I really look forward to each year. It looks like there is a good line-up of sessions and there are some high-quality speakers (orators not the fixed to the wall amplification type). I am sure that the sessions will prove beneficial to me and hoping to return from the conference refreshed and inspired.

It is often the case, however, that these spaces in between the sessions are at least as valuable (if not more) then the session themselves. That is not unique to this conference but has been my experience at almost every conference I have attended or even participated in as a speaker. In those spaces conversations can take place but strengthen friendships, establish new ones, provide inspiration and ideas, and also enable participants to relax and (hopefully) laugh.

Spaces are important. if there were no spaces between words, for example, itwouldbemuchmoredifficulttoworkoutwhatwaswrittenonthepage. If we do not leave adequate spaces between moving traffic we end up with car accidents. And none of us like a personal space being invaded!

I think spaces are important in our spiritual life as well. we need opportunities to pause, reflect, take time out, consider, reconnect, repent, start again and so on. It is important to try to build them into our daily routines (that’s why I write this bloggerel) but also to make the most of the ones that occur by accident.

When I am driving around I like to try and reflect on and pray for people I know. It may be that I recognise their car (or there is one like theirs that reminds me of them); it may be that I drive near somebody’s house; it may be that I drive past their workplace (or a similar one) – there are many different ways in which I’m reminded of other people and offer prayer on their behalf. Another way I use driving time is to put a worship CD on and sing along (I usually keep the windows and sunroof closed).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not some super spiritual being who goes around in a holy haze of prayer all the time, but I do find that God prompts my praying if I am looking for him to do so.

I also find that sometimes the spaces are brilliant occasions just to stop, do nothing, enjoy life and (hopefully) laugh. There’s nothing wrong with that, and indeed there is plenty right with it!

What will you do with the spaces in your life today?

Alternative driving tips:

1. Turn signals will give away your next move.

2. Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you, or the space will be filled in by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

3. Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane-change is considered going with the flow.

4. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.

5. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will inevitably result in you being rear ended. If you want your insurance company to pay for a new rear bumper, come to a complete stop at all stop signs.

6. A right lane closure is just a game to see how many people can cut in line by passing you on the right as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same people to squeeze their way back in before hitting the cones.

7. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork repairs.

8. Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to ensure that your ABS kicks in, giving a nice, relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates. For those of you without ABS, it’s a chance to stretch your legs.

9. Never pass on the right when you can pass on the left. It’s a good way to scare people entering the motorway.

10. Speed limits are arbitrary figures, given only as suggestions and are apparently not enforceable if the reason for your journey is more important than everyone else’s.

11. Just because you’re in the outside lane and have no room to speed up or move over it doesn’t mean that a driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn’t think he can go faster in your spot.

12. Please remember that there is no such thing as a shortcut during rush-hour traffic.

13. Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even someone changing a tyre.

14. Learn to swerve abruptly: slalom driving keeps everyone else on their toes.

15. It is traditional to honk your horn at cars that don’t move the instant the light changes.

16. Never take a green light at face value. Always look right and left before proceeding. Someone like you might be coming the other way (see 4 above)

17. Remember that the goal of every driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.