AT A CROSSROADS OF LIFE... SOME ADVICE

(This was my Pause For Thought script for the Vanessa Show on BBC Radio 2 on February 25, 2020... The theme was At The Crossroads...)

 

I remember a crossroads in Donegal. I was working there and I had to visit a Church but there were 4 roads heading off in all directions and no signposts. It was the days before Sat Navs and even with a map I had to waste time down two wrong roads for a few miles before finding the right road on the third attempt.

It is a little more serious when the cross roads are life changers and there are lots of them - deciding to get married, to have children, to change jobs… 

I found myself at such a crossroads about 10 years ago. Should I remain as a university Chaplain which I enjoyed or go down a new road of parish ministry at Fitzroy. I turned to a song by The Killers for help. 

In the song Human, Brandon Flowers who practices the Mormon faith sings:

 

“And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
Close your eyes
Clear your heart
Cut the cord...”

 

Good advice at any cross roads. I had to close my eyes and seek God in Prayer. I needed to find time to talk it over with God and to listen. I would need to be sure that Fitzroy was right for me and that this was my next step in my desire to follow Jesus.

Next up I had to clear my heart in readiness for a spiritual change. I needed to take all the selfish ideas of my own out of the decision. Ultimately being a minister is not about me but about the congregation. Clearing my heart of my own ambition allowed me to ask if I was the right minister for the Fitzroy church family? 

In the end, after prayerfully weighing everything up and believing that this was indeed what God wanted me to do... I had to cut the cord – the last bit of advice from The Killers' song! Dare to head down a road from the cross roads. 

They say blues guitarist Robert Johnston sold his soul to the devil at the cross roads. I hope I used The Killers to help me with a more Godly outcome…