Give us this day…

A while ago, we had a tiny crisis, involving my daughter, her I-phone and a toilet. She quite likes our little town, though it was hard for her that we moved from London in her final year at uni, so I wanted to give her a taste of Sussex life – the forest, the sea, Harvey’s Bonfire Boy. After the I-phone 6, with 8 months on the contract, decided to investigate life in the U-bend, it took the edge off things a bit. We buried it in rice, put it in the airing cupboard, prayed – but the screen with its half-eaten apple just flickered and fizzed like sherbet.

The next day we went to Eastbourne. First stop, little mobile phone shop in back street. The man, I would say, was almost aggressively negative about the phone’s future. “Basically, you’ve ruined it,” he concluded with satisfaction. Everyone else said pretty much the same thing, only more kindly. This did nothing for our mood. Then, my son, who is very sensible and something in software, messaged to suggest she ask her home insurance. So, she did, and we wandered round Eastbourne, waiting for their decision.

It struck me that if we knew that in the end the insurance would cover it, we could relax and enjoy the pier, the beach and sunshine treading on quiet water. We might look back and see that we’d ruined the trip worrying about something that didn’t happen. So, we bought coffee and watched the sea and laughed at the gulls diving for our lunch. Whatever happened, we’d been given this day…

Life, with its heartache and delight is, I believe, the pre-cursor to something more, something better. I don’t want to look back and see that I worried my way through it, missing the point. That God or life (whatever you believe in; I choose God) will work it all out, in the end.

And who knows? All we may have is this day…

P.S. The insurance covered it.

First broadcast on Thought for the Day for Uckfield FM, October 2018