Saturday 30 July 2011

Spontaneity - a new idea

Mrs Hnaef was out this morning, doing Things Which Do Not Concern Me, so, as is my wont, when the temperature is between 9-32 Celsius, the wind is under 20 km/h and I've consumed fewer than 8 units the night before, I went for a bike ride. And afterwards, as I am Instructed To Do, I had a shower. And I ruminated on the Archdruid's Rules of Engagement as I stood in the steady stream of hot water. And then I decided to get out. And as I did, an astonishing thought hit me. A thought which has never hit me before. And it was this.

What if, just from time to time, we seized the day (carpe-ed the diem, as 'twere), rejected hide-bound tradition, and did something new?

It shocked me, as I am sure it is shocking you. But what if we dispensed with, oh, I don't know, slow boring hymns with bad theology that no-one really likes but the organist can at least play, or vestments for a few services, or honorifics for non-lay-people, or only allowing adults to pour out beakers? Maybe some of the stories that Jesus told about leading sheep aren't meant to suggest that we're the sheep, but that we should be doing some leading? All of us?

Maybe we should be (and I had to think about this for a while, because it's a word I've not used for nearly 15 years now) spontaneous?

Normally, these sorts of ideas hit me when I'm in the company of Drayton (who drains the idea from me), the Archdruid (who reaches for her cricket bat) or Mrs Hnaef (who just looks at me in the way she does), and they vanish as the noon-day. But this time, I was alone. And I did it. I was spontaneous. As I stepped out of the shower, I reached for Mrs Hnaef's towel. Without asking. I am My Own Man. I can be new. I can be exciting. I can be spontaneous. What differences will this new Hnaef bring? We can but dream.

3 comments :

  1. Eileen, put down that cricket bat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can't have spontaneity - just think what would happen to prophesy! It doesn't bear thinking about...

    ReplyDelete

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